Education News Online

Scared of the school gate? Just follow these few simple rules…

Sat, 25 May 2013 23:04 GMT

In The Hive, the most hyped novel of the year, no attacks are too harsh as a cabal of mums fight for the right to be queen bee at their children's primary school. It may be fiction, but reality is not so very different

Can the school gate really be a nest of vipers? According to the most hyped fiction release of the year, the answer is yes – and then some. The Hive by Gill Hornby depicts the battle for supremacy between Bea, Rachel, Melissa, Georgie and Heather at the gates of St Ambrose primary school as a festering morass of bitchery, oneupwomanship and competitive catering.

The author is the sister of Nick Hornby and wife of Robert Harris (Fatherland, Enigma). Predictably enough, the book sparked a bidding war and has already been dubbed "the Fifty Shades of 2013". In the novel, a gaggle of women is fixated by the effortless chic of "Queen Bea", the alpha female who drops mothers from her clique as insouciantly as she drops off bobbly Boden castoffs at the charity shop.

"The book is about queen bees, the rule of the clique and what that does to us," says Hornby, who based the book on her experiences in the home counties, where her four (now grownup) children went to school. These women probably exist, concludes one reviewer, "but whether any reader would choose them for company is another matter". One glance at angsty Mumsnet discussions suggests that in many pockets of the UK you don't get much choice about it. So never mind in fiction, how do you survive The Hive in real life?

1 Rise above the clique (unless you're a Queen Bea, of course, in which case you'll be thinking, "What clique?")

Hornby's inspiration for The Hive came from Mean Girls (screenplay by Tina Fey) which was in turn based on Rosalind Wiseman's non-fiction book Queen Bees and Wannabes, a sociological study of teenage girls' "popularity contest" relationships in high school. Wiseman argued that cliques stop girls from being themselves, harm their self-esteem and come to have a bearing on every situation in their lives. Hornby argues that you see the same thing in grown women all the time. Except, if anything, they're worse.

The term "queen bee syndrome" was coined in the 1970s by psychologists examining women succeeding in male-dominated working environments. More recent US surveys have found that, while men are equality-opportunity bullies, women target their own kind: female bullies target women 80% of the time. One survey of 1,000 working women found that 95% had been undermined by another woman. But is the school gate really comparable to working? After all, no one's job is on the line. On the one hand, The Hive is a slightly irritating caricature of women being bitchy and mothers being petty. On the other, there are 11,600 (bitchy and petty) threads on this subject on Mumsnet.

2 Treasure offensive remarks at drop-off and pick-up

The world of parenting is populated with fellow travellers who want to say strange, intrusive and sometimes downright offensive things about you and your children. Hornby reports someone saying to a friend about her children: "Aren't they just adorable? I'm so intrigued by the unusual size of their heads." Personal favourites: "Your son has a great vocabulary. But his cognitive skills are crap" (about a three-year-old). "Oh, I see you've graced us with your presence." (You get this if you work and only do school pick-up two or three times a week.) But at least it's better than being famous, according to actor Alison Steadman: "I used to pick my kids up from school, and some parents would look at me and say, really sarcastically: 'Oh, she's picking her children up!'"

3 Ignore rudeness: smile, smile, smile (but not in a fake way)

One of the biggest complaints about the school gate on Mumsnet is that mothers (and fathers) feel ignored, shut out or blanked by others. This is often in people's imaginations and can seem more like a hangover from their own schooldays rather than anything based in reality. But if you have a tendency towards paranoia then definitely don't move your child to a new school in the middle of term.

4 Beware the curse of the cupcake

Allison Pearson nailed the desperate quest for bake sale approval in I Don't Know How She Does It. Her heroine, Kate Reddy, bashes shop-bought stuff with a rolling pin. Tragic but understandable. Baking for school sales or catering for fundraising events is a nightmare. You're damned if you do, damned if you don't. If you never bake anything, you'll get raised eyebrows and fake martyrdom: "Oh, that's OK if you don't have time this term …" If you do contribute, you'll be seen as some kind of desperate, envy-inducing Nigella wannabe trying to make everyone else feel inferior: "Did you bake those yourself? How on earth do you find the time?"

One top tip is to bake something that looks as though it contains nuts but actually doesn't and watch people go postal. I recommend brownies containing white chocolate drops that look like nuts. Cue millions of cries of "Have these got nuts in? You know this is a nut-free school? What other nuts have you brought on to the premises?"

Warning: Do not actually bake anything with nuts in it. If you do, you will cause some kind of international incident. And try not to cry when the ornate cake which you slavishly baked using £10 worth of ingredients is then sold for 50p because "there has to be something for everyone at the school fair, it's not just about raising money".

5 Wear what you want (including pyjamas)

On Mumsnet thread "So who is dreading the school gate 'fashion parade'?", several posters claim they have been sneered at for being too scruffy. One mum writes weepily: "Will my jeans and jumper surfice?" (sic). It's tempting to echo the feelings of UnquietDad: "Anyone who turns up at the school gate looking 'composed and confident' has too much bloody time on their hands." Worrying what other parents think of your outfit is foolish. Especially when they are probably too concerned about their own over-stretched tracksuit to care. Do not click on schoolgatestyle.com (yes, this is real – it mostly recommends colourful scarves). Do not wear high heels unless you are going to work. Do not buy anything from Boden. Do not compare yourself to celebrities on the school run such as Myleene Klass or Elle Macpherson. The best thing to do is to dress as messily as possible most of the time and then, once in a blue moon, come in wearing full makeup and a ball gown. Priceless double-takes.

6 Do not become class rep

The class reps look after the interests of the parents, liaise between home and school and organise coffee mornings and evening drinks for parents; they also spend a year going quietly mad. Some of them get Stockholm syndrome and volunteer to do it a second year. Or longer. They have to find volunteers for fairs, school trips, swimming and, most recently in our class, the circus. If you get through a year as class rep without having to register as Criminal Record Bureau-checked, it's a miracle. I repeat: do not become class rep. Or do become one and do nothing, thereby significantly reducing your own email traffic.

7 Say no to the PTA, the school quiz and sports day

Don't go to the school quiz. Or if you do, do not win. You will never be allowed to live it down. And it will be suggested that you used a mobile phone or you bribed the organiser or "revised in advance" (real accusation).

Beware "showing an interest" generally. If you ever go to one PTA meeting, you will be marked for life as a "joiner". Do not come to sports day wearing trainers. Participating in the mums' race reluctantly in bare feet is acceptable. But do not win.

8 A note to fathers

Hornby gives fathers a low profile in The Hive (mostly because her mothers are too busy competing to bed the new headmaster). This seems a bit pre-recession, though. Aren't there more dads at the school gate since the economic crisis? Still, I've yet to hear of a male class rep ever anywhere in the history of the universe. Any volunteers?

