• Four years after an 'outstanding' rating from Ofsted and now an academy, the Shireland Collegiate academy in Sandwell, Birmingham has been downgraded to an 'inadequate' rating. Standards, leadership and results were deemed 'inadequate' and the governing body 'overstretched'. Under Gove's proposed plans, schools rated 'outstanding' would escape further Ofsted inspection, under which system Shireland's failure may have gone undetected. Guardian
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• Gove has announced that schools rated 'outstanding' will no longer face routine Ofsted inspections, in order to allow inspectors to focus on failing schools. The 2,000 primary, 600 secondary and 300 special schools currently graded as such would then only be inspected if there were warning signs such as bad exam performance. The Education and Children's Bill to be published this autumn will contain the detailed measures. BBC
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• Gove has announced that legislation this autumn will close the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency, responsible for designing the curriculum. In his letter to its chair he wrote that he believed government agencies should not be involved in curriculum design, 'properly the domain of awarding bodies'(exam boards). The technology agency, Becta, is also to close. Guardian


• A scheme due to be extended to all 453 pupils at a primary school in Greater Manchester allows pupils to withdraw books from the library just by swiping the barcode and being fingerprinted by a scanner. School authorities have sought to reassure parents that the system is voluntary and heavily encrypted. Schemes to fingerprint children for school dinners already exist. Telegraph


• Looking at last year's marks, the new A* grade being introduced to A Levels this year would go to 7% of entries. Students taking maths and languages would be most likely to secure the top grade - one in four students taking further maths would qualify, compared to one in ten pupils taking English literature. There will be no quota for particular grades though, so the figure may vary. BBC


• Peter Harvey, the teacher who escaped jail after repeatedly attacking a 14 year old with a dumbbell, has been sacked from the school in Nottingham where the attack took place. His union had urged the school to retire him on ill-health grounds; as he has been sacked, he will be unable to access his pension for the 10 years until he is 60. Telegraph


• The NSPCC has launched a viral ad of a group of students performing a synchronised dance during an exam for the organisation's confidential helpline, Childline. The ad ends with the strapline 'Exams don't have to be stressful', in response to research which shows the top issue affecting young people is exams and school work. Times

• One of the UK's highest paid vice Chancellors, the provost of UCL, is to take a 10% - or £30,000 - salary cut to 'symbolise [the university's] determination to come through a deep recession without sacrificing our reputation for high quality research'. Similar pay freezes for other senior members of staff will continue for another year. Telegraph


• Former Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Menzies Campbell, is to rebel and vote against any proposed rise in tuition fees which comes in the wake of Lord Browne's review of higher education funding reports this autumn. The coalition agreement sets out provision for the Liberal Democrats to abstain from such a vote. Telegraph

• The first commercial to offer abortion services, screened on Channel 4 on Monday, has generated 350 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority. Guardian

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