• The Academies Bill was rushed through Parliament last night before the start of the summer recess. The bill was passed by 317 votes to 225, a government majority of 92, and paves the way for a new wave of 'academy schools' and the creation of 'free schools'. Times


• The government is launching a consultation on its 'pupil premium', which could lead to extra funding for between 15% to 26% of pupils. Expected to be available from next year, it is likely to include those qualifying for Free School Meals or from families receiving out-of-work tax credits. The government is also considering rendering the children of those serving in the armed forces as eligible. BBC


• The Telegraph casts aspersions on the potential goods of the government's Pupil Premium and whether it will act as a cash incentive for schools and a tool to improve educational outcomes, as intended. Teaching leaders and unions have attacked the government for putting no controls on how the money is spent, claiming it will disappear into school budgets. Telegraph


• Peter Wilby is not enthralled by academies, not because they are much different from Labour policies but because he deems most recent 'new' school types to be 'rebranding exercises', which 'denote nothing of educational substance'. For him, the real means of breaking the link between home background and school achievement is through tackling economic inequities. Guardian

• Professor of Higher Education, Roger Brown, sets out the implications of reforms to make the sector more efficient through rationalisation, competition and information. He is concerned that too much competition will reinforce the existing status hierarchy, reduce institutional diversity, damage participation, balkanise institutions and divert resources into prestige building - ultimately, reducing the value society gains from its investment. Guardian


• The Guardian followed six 2009 graduates as they set out to find jobs in a straightened labour market. Sarfraz Manzoor checks to see how they are doing now only to find that they are not where they'd imagined. Guardian

• The majority of raids and arrests UKBA make on families facing deportation occur between 6.30 and 6.40am says chief inspector of Immigration John Vine, who rejects the explanation that this is the optimum time to find families together. Alternative practices made in Glasgow to arrest later in the day have not been adopted in England and Wales and allowing families 30 minutes to pack all of their belongings has become the 'default position'. Guardian


• Caring for Britain's elderly population could cost up to £106bn a year says Policy Exchange, a sum equivalent to paying for a second NHS. In a report released today, the organisation claims that introducing free personal care through taxation, as happened in Scotland in 2002, would see family and friends withdraw informal care. The report argues the public should instead pay a substantial portion of their own care costs through insurance or annuity-based products. Guardian


• Researchers have found that babies whose mothers shower them with affection handled all kinds of stress better in adulthood. A cohort of 482 youngsters was followed from eight months to age 34; it was found that high levels of maternal affection 'facilitate[s] secure levels of attachment and bonding, which then translate to lower distress levels in both childhood and adulthood'. Telegraph

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