Viv Groskop

Police investigate allegations of sex abuse at Catholic boarding school

Sat, 25 May 2013 18:07 GMT

Former pupil claims monks at closed boys' school Fort Augustus Abbey committed 'systematic, brutal, awful torture'

Police are investigating allegations of abuse at a Catholic boarding school in the Scottish Highlands, following complaints of a brutal regime in which boys were physically beaten, psychologically tortured and sexually assaulted. The school closed in 1993.

Officers from Police Scotland will travel to Newcastle tomorrow to interview Andrew Lavery, 41, who for two years in the 1980s attended the fee-paying Fort Augustus Abbey, which was run by Benedictine monks. "It was systematic, brutal, awful torture," says Lavery, who says he was beaten, sexually assaulted and isolated in a locked room for days on end under "special measures". He added: "The psychological torture was the most damaging. In the end I wanted to kill myself."

Lavery claims he was beaten unconscious by a monk and lay master while pupils watched, then left at the playing fields to crawl back to school. He also says he experienced "greying", which involved other pupils pinning the victim's legs apart while his testicles were hit with a hockey stick. A monk watched without intervening. "I have had pain in my left testicle all my life," he said.

Lavery also accuses Monk A, now a cleric in England, of physically beating and sexually assaulting him. He will tell police that when he broke his leg Monk A took advantage of his vulnerability and tried to grab his testicles. "I told him to leave me when I went to the toilet, but he was standing over me. He said, 'No, you need a hand.' I heard all his heavy breathing behind me. It was the wrong sort of breathing to hear in your life. He was fumbling and I was screaming at him to get off."

Monk A is also accused of selling alcohol to underage pupils. When contacted by the Observer, he admitted giving them beer, but said: "I never beat people up and there was certainly never any sexual stuff. I don't know what he's talking about."

There has been heated debate on the school's old boys website about abuse, with some denying it took place. Des Austin, a former pupil who privately investigated abuse at the school, posted extracts from 13 separate emails he received from old boys claiming physical and sexual assault from 1954-91. "The thing that got to me," one wrote, "was the sexual abuse ... and the fact that no one would believe me. My mother said, 'priests never do such things'."

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who resigned as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh in February after allegations of sexual misconduct, was a visitor to the school and guest of honour at last year's old boys' dinner. Jimmy Savile, who owned a house in the Highlands, was also an occasional guest and Lavery remembers his Rolls-Royce being parked outside the monastery. Lavery was in a senior position as an addictions nurse until last year when he suffered a traumatic physical injury. While recovering, he suffered flashbacks, recovered memories and night terrors. He no longer works. He has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and assessed as requiring psychotherapy and specialist abuse counselling.

Another former pupil, Douglas Hiddleston, from Fortrose, remembers Lavery being treated "viciously" by pupils and staff. One of the few Protestants in the school, Hiddleston says he was also targeted. "Monk A grabbed me by the throat, pinned me up against the wall and called me a Proddy bastard," he said.

Another pupil, who asked to remain anonymous, said Monk A "was the epitome of nastiness". The man, who says he was once nearly drowned by fellow pupils while staff watched, also alleges that another monk was guilty of sexually predatory behaviour and tried to "groom" him. "Seediness pervaded the school," he said.

The culture was similar for an earlier generation, according to some at the school in the 1960s. "I came close to suicide," said Sean O'Donovan, who says he was bruised for five weeks after a birching. "I just couldn't see an end to it.I tried using a rope, but it was too thin. It was very painful and, since I was trying to stop the pain, that made me think."

William Wattie, who attended from 1959 to 1964 and became a headteacher, said: "Institutionalised bullying … I could never work out where the gentle carpenter of Nazareth fitted in." He questioned "cuddling" by monks at the school's feeder primary at Carlekemp in North Berwick, which has also been linked to abuse allegations. The Catholic church in Australia accepted abuse had been perpetrated by Father Aidan Duggan, a former teacher at both Carlekemp and Fort Augustus. Duggan died in 2004.

Fort Augustus monastery, which belonged to the English Congregation of Benedictines, also closed in 1998. The current Abbot President, Father Richard Yeo of Downside Abbey, admits former pupils have contacted him regarding the school. "I have heard allegations of both physical and sexual abuse which have disturbed me. If anyone comes forward to speak to me about this, I will try to be there for them," he said.

Catherine Deveney

The nature of fame: the Lady Gaga professor who became a global star

Sat, 25 May 2013 16:52 GMT

Academic Mathieu Deflem examines his own experiences of becoming a celebrity for teaching a course on … celebrity

Professor Mathieu Deflem finally realised that something truly strange had happened to him when people started asking him for his autograph.

For the professor of sociology at the University of South Carolina is not a celebrity. He is just an academic, who teaches theories about fame in modern popular culture.

Yet last year in Tokyo, Deflem realised that a viral news story about a course he had taught called "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame" had had the most unforeseen impact: it had made him famous, too.

Attending a Lady Gaga concert in Japan, Deflem suddenly found himself being approached by Japanese fans who called him "Gaga sensei", which translates as Gaga professor, and they asked him to pose for photographs and sign autographs.

"That was weird. It was indeed surreal. Most professors do not get recognised at pop shows and yet they knew me by my face. They had seen me on TV," Deflem told the Guardian.

Now, in a meta move that shows how twisted and strange the world of fame has become in the 21st century, Deflem has published an academic paper examining his own experiences of becoming famous for teaching a course about the nature of fame.

One of his conclusions is that the statement of pop artist Andy Warhol – that anyone can be famous but just for 15 minutes – is no longer true. In the age of 24-hour media and widespread social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, basically everyone can be famous all the time.

These days, Deflem concluded from his own brush with celebrity, it is staying unknown that is the harder and more unusual experience. "Nowadays it more exceptional to be obscure," he said.

Deflem's entry into the world of celebrity began quietly enough. He had an idea for a course looking at Lady Gaga's rise to fame – and examining it from a sociological point of view – in the summer of 2010 and got the go-ahead to design it. In October, 2010, the course was announced to the university newspaper. From there – to the astonishment of many – the course suddenly became news across the globe.

In the weeks that followed, Deflem was swamped by interview requests and media appearances to discuss the course. They came from the New York Times, the BBC, the Washington Post, MTV, Billboard, Elle and USA Today. Media from countries including Italy, Germany, Ireland, Slovenia, India, Vietnam, Lebanon, Oman and even Zambia ran pieces about it. He fended off accusations that he had cynically designed the course and its title just to get such attention. "There is no way I could have planned this. I am not that smart," he said.

But that was just the beginning. Soon he got an avalanche of criticism from figures like conservative firebrand Ann Coulter as well as Christian fundamentalists. His course even became an answer on the game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

Lady Gaga herself noticed the course and talked about it on radio interviews and a chat with broadcast journalist Anderson Cooper on the flagship news programme 60 Minutes. Saturday Night Live did a skit about Lady Gaga featuring a fan of the star who was dressed to look like Deflem.

