• The full details of the coalition agreement give the go ahead for free schools and the 'breaking open of the state monopoly'and a pupil premium using money paid for from savings made outside the schools budget. 'Technical Academies' and new faith schools will be created. BBC
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• A Channel 4 report has disclosed that in at least eight cases in recent years, Ofsted reports failed to mention that teachers had been convicted of - or were awaiting trial for - sex offences against children and praised child protection in the establishments. Telegraph
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• New Schools Minister Nick Gibb has incensed many within the teaching profession by commenting that he 'would rather have a physics graduate from Oxbridge without a PGCE in teaching in a school than a physics graduate from one of the rubbish universities with a PGCE'. This follows Conservative intentions to bar those with a degree class of below a 2:2 from gaining state funding for teacher training. Guardian
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• Former Children Schools and Families minister Ed Balls claims he has mellowed as he stakes his claim to the Labour leadership. He emphasised himself as being more local than the 'metropolitan' Miliband brothers. Times
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• Educational buildings will receive almost a fifth of the Royal Institution of British Architects (RIBA) prizes for architectural quality today. Many herald this as the last roll of honour before cuts bite - Michael Gove recently accused architects of 'creaming off cash' that should have been going to the frontline. Guardian
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• 35% of parents say that their children have the option to play cricket at school, despite high profile England victories in recent years. Almost half of children who do play cricket at school, do not play competitive games against other schools. Two thirds of parents felt team sports could improve their children's academic results. Telegraph
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• Mike Baker picks apart the education policies to be implemented, and those to be ignored. The sweeping cuts to be made centrally are limited in scope. Taking an axe to quangos and the ContactPoint database will not save the £6bn to be cut and he outlines the changes that will be made to frontline services. Guardian

• The Sutton Trust's submission to the Browne Review of Higher Education funding recommended that tuition fees be waived for the first 12 months to give disadvantaged students more incentive to take degree courses; it also suggested the creation of a 'bounty fund' which would reward universities making an extra effort to recruit students from deprived homes. Telegraph


• Elite UK universities have stated that the state doesn't provide sufficient funds to teach undergraduates and that they would be less dependent on taxpayers' money if they were able to issue bonds and so raise upfront cash. US universities Harvard and Princeton use this method. Guardian


• The coalition government has pledged to create an unnamed number of extra university places in England and to review support for part-time students. It awaits the Browne Review of higher education before defining changes to funding. BBC


• The Office for Fair Access, which deals with access to higher education, has found that children from the 20% most advantaged homes in England were seven times more likely to get a place at the most selective universities than those in the bottom 40%. It urges schools to pick out bright children from deprived backgrounds and coach them, and warns against teachers confusing excellence with elitism. Guardian


• The number of people applying for postgraduate study at Oxford has overtaken applications for undergraduate degrees for the first time. Thought to be a result of the recession, graduate applications could undermine efforts to widen access, as student loans are not given to graduate students, many of whom are supported by their families. Just under 39% of applicants were British. Times

• The Home Office has announced that the detention of children at the Dungavel immigration removal centre is to end with immediate effect. Last week, the coalition government promised that no more children would be held but in the meantime a woman and her eight month-old baby were incarcerated at the Scottish detention centre, which has no facilities for children. They will be transferred to a Bedfordshire centre. Times
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• Radical reforms of the benefits system are to be announced on Monday, with universal child benefit likely to face cuts. Instead of means testing, thinktank IPPR has suggesting increasing the payments and recouping the extra costs by taxing payments to families on middle/higher incomes; means testing tends to damage uptake due to its complex application processes. Guardian
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• Sexual Health charity Marie Stopes International is to screen the first ever advert for abortions on Monday. The advertising of abortion services is banned, but the organisation can circumvent these regulations as it is a charity. The Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice has responded to complaints by commenting that Marie Stopes is 'offering advice ...not selling abortions'. Telegraph
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• A study has found that one in ten fathers suffer from post-natal depression, and are far more likely to be depressed if their partner is also a victim. A mother questions the father's right to suffer. Telegraph
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• Are parents bringing up a generation of 'Maybe Later?' children? Research finds that children spend an average of 36 minutes a day with their parents as adults parent 'remotely' from laptops and the kitchen sink and promise their attention 'later' on. 92% of parents consider their children their highest priority. Telegraph
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• 80% of working parents rely on their parents to provide childcare at least once a week and a third want to move close to grandparents to take advantage of free childcare, which saves them an average of £860 a year. Other figures show that 70% of grandparents give financial support to their children while £470million is set aside every year into trust funds. Telegraph


• The prestigious Orwell Prize has been won by the blogger going by the name of 'Winston Smith'. He writes about his experiences of 'working with the underclass' as a children's care home worker. Guardian

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