Call for local course design
Colleges should be given the freedom to design their own vocational qualifications as part of a radical review of the nature and purpose of further education that is needed to meet the government's...
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Colleges to apply for university title and validation powers
Some further education colleges plan to apply for taught-degree awarding powers and may bid for a university title under new rules proposed by the government, writes Tony Tysome. Large "mixed economy...
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Sewage clean-up hits birds
A greener environment with cleaner water could threaten one of the UK's greatest wildlife spectacles - the 2 million water birds that come to spend the winter on estuarine and non-estuarine coasts,...
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Teaching-research split threat to drama
Drama departments are under threat from government plans to divide higher education into a small number of elite research universities and a "large tail" of teaching institutions, the discipline's...
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You're all rejected, Ucas tells art class
A whole class of art and design students has been mistakenly told they have been turned down by their first choice of university. The error was spotted only when their course tutor at Dunstable...
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Hi-tech centre lifts fog of war
A group led by engineers at the University of Birmingham intends to do away with the "fog of war", the uncertainty and danger that have plagued the battlefield for centuries, and replace it with...
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Cut-glass is a cut above in US
The best way to get a foot in a US advertising agency's door is to speak with an English accent, while UK firms prefer humanities graduates, according to new research, writes Natasha Gilbert. Chris...
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Poland launches institute designed to promote European integration
A higher education institute designed to promote the idea of a unified Europe was officially opened last week by Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski, just before the weekend referendum in which...
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Radical French reforms delayed
French education minister Luc Ferry has been forced to postpone his flagship reforms that will give more autonomy to universities until at least autumn. Prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin last week...
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FE test-beds speed reform
The government has announced plans to "fast forward" reforms in further education, writes Tony Tysome. Lifelong learning minister Margaret Hodge said this week that the Learning and Skills Council...
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Exams 'threaten creativity'
Further education and sixth-form students have become so overloaded with exams that they may fail to develop the independent and creative thinking skills needed to succeed in higher education,...
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Rescue attempt rejected
Staff and students at a cash-strapped private university in Estonia have rejected a rescue plan put forward by its founder and former rector and have organised one of their own. Concordia...
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Tax reforms are key to a fairer deal on access
The Liberal Democrats would abolish fees, raise standards and offer greater choice, promises Charles Kennedy Universities have felt beleaguered for decades. Under the Conservatives, they suffered...
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Gary Day
Another fearsome Margaret is bent on world domination. But this one has a soul, even if it's only on the bottom of her 'snazzy' shoes.... Hello, it's me here. Margaret. No, not the model T. I'm...
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Toddling towards a U-turn?
After six months of honing their higher education policy, Charles Clarke and Margaret Hodge are agreed: the money going into universities would be better spent on nurseries. Ms Hodge was first with...