Deflem found himself being consulted as an expert on other celebrities, such as Kim Kardashian, despite telling reporters he knew little about such figures. At a conference in Israel he was told by a colleague he was famous in her country for the Gaga course. "My feelings on the matter are distinctly ambiguous, involving both a measure of agony as well as excitement," Deflem wrote in his academic analysis of the experience.

Indeed, it is rare that a professor gets to so directly experience the subject they are studying. Deflem said that it gave him deeply personal insights into celebrities and the wider culture that creates, sustains and can often destroy them. He enjoyed the thrill of recognition, while understanding that it had a downside too as numerous internet postings appeared accusing him of all manner of outlandish things such as being a member of the Illuminati. He also came in for a lot of criticism because he had confessed to being a fan of Lady Gaga's music. "That was used against me," he said.

He was also amazed at the lack of agency he had over his own fate and image as it spiralled out of control in the hands of hundreds of journalists. "You kind of undergo it. You experience it. You do not really have any control," he said.

As for the course, Deflem taught it five times and has no current plans to teach it as a separate activity in the future – though he may include it as part of broader studies of fame. However, he adds that one of the proudest moments of the whole experience was the fact that student reviews of his work generally praised it as academically rigorous. He pointed out that one student had written on a professor ratings website: "Stay away from the Lady Gaga class. You have to do the readings and work your butt off."

Paul Harris

Student ball at Oxford University ends in 'catastrophe'

Sat, 25 May 2013 13:27 GMT

Guests were left with burns, in tears and without food and drink following event organised by two Oxford colleges

It was supposed to be a night of "decadence, debauchery, and indulgence", but instead guests of an Oxford University end-of-term ball endured a "catastrophe" with some left with burns, in tears and without food and drink.

Guests at Last Ball at Somerville College, Oxford, paid up to £150 for tickets but found that entertainers that were advertised did not turn up and almost all the alcohol had run out before 1am, five hours before the end.

May balls are a tradition at Oxford, Cambridge and other universities. They are normally extravagant and usually well managed by student committees.

The organisers of the ball – planned jointly by Somerville College and Jesus College – had great ambitions; they had planned to exhibit a live shark until they were inundated with complaints. In the event, the ball descended into farce with guests questioning what the organisers had done with the money paid by 1,000 guests.

The Cambridge Tab reported "Food ran out early on in the evening, with only one food stand to cater for 1,000 people. Vegetarians went hungry, with pita bread and cupcakes acting as measly substitutes for the previously mentioned hog roast. What's more, all the alcohol (with the exception of rum) had run out by 1am, and by 4am even that had run out."

Cherwell, the Oxford University magazine reported: "Somerville-Jesus 'Last Ball' goers are 'ripped off'. A 'violent scrum' for food, misleading advertising and 'unprecedented prices' criticised by students and alumni."

Guests using the maze got stuck in bottlenecks and some were injured when it was left unstaffed.

Guests set up a Facebook page to list complaints. Some posted pictures of burnt skin and dresses, caused by crowds waiting around the hog roast for up to an hour. One guest complained that he had to pick up tickets in person despite paying for postage. The same guest had to wait for an hour for a pork roll and suffered bruising in the melee to get food before it ran out.

Another student described how she was prevented from going to bed by overzealous security guards. "I'm a Somerville student and felt ill at about 2am on the night of the ball. Being cold, hungry and having drunk a fair bit I asked to be allowed to go to bed. I spoke to security and a member of the ball committee and when I wasn't allowed to go to bed I burst into tears and explained that I was feeling ill and suffer from depression. I needed sleep but was instead sent to the first aid room," she wrote.

She also noted that other Somerville students were not allowed to go to their rooms to pick up possessions such as asthma inhalers because of "security reasons".

Some of the ball organisers posted a letter apologising for their failures and denying charges of embezzlement. They blamed their failings on their inexperience and the small numbers of committee members. They blamed the injuries sustained at the maze on "some of the maze staff going rogue; a handful of maze actors attempted to leave their positions and sneak into the ball as guests."

• This article was amended on 25 May as it mistakenly said that Jesus College was in Cambridge

Conal Urquhart

Business and management studies

Sat, 25 May 2013 12:05 GMT

Study of organisations - finance, accounting, marketing, human resource management, and administrative functions

League table for business and management studies

What will I learn?
Degrees in business and management are among the most popular among students. Fortunately, universities have sought to match demand with plenty of courses.

These degrees focus on how organisations operate - what they do, their styles of management and their business strategies.

There is a diverse range of courses, each with a different emphasis or specialism. For example, some courses will lean more towards commerce or retail, while others will focus on tourism or international business. The common threads of any business degree, however, tend to be looking at finance, marketing and human resource management.

Some business courses will have a more defined vocational element to them, so you'll be working in a team to create a company and market a product before you've finished looking at your reading list. Other courses will make work placements a compulsory part of the degree. Most universities will boast of having good links with business, which means visiting lecturers and the chance to build contacts.

Big business is no longer just about making money and ruthless takeovers, however. Companies are trying to improve their ethical and environmental standing, so expect to see relevant course modules popping up in the prospectus.

What skills will I gain?
As well as an understanding of how things work in business and management, by the time you graduate you should be able to demonstrate an understanding of markets, finance, managing people, operations, information systems, policy and strategy.

You probably won't be afraid of standing up in front of the class to present your ideas or argue your point around the negotiating table.

With group work a key part of many courses, you will have built up your teamwork and leadership skills, and be able to demonstrate your ability to consider all things related to establishing your own business and marketing a product.

You should also have an understanding of the ethical implications of business operations. If your work focuses on retail, you should be able to debate issues surrounding fair trade, for example.

A key part of managing others is the ability to relate to them and understand their needs, all skills you should be developing during your degree.

What job can I get?
A popular subject among students will inevitably mean tougher competition for jobs. And because it's not as specialist a field as architecture or medicine, say, you may find yourself up against graduates with history or economics degrees who decide in their final year that they want a career in business.

That said, the nature of your business courses and the practical experience that you've gained will mean you are well placed to get a job in the City or in one of the top companies that recruit graduates for their annual programmes. These graduate schemes should give you a good general grounding in business and the chance to focus on a particular area, such as human resources, or finance or marketing.

What will look good on the CV?
· Evidence of effective problem-solving and decision-making.
· Self-awareness and sensitivity in relation to business and management issues.
· The ability to address issues at international level.

Drama and dance

Sat, 25 May 2013 11:50 GMT

Study of artistic performance - includes drama, dance, cinematics and photography

League table for drama and dance

What will I learn?
There are a few misconceptions about studying drama or dance at degree level. The biggest one is that it's a soft option.

These subjects are among the most time-consuming and physically intense degrees on offer. Expect to spend long hours in the dance studio or theatre rehearsing and performing, on top of all the theory that will go with any course - such as the history of performance and different styles of performance and movement. These courses require a 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday commitment.

