• The number of A Level entries are expected to drop this year as leading schools favour alternative qualifications which are seen as a better preparation for university. 54 schools, including Britain's top independent schools, have adopted Cambridge University's Pre-U qualification, others the International Baccalaureate and more students are applying to university after taking vocational BTECs. Telegraph


• The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 350 councils in England, has asked schools to 'show restraint' when updating their uniform to reflect a change of status to an academy. It predicts hard-pressed parents may be asked to fork out twice in a short period for uniforms for their children and suggests schools instead change one or two items of clothing or issue replacement, sew-on logos. Guardian


• Richard Dawkins has said that faith schools must be forced to bring the religious education they teach in line with the national curriculum. Parents, he explained, send their children to faith schools because of the good results but are not foolish enough to think the good results are a product of the faith. He explores his claim that faith schools encourage social segregation in an upcoming documentary. Telegraph

• Official figures show that gaining good A Levels or a degree is no longer a guarantee of a job. Before the full impact of the recession hit, in early 2008, just 7.5% of graduates were classed as Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET). By the second quarter of 2010, the figure had risen by 52% to 11.4%, more than a tenth of university leavers. The number of A Level students NEET is 9.1%. Telegraph


• Following the rise in tuition fees, a fifth of full-time undergraduates remain dissatisfied with the overall quality of their course. A further 40% criticised the level of feedback on coursework. The National Union of Students said that overall satisfaction rates had failed to rise since 2006 when fees were raised. 87% of students were happy with teaching standards and 79% agreed that staff made the subject interesting. Telegraph


• Private providers of higher education, the University of Buckingham, BPP and others have reported a surge in inquiries from A Level students worried they will fail to get a place at their chosen university when results are released tomorrow. The US education provider Kaplan is offering 600 degrees which will be examined by the University of London and various international universities have bases in London. Annual fees range from the capped £3,290, to £8,500. Guardian


• The UK's only private university (until last month), the University of Buckingham, has been rated the best university in Britain today in the annual National Student Survey. It defends its position at the top for the fifth year in a row, with 95% of final year undergraduates saying they are satisfied with courses and undergraduate life. Telegraph


• Want an income while at university? There are options other than waitressing; the Guardian explores seven. Guardian

• Middle class families are to be hit in what is being termed a 'bonfire of the benefits', amid £13 billion of cuts. Iain Duncan Smith has been told by the Treasury that he can only proceed with benefits reform if he finds £13 billion of savings within his department. Winter fuel allowance, child benefit and other universal allowances are likely to be scaled back. Times


• Britain's most senior policeman, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson has declared that publicly funded childcare is as important as officers on the beat. Police, he said, could only suppress youth crime but long-term work was needed to address the root causes. It is the second time he has seemed to be at odds with the coalition in recent weeks: the comments come after David Cameron suggested Sure Start be restricted to the poorest families. Telegraph


• A YouGov poll has found that three quarters of people support a ban on smoking in cars. Second-hand smoke can be 27 times more toxic in a car than in a smoker's home, says the report published by the UK Faculty of Public Health. Last week the top GP in England said that parents who smoked in front of their children were 'committing a form of child abuse'. Guardian


• Teenage smoking has dropped since the legal age for buying cigarettes rose from 16 to 18. Smoking rates among 16 and 17 year olds dropped from 24% before the 2007 change in the law to 17% after it. BBC

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