• GCSEs are set to hit a record high this week as one in 13 examinations are awarded an A* - double the proportion awarded when the grade was first used in the mid-90s. Professor Smithers of Buckingham University said that year-on-year rises were driven by the 'structured' and 'predictable' nature of questions. Telegraph

• Universities Minister David Willetts has suggested that universities need quotas of poor students, stating that the institutions were 'entitled to judge their intake by their potential as well as by what they have already achieved'. He endorsed a scheme at Kings College London, in which 50 state school pupils from the capital's poorest boroughs are admitted to study medicine with lower grades than other candidates. Telegraph


• The country's top universities have been urged to come clean about unofficial lists of 'blacklisted' subjects which may have prevented tens of thousands of state school pupils getting on to degree courses. In a bid to manage high numbers of applications it is thought universities may reject outright applicants taking certain, non-traditional A-Level subjects deemed to be 'soft'. Subjects such as law, art and design, business studies, theatre studies are more likely to be offered by comprehensive schools so the policy will disadvantage state school pupils. Guardian


• Nick Clegg has become the latest minister to back a 'graduate levy' whereby the best paid graduates would pay the most for their degrees. He told the Daily Telegraph that it was the best way to encourage more working-class children to go to university, unlike increasing upfront fees. The Lib Dem leader suggested this social mobility agenda was more important to him than securing electoral reform. Telegraph

• Working mothers in Britain have to fork out more for childcare than elsewhere in the developed world, with costs at an average of £160 a week. Charities blame high costs on the government's help for lower income families, which drives up costs for others. A third of family income goes on nurseries and childminders, four times the proportion for German families and three times that for French. Mail


• Payments for donating egg and sperm may rise beyond the current cap of £250 to £800, the payment given in Spain. Fertility clinics in the UK are banned from determining their own payments, even though egg donors can face invasive procedures and some health risks. The consequent shortage of donations in the UK means many couples travel abroad for fertility treatment. Telegraph


• Liam Fox is drawing up a package of perks for those who have left the armed services in the last 20 years, in an attempt to restore the military covenant between Britain and its forces. Unveiled in October, the government are considering a plan which includes five years of free public transport, subsidised loans to buy homes, grants for university education and retraining as teachers. In return, soldiers may have to stay longer on the Service Register. Telegraph

back to top