The ratio of practical to theory will depend on where you study. Specific theatre schools, for example, will lean heavily towards the practical, while some university courses will have more of an equal split. Choosing the right course requires a lot of care and attention.

Of course, it's not just about acting and dancing. These subjects encompass set design, directing, stage management and lighting and design. Then there are related courses in cinematography or photography to consider.

What skills will I gain?
You will certainly know how to express yourself - both on and off stage - which means you should be able to walk confidently into an audition for a stage musical or give a five-minute presentation for an office-based job with equal aplomb.

Chances are you will have been taught by those who have performed or are still performing, so you should have a good insight into the business.

Even if your course is more theory than practical, you will probably be encouraged to undertake some work experience in the industry, or to work on your own productions and performance pieces outside of lectures, which is a good way of improving ability and showcasing your talents.

Like other degrees, you will have built up a good knowledge of different traditions and styles and know how and where to research information.

And even if monologues are your thing, you can't study for a dance and drama degree without getting involved in some form of group work, so you'll have those all important teamwork skills to offer potential employers

What job can I get?
If you want to work in such a specialist area it shouldn't come as any great surprise that getting work won't be easy. But then it you wanted an easy ride you wouldn't have spent the previous three years getting sweaty in leggings and learning lines all day. You'll need determination and pluck to get acting or performance work, but it is out there.

Drama school graduates can be found in all manner of stage and television work, while those who took a behind-the-scenes degree often go on to jobs in costume and set design on stage musicals.

Dance graduates can be found in community dance projects or choreography.

Work in this area tends to be erratic, so chances are you'll need to do some odd jobs in order to eat and keep a roof over your head. But the good news is you'll have the right transferable skills to walk into a job in, say, retail, tourism, marketing or perhaps the voluntary sector.

Some graduates take further training to become dance and drama therapists.

What will look good on the CV?
· The ability to apply performance and production skills to communicate to an audience.
· The ability to exercise critical and physical skills.
· The ability to develop ideas and present them in appropriate ways.

English

Sat, 25 May 2013 11:40 GMT

Critical study of literature - poetry, novels, plays - and language

League table for English

What will I learn?
Judging by the reading lists that accompany most English literature courses, you'll acquaint yourself with a large number of authors during your degree. You will study a broad range of genres, topics and writers, from Shakespeare to Rushdie and quite a few in between.

You'll spend hours reading, discussing and writing about books and writers, but you will also be expected to analyse literature, know the genre and be able to put what you've read into some form of social and historical context.

There should be an opportunity to specialise, so if you have a penchant for women writers from the 19th century, or Irish poetry you could get the chance to study them in greater detail.

Linguistics is another subject usually found in English departments. Linguists are more concerned with the specific aspects of language - such as sound, grammar and meaning - rather than the creative use of it, so you'll investigate how languages differ, how language relates to thought, and how we understand it in both written and spoken form.

English can easily be taken as a joint honours subject, so you could tie it in with linguistics, drama, history, creative writing or media studies.

What skills will I gain?
You will have been exposed to a vast array of writers and should be able to respond to and articulate your thoughts and opinions on them. You should also be able to develop an argument, critique texts and have an appreciation of the different styles in which authors write.

Having spent the past three years discussing texts and commentary with your classmates and lecturers, and writing essays, you'll have gained good communication skills. If you've been able to study a few modules in creative writing, you will have developed some more practical skills.

You will need to read a lot of books, which can be a solitary affair. But time curled up on the sofa or in the library will have sharpened your time-management skills and your ability to work on your own.

What job can I get?
Unless you've incorporated some creative writing into your degree, English isn't a particularly vocational option, which leaves the door wide open on the job front.

Journalism would seem an obvious choice for those with a love of words. It may sound snobbish, but English graduates are still favoured in this area of work above those who leave university with media degrees.

Graduates will also be well placed for a career in publishing, law or marketing, so consider applying for graduate training schemes. With further study you could educate others by becoming a teacher.

What will look good on my CV?
· The ability to communicate effectively.
· The ability to exercise independent thought and judgment.
· The ability to plan and execute essays, reports and project work.

Religious studies and theology

Sat, 25 May 2013 11:30 GMT

Study of religious belief systems, including Christian theology, Islam and Buddhism

League table for religious studies and theology

What will I learn?
Rightly or wrongly, religion has played a major role in political and international events over the past few years, so understanding why things are said and done in the name of a higher being is more important now than it has ever been. The vast majority of the world's population profess faith in some form of deity, so religious studies is still a vibrant degree to study.

Depending on the course, you will learn the traditions of the world's major religions - Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. You will study their historical, theological, anthropological and sociological implications. You will learn when and why religions have clashed in the past, which may help you understand how they coexist today.

As well as the nuts and bolts of a religion (what people believe and how they express their beliefs), your course should examine how religion impacts on people's lives, how they behave: why they don't eat certain food and abstain from sex, for example.

You will examine sacred religious texts, looking at who wrote them and how they have been interpreted over the years, and the cultural implications of translation.

You may get the chance to explore the weighty issues of women in ministry, homosexuality and the church, theories of creation and religious extremism.

Theology, meanwhile, will focus specifically on Christianity, and, while a religious faith is not required to study it, people considering a career in church ministry often take these degrees. In fact, some theology departments are attached to Bible and theology colleges that train church leaders, so courses will often involve some work experience in a local church or Christian organisation.

Some universities offer joint degrees, so you could take religious studies with a relevant subject, such as history or philosophy.

What skills will I get?
You should graduate with an empathy and understanding of the world's different faiths and beliefs, skills of increasing value in today's world.

You should be able to critically debate the hot topics concerned with each religion, and why the belief systems of one religion can be at odds with those of another. Crucially, you should know how to discuss these issues with respect for other people's views.

As with other degrees, you should be able to work independently and in a group. And you will have good written, presentation and research skills.

You should also be able to know the meaning behind the texts you study and understand how translation and time can alter them. Who knows, you may pick up a bit of Aramaic or Hebrew along the way.

Theology students, who will usually give other religions more of a passing glance than detailed study, should graduate with a sound understanding of Christianity - the tenets of the faith, the writings in the Bible, and the structures of the church, for example.

What jobs can I get?
As a religious studies graduate you will have plenty of valuable skills to offer an employer and will be equipped to enter professions such as law, journalism or education, or in more pastoral work, such as counselling, mediation and negotiation or social work. Graduates are also founding in charity work, personnel and accountancy.

After a little more training, theology graduates are found in pulpits of various denominations across the land, or working for a church in other roles, such as community ministers or youth work.

What will look good on the CV?
· Demonstration of empathy and imaginative insight.
· The ability to gather, evaluate and synthesise different types of information.
· The ability to attend closely to the meaning of written documents.

Tim Dowling: testing times

Sat, 25 May 2013 08:01 GMT

'The oldest one's A-level revision, we explain, must be a matter for him alone… We tell him this between 30 and 40 times a day'

The oldest one has left school under a cloud. This is the phrase the school used on the last day of classes for the upper sixth, when they rang my wife to say he was one of a group of boys who, dressed as a giant Pac-Man and the ghosts who are both his pursuers and quarry, ran through the library and several classrooms, blasting the Pac-Man theme from hidden speakers. She recounts the call in a worried voice.

"Did you act shocked?" I ask. "Or did you admit you knew about it?"

"I said I knew about it," she says, turning pale. "I didn't tell them I paid for the costumes."

We hope we are entering the final phase of our parental control-freakery, at least as far as the oldest is concerned. His A-level revision, we explain, must be a matter for him alone; only he can summon up the required commitment, we cannot want it for him. We tell him this between 30 and 40 times a day, shaking him awake to deliver the message if necessary.

In the meantime the youngest one is still rehearsing his French oral presentation under duress. I've memorised a page and a half of French in the process, just as I once accidentally learned to play Moon River on the violin, pursuing the middle one's grade two certificate.

"What is the sport that you detest?" I say.

"Le sport je que deteste est…"

"Le sport que je deteste," I say.

"I'm not doing this with you any more," he says.

"If the words aren't in the right order, it doesn't count as French."

"Mum!"

On the morning before his first English exam, the oldest one will not rise to receive his lecture on personal responsibility. He cannot speak, or lift his head from the pillow.

"He has a temperature of 101," my wife says. "He's delirious. What do we do?"

"You get some paracetamol," I say. "And I will shout quotations from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein into his ear."

My wife rings the GP, but the woman who answers the phone cannot be induced to share her panic. She doesn't seem to consider the boy's inability to absorb quotations from secondary sources to be a genuine symptom, and anyway there are no available appointments. She tells my wife to take him to A&E.

My wife ignores the advice, puts the boy in the car, drives him to the surgery and deposits him at the front desk. An hour later she returns with a doctor's letter and a course of antibiotics. The boy has an upper respiratory infection.

"It's ridiculous!" my wife shouts, waving the letter. "What if I wasn't an annoying middle-class person? What would happen then?" I shudder to think. I have long regarded my wife's peremptory manner as a kind of superpower. She even once deployed her sharp elbows in a voluntary capacity, extracting national insurance numbers on behalf of the children of asylum seekers by being demanding and icily polite on the phone. There's no question such a talent could be dangerous in the wrong hands.

The next day, grey-faced and coughing, the boy goes to school with a letter explaining his condition, to be found on his person should he expire mid-test. Three hours later he is back, flushed and perspiring, forehead on the kitchen table.

"How was it?" I say.

"It was fine, actually," he says, opening one bloodshot eye.

"Fine?" I say. I consider the being whom I have cast among mankind, and endowed with the power to effect purposes of horror, and think about all the Frankenstein quotes I can now unmemorise.

Tim Dowling

War games: never just child's play

Sat, 25 May 2013 07:00 GMT

A new exhibition at the V&A Museum of Childhood explores the history of playing at war as Ed Cumming reports

Secret Teacher: our students are much more than levels and data

Sat, 25 May 2013 06:00 GMT

No amount of data or spreadsheets can alter the fact that all students progress at different rates, says Secret Teacher

The school I teach in is challenging and many students appear to make slow progress when measured by the crude metric of national curriculum levels, which of course academies and free schools are not bound by.

Levels give a rudimentary measure of pupils' progress at best, and allow snap judgements of students, teachers and, thanks to Ofsted, schools. They tell us little or nothing about the sometimes small, incremental steps that pupils and teachers make every day.

I know that what is valued most by pupils is feedback. I know from my conversations with students over many years that the process of learning and progress is a complex and highly personalised one. It is not simply about data and analysis.

Let me give you an example. The senior leadership team (SLT) are doing lesson observations. An experienced deputy headteacher is observing. He notes that a young teacher has the pupils' rapt attention as she outlines the task. The class, who are far from easy, are fully engaged as they start their group work.

Progress in the lesson is good and I pick on a couple of students to talk to. The conversation goes as follows:

"Do you know what level you are at?"
"Level 5a."
"What's your target for this year?"
"Level 5c"
"What do you have to do to get there?"
"Work harder."

I change tack with the next student and ask to look at his book. In it the teacher's excellent diagnostic marking is full of recognition of the things that the student can do and advice on how he can improve.

"How do you think you are doing?"
"Well, I can use the present tense quite well but I need to try and use the perfect and future tenses more."
"How do you know that?"
"Well, miss has written it in my book and she spoke to me earlier about it."

Later on that day, the assistant headteacher responsible for data hands me sheets for the curriculum areas I manage. Each student, in each subject, has been levelled by his teacher. Each painstakingly produced spreadsheet has every student labelled by level and how much progress he has made from key stage 2. Some have made good progress; others appear to have fared less well. Patterns can be discerned of progress in various subjects, plans are drawn up and 'difficult conversations' planned.

All of the above is meat and drink to anyone in every secondary school in England and has been for the vast majority of my 22 years in teaching. Still though, I have a sense of unease. In my school, as in every other, we have complicated and robust systems for the production and analysis of levels of attainment, megabytes of data are available for each and every pupil and for every possible group within the students.

Far too often levels are an easy way to make summative judgements of a process that is ongoing. Any formative impact they may have gets lost in a welter of jargon and cliche which, while it is present on most classroom walls, means little or nothing to students. The thought of using them to allocate performance-related pay fills me with more terror than I can say.

Surely we can do much better than this? Each and every student we have is an individual and will make progress in a different way and at varying pace. Surely the 'soft' data from a teacher and his/her knowledge of a student's talent will tell us more about their progress than 'hard' levels.

Let's free ourselves from this tyranny and trust our professionalism to tell us about progress, good teachers have always known this and more importantly they know how to communicate what needs to be done to their pupils. The old cliche that weighing a pig more doesn't result in making it any fatter is as true in education as it ever has been in animal husbandry.

Today's Secret Teacher works at a school in London.

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The Secret Teacher

Letters: Joyce Robertson's films had a huge impact on trainee social workers

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:44 GMT

Barbara Richardson writes: The films made by Joyce Robertson and her husband James had a huge impact on me as a trainee social worker in 1969 and still inform my views on childcare and parenting. They deserved a much wider audience: the messages in them are still relevant for every carer who looks after very young children.

I was once told that the film about "John", a powerful study of the breakdown, in a very short time, of a small boy in residential care, could not be shown on TV because "it is too harrowing". It would be a timely reminder to policymakers seeking to increase the number of children looked after by one carer if the Robertsons' work could be the subject of a television documentary.

Malcolm Pim writes: While training as a social worker, I absorbed much from the Robertsons' Young Children in Brief Separation films. Together with the then relatively recent work of John Bowlby on maternal deprivation, their work is still an influence, if not often acknowledged. The current theories around attachment, of course, stem directly from their work.

Woolwich killing: universities crack down on the preachers of hate

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:07 GMT

Universities asked to draw up guidelines on handling preachers with track record of inciting hatred in aftermath of attack

A fresh drive to prevent radicalisation of impressionable students on campus is being launched in which universities will be asked to draw up guidelines on how to handle preachers who have a track record of inciting hatred, at the end of a dramatic week that saw a soldier murdered in Woolwich in the first terror-related incident on mainland Britain since the 7 July 2005 bombings.

Universities UK, which represents higher education institutions, launched a new campaign in an attempt to show students, unions and academics what they can do to constrain controversial preachers.

Ministers are reluctant to reach for a barrage of new legislation in the wake of the terrorist murder of a soldier outside Woolwich barracks, but recognise they need to do more to revive Labour's stalled Prevent strategy, which was introduced by the previous government in an attempt to forestall young people becoming involved with extremist groups.

One of the suspects in Wednesday's murder of Lee Rigby, Michael Adebolajo, converted to Islam in 2003 and attended events of the now banned al-Muhajiroun group. But it is not clear that there was any university link.

The limited government response emerged on the day that the family of murdered soldier Lee Rigby fought back tears at an emotionally charged press conference describing their shock that a soldier who had served in Afghanistan was killed in broad daylight on the streets of London.

Rigby's wife, Rebecca, and stepfather, Ian Rigby, spoke on behalf of the family at the regimental HQ of his unit, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, at Bury in Greater Manchester.

"I love Lee and always will," said Mrs Rigby. "I am proud to be his wife and he was due to come up this weekend so we could continue our future together as a family … You don't expect it to happen when he's in the UK. You think they're safe."

She said her husband, from Langley, in Middleton, Greater Manchester, was a devoted father to their two-year-old son, adding: "His proudest moments were serving in London on the ceremonials with the drum corps."

Conservative Muslims have urged the government to go further and publish its own official list of speakers that it believes universities should not allow.

Mohammed Amin, vice-chair of the Conservative Muslim forum yesterday urged the faiths minister, Lady Warsi, to consider publishing a list of the proscribed preachers.

Amin said: "Too many times institutions say they would have banned someone if they had known about their background, but by then it is too late. Only government has the resources to publish this list and to be free of the threat of legal action. If someone objected to being on the list they could appeal. It is not illiberal."

Rupert Sutton, from Student Rights, an organisation aimed at preventing extremism at universities, said he hoped universities would develop internal lists of speakers liable to preach hatred or violence. He added: "There is a problem with Prevent at many universities, partly because it comes from government and partly because it is seen as anti-Muslim. It needs to be refocused much more clearly as being opposed to extremism of both right and left."

The two suspects, Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, were shot and arrested at the scene and remain in police custody in separate hospitals. It emerged earlier this week that the pair had been known to security services but had not been considered a serious threat.

Adebolajo was stopped when he arrived in Kenya on a recent visit – when he may have been intending to travel on to Somalia – and was subsequently deported. Last year he also complained of harassment by MI5, which is under fire for not taking further action.

The Guardian has been also told that the head of MI5, Andrew Parker, will next week deliver a preliminary report to the parliamentary intelligence and security committee, responsible for parliamentary oversight, which is probing what the service knew of the Woolwich terror suspects.

However, despite this week's setback, the agencies are putting pressure on Whitehall not to slash back its budgets in the spending review this summer, a plea backed by Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the chairman of the intelligence and security committee.

Yesterday morning, Ed Miliband made a private visit to Woolwich barracks to pay his respects and Nick Clegg told a meeting of faith leaders in London that people had a choice to reject the "corrosive feeling of fear" affecting their lives in the aftermath of the murder. The leader of the far-right British National party, Nick Griffin visited the scene of the killing in the afternoon.

At the press conference, Rigby's stepfather struggled to contain his emotions as he read a statement, painting a portrait of a young man who had fulfilled his ambition of joining the army and who drew immense pleasure from his family:

"What can we say about Lee, our hero? When Lee was born the family adored him, he was a precious gift given to us."

He said Rigby had realised his boyhood dream in joining the army. "He was dedicated and loved his job. Lee adored and cared a lot for his family; he was very much a family man, looking out for his wife, young son, Jack, younger sisters – who in turn looked up to him. He always had a banter with them but would never ever let any harm come to them."

The last text Rigby had sent to his mother, he said, read: "Goodnight mum, I hope you had a fantastic day today because you are the most fantastic and one-in-a million mum that anyone could ever wish for. Thank you for supporting me all these years, you're not just my mum you're my best friend. So goodnight, love you loads."

Patrick Wintour

Matthew Taylor

Nick Hopkins

We need to talk to children about porn | Justin Hancock

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:30 GMT

Parents are worried about what their children view online, but we should talk to young people about that as part of sex education

Porn is now so easily accessible online, and so prevalent, that it is understandable that parents, teachers and policymakers are worried. What we aren't teaching about sex and relationships (at home or school) is brought into sharp focus when we think about what young people might be learning from porn.

But what do we actually know about what young people are seeing, at what age? What can we say about what impact it is having? And how should we, the adults who care about them, respond?

Today's report from the children's commissioner for England highlights just how complicated the picture is. Its headline finding is that there is a link between porn and the attitudes and values of young people who see it: "Pornography has been linked to unrealistic attitudes about sex; maladaptive attitudes about relationships; more sexually permissive attitudes; greater acceptance of casual sex; beliefs that women are sex objects; more frequent thoughts about sex; sexual uncertainty (eg the extent to which children and young people are unclear about their sexual beliefs and values); and less progressive gender role attitudes (eg male dominance and female submission)."

Another recent literature review by Ofcom, this time peer-reviewed, suggests the variance of these effects are tiny. In other words, where a study does find an effect – seeing porn leads to more permissive behaviour, say – the difference in behaviour between those who see porn and those who don't is very small.

Also we do not know whether porn has a causal effect. It may have caused a change in attitude, or young people may already have these attitudes, which makes them more interested in porn, or it could be a bit of both – or even something else entirely that hasn't been tested. Sue Berlowitz, the deputy children's commissioner, refers to an association with porn when young sex offenders referred to their actions, but this doesn't prove a causal link.

The report also highlights that children and young people are critical and literate viewers of porn, applying the faculties they develop from consuming other media. Young people report being able to look after themselves and know what to do if they see something they don't like.

Not all use of porn is for sexual arousal either. Some young people are exposed to porn without their consent (pop-ups, blind links); some go looking for it but become exposed to something "harder" than they were expecting; some look because they find something funny or shocking; some to rebel; some to learn; and some to be sexually aroused. Young people are more likely to be interested in porn when they start to get interested in sex – and most young teenagers aren't interested yet.

The EU Kids Online report by the London School of Economics found that just 11% of 9- to 16-year-olds in the UK had viewed sexual images online in the previous 12 months. Just 2% had seen something that showed sex in a violent way. Of the 11%, 24% (3% of all 9- to 16-year-olds using the internet in the UK) were upset by what they had seen. Older teens were more likely to have seen a sexual image than younger teens. The youngest were the least likely to see a sexual image but more likely to be upset by it (typically their response was to close the image down and tell a parent or friend). Young people in the UK are actually more likely to see sexual images on TV than on the internet.

From this confused picture, we can say a few things with some confidence: most young people aren't exposed to porn frequently, most aren't bothered about it, we can't demonstrate that porn causes an effect, and young people are critical and literate when they use it. So what's the problem?

While the "dangers" of porn are overstated by many, these studies should be a wake-up call. We must accept that the traditional "don't get pregnant", "wait till you're older" style of sex education doesn't cut it any more (in my view it never has). Schools and parents must talk about porn when they talk to young people about sex and relationships. This should not alarm people: it is really just another way of doing work on gender, sexuality, body image, safety, sexual norms, consent, arousal, desire, pleasure, power, lust, love and relationships – we should be talking about all this anyway.

It is made easier if you remember it's not about you. What the young person is seeing is not the same as what you see they are seeing. Listen more than talk. Talking may help adults feel better but it doesn't give young people the space they need. Kids should know they can tell someone if they are upset or confused.

And adults should be active in children's use of the internet, asking questions about what they are looking at, being interested – young people actually welcome this (though avoid looking at porn with someone under 18 as this may be considered unlawful). Filtering out sexual content may work (and should ensure young children don't see anything upsetting), but it's not a panacea and offers a false sense of security.

The best response when educating young people about sex is to be calm, measured and factual. It's very hard to do this when we hear about the "dangers" of porn and the seeming inevitability of young people seeing it, and being harmed by it.

Justin Hancock

Max Perutz 1914-2002: the godfather of molecular biology - video

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:10 GMT

Scientists who worked with the Nobel prize-winning pioneer discuss his legacy alongside footage and previously unseen interviews

You want to get an Eton scholarship? All you need to do is answer four (not so simple) questions

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:47 GMT

It might not be such a great leap of faith for the applicants - but children taking one of Eton’s entrance examinations were asked to imagine they were the Prime Minister.

Mum-of-two who classmates thought was dead turns up for school reunion 30 years later

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:40 GMT

Christine Greenslade was eager to meet up with her old school chums - but a blunder in an obituary from 1980 meant they thought she'd been dead for three decades.

Chasing the job market is no way to choose a degree | Ally Fogg

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:34 GMT

University applicants should certainly follow their heart as well as their head – the job market is too unpredictable to second guess

Readers unfortunate to have grown up in the 1970s will doubtless recall a kids' TV game show called Runaround. A chaotic throng of youngsters would begin on a studio floor where they would be asked a question. When gravel-throated cockney Mike Reid bellowed "Runaround!" the contestants would cram themselves into one of three zones, to choose their answer. Those who were correct would get points, those who chose badly would be ejected from the game.

The fun part was when lots of children weren't sure of the answer, and they would watch to see where other kids were going and desperately try to hurl themselves into the herd. The tactical victors were those who knew when to ignore the throng and go their own way.

A little later on, I found myself playing a rather more serious version of the game as I filled in the options for my university applications. I'd long assumed I would study English literature, the only subject for which I'd shown any real aptitude at school. My precocious and pretentious reading at the time was veering into the existentialist fiction of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus (and I think I quite fancied myself in a beret), so I also contemplated a new frontier in philosophy. Talking to peers, friends, teachers and careers advisors made me think again. With the Thatcherite revolution in full swing, employability was the word on everyone's lips. Anyone with a leaning towards humanities and social sciences was being funnelled into psychology courses which would, we were assured, lead to unlimited, lucrative career options.

Inevitably, we all graduated simultaneously into an employment market that could have papered its walls with indistinguishable applications from psychology graduates. We didn't have jobs, but thanks to detailed study of the experiments of Solomon Asch, at least we knew why. In my case I have no regrets – I loved the subject and did well enough, but many of my peers might have been better advised to follow their initial instincts and passions and follow a less populous path when the voice shouted: "Runaround!"

This week, Mary Curnock Cook, the chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas), has shown considerable wisdom in advising young people to follow their heart, as well as their head (paywalled link), in choosing further education courses. With the prospect of huge fees and loan repayments, she warns that ever more applicants are pursuing options which they assume will have better employment and salary potential, only to find themselves struggling on a course which they neither enjoy nor care about.

Employers wouldn't necessarily disagree. Many recruiters are less interested in acquired knowledge than ability to think and learn. Carl Gilleard, the chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters, said recently: "I'm certainly not against someone choosing a course because they have a deep love of the subject. If you study something you really care about, you'll probably do better."

This is eminently sensible advice, but my own experience suggests it is not the only factor. The needs of employers and the economy can change very quickly, and often unexpectedly. Research from the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (Hecsu) recently found that in 2006-07, twice as many psychology graduates as civil engineers were out of work. By 2010-11, after the crash of the construction industry, more civil engineering graduates than psychologists were unemployed.

Individuals must make their own choices, but a healthy society requires a degree of intellectual and academic diversity. If one is planning strategy for a corporation, it cannot be ideal to be surrounded by colleagues who have all learned to think in the same way from the same business administration textbooks. It is an issue of genuine (and non-partisan) concern that so many of our politicians and their advisors have been schooled by the exact same tutors in PPE at Oxford.

It is a truism that, since the 1980s, our universities have increasingly come to resemble educational sausage factories, with graduates turned out according to the needs of business and the market. If it must be like that, the very least we could do is ensure that the sausages come out in as wide a variety of shapes, sizes and flavours as possible.

As for any teenagers reading, I can't advise you which course would be best for you. But I can tell you that accountancy students drink the most, philosophers take the most drugs but, as we learned last autumn, economists have the most sex. Coincidentally, the applications submitted to Ucas in January saw a 4.8% in demand for economics. Don't forget to explain to your parents that the course offers excellent career potential.

Ally Fogg

Public engagement: what does it mean in higher education today? – live chat

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:29 GMT

Join our experts Friday 31 May from 12pm BST to discuss benefits, drawbacks, media, message and innovative practice

What does public engagement actually mean? It's one of those terms for which it's hard to find a single definition that reflects its wider purpose and the many forms it takes within the higher education sector.

The National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement has given it a go and come up with this: "Public engagement describes the myriad of ways in which the activity and benefits of higher education and research can be shared with the public. Engagement is by definition a two-way process, involving interaction and listening, with the goal of generating mutual benefit."

If sharing research and university news with society communicates the benefits of higher education, is a simple press release a form of public engagement – or is the process more sophisticated? What innovative and exciting ways are universities putting engagement into practice, or making their practice engaging?

A few come to mind which have made particular waves: Bright Club, which started at UCL and is now running in seven locations around the UK, encourages researchers to take to the stage and describe their work in a funny way. One of Bright Club's 10 commandments reads: "If the audience and performers don't leave cleverer than they arrived you're doing it wrong."

Humour is one way of disseminating information to lay audiences, but, of course, not everyone is (or wants to be) funny. Technology is another way to get your message across. Professor Martyn Poliakoff CBE has become a YouTube sensation with his Periodic Table of Videos channel, which has more than 66,000 subscribers and over 20 million views in 200 countries.

What is the best approach for institutions and academics to take – and to what ends? In this live chat, we want to dissect the meaning of public engagement, look at the potential rewards and drawbacks, and focus on what universities are doing to develop their strategy and skills base in this area.

With REF (Research Excellence Framework) looming and research impact a major drive for many institutions, we want to discuss innovative practice, from real-time events to media exposure and digital interaction, as well as asking what role collaboration between institutions, departments and individuals plays in successful public engagement?

Join our live web chat Friday 31 May from 12-2pm BST in the comments section below and share your thoughts on what public engagement means to you. You can also follow the debate live on Twitter using the hashtag #HElivechat.

Panel to be confirmed

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To get more articles like this direct to your inbox, become a member of the Higher Education Network.

Claire Shaw

The UK's immigration crackdown will lead to a loss of international talent | Sarah Mulley

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:58 GMT

Cuts to foreign student numbers mean a future Indian prime minister might end up studying in Sydney rather than Sussex

The government is making significant progress towards its target of reducing net migration to the UK to less than 100,000 per year. Figures published on Thursday showed estimated net migration down to 153,000 in the year ending September 2012 (from 242,000 in the previous year). But this has come at a cost – in their haste to meet the target, ministers have changed the rules to keep out migrants who can bring huge benefits to the UK.

The decline in immigration has been driven in large part by falling numbers of international students. Focused on their target, it has made sense, at least in the short term, for ministers to focus on students, simply because they are the largest single group arriving in any given year (accounting for around 60% of non-EU immigration). Put simply, while international students are included in the net migration target, the easiest way for the government to make progress towards it (and indeed the only way to meet it) is for ministers to seek significant reductions in their numbers. For all the talk of the UK being "open for business", the government's target is completely incompatible with growth in the international student market in the UK.

Much of the political rhetoric around students has focused on abuse of the visa system. In the past this has been a major problem – the steps taken by the previous and current governments to shut down so-called "bogus colleges", and reduce the number of students with no real intention of studying – were overdue. Abuse of the student visa regime remains an issue, and one that the Home Office need to tackle, but the recent reductions in numbers are not accounted for simply by the government "cut[ting] out abuse", as immigration minister Mark Harper put it yesterday (the reduction in numbers significantly exceeds even the highest previous estimates of abuse). Large number of genuine students are being kept out (or put off) too.

All this comes at a cost. Education is one of the UK's most successful export sectors, albeit an export sector (like tourism) that mostly works by bringing customers (students) to the UK rather than sending goods abroad. International students contribute an estimated £8bn to the UK economy every year, paying high fees to universities and colleges and making a valuable contribution to local economies. The students turned away, or being put off, from the UK would have been customers for bars, shops and restaurants, as well as for colleges, at a time when sources of growth are few and far between.

With higher education facing drastic funding cuts, universities were relying on growth in the international student market to fill the gaps in their finances. Although higher education has, so far, been much less badly affected than other parts of the education sector, UK universities are still concerned. A previous trend of rapid growth has been halted, and a substantial number of international university students come via the UK FE sector, which has seen numbers fall by almost 50% – the full impacts of the new rules on universities have yet to be seen.

Particularly worrying is the fact that many strategically important Stem (science, technology, engineering, and maths) departments depend heavily on international students for their very existence. The student unable to get a visa to study at a UK FE college this year might have been the star student in a university maths department in 2015, and the top lecturer in that department in 2030.

As well as bringing immediate economic benefits, foreign students bring dynamism, innovation, and international connections which can benefit the UK in the long term. Fewer Indian students now (down 38% in the year to March 2013) might mean that 2015's IT entrepreneur finds herself graduating from Stanford, handily located for Silicon Valley, rather than from Imperial, handily located for Silicon Roundabout. Or that 2020's industrial magnate finds himself fondly remembering student days in Toronto, rather than Manchester, when making his investment decisions. Or even that India's prime minister in 2030 finds that she has a greater affinity with Australia, the country where she completed her graduate studies, than with the ever-more-distant former colonial power of the UK.

None of this is to say that there are not difficult trade-offs here. Taking steps to reduce abuse in the visa system, for example, will always lead to some genuine applicants being turned away. But in their rush to meet an arbitrary net migration target, the government are making bad decisions; decisions that will, in the long-term, do more harm than good.

Sarah Mulley

Bank holiday and half-term events for families around the UK

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:46 GMT

Street art in Bristol, a Neverland theme park opening in Plymouth and raft racing in Portrush are just some of the family-friendly events taking place around the country over the bank holiday and half term

Surrey: the Big Picnic at Hampton Court Palace, 25-27 May

Head over to Hampton Court Palace over the long weekend, but don't forget your sandwiches and scotch eggs, as all ticket holders are invited to join a mass picnic in the grounds. Admittedly, the agenda doesn't sound particularly appetising – offering picnickers the chance to meet a blood-sucking leech and have a "smallpox makeover". But plenty of gruesome tales over lunch means kids will enjoy it far more than the usual riverside picnic. For those with more refined tastes, there's a Pimm's bar and cream teas, as well as a barbecue for those who forget their hampers.
• 0844 482 7777, hrp.org.uk, adults £16.50, children free

Bristol: Upfest, 25-27 May

It's hard to mention Bristol street art without mentioning a certain graffiti artist that comes from the area. But so much great street art has sprung from here, both before and after Banksy started stealing all the headlines. So much so that the city has a well-established urban paint festival, Upfest. Now in its sixth year, the event has an emphasis on live demonstrations, rather than just admiring local murals (which you can do anytime, solo or with Bristol Street Art Tours). For one weekend only, the city is making way for 250 artists from across the world, who will take part in live painting and illustration battles, plus there's music across four stages and a variety of food stalls. Family activities include face-painting for younger kids and spray paint workshops for older ones.

Also in Bristol, from 24-26 May, is VegFestUK, Britain's leading veggie festival, where aside from plenty of food, there'll be live music from performers not usually associated with healthy lifestyles, including Happy Mondays, Peter Hook and 808 State.
• Upfest at the Tobacco Factory and throughout North Street, from 11am until 8pm, free. VegFestUK at Amphitheatre and Waterfront Square. Ticket pricing is somewhat complicated, depending on the time and day (from £2 to £25) – check bristol.vegfest.co.uk for details

Cornwall: Superheroes Day at Crealy Great Adventure Park, 28 May

Pinning their superhero celebration to the release of a new Superman film (Christopher Nolan's Man of Steel), Crealy Great Adventure Park is offering a loose but perfectly acceptable excuse for getting dressed up in tights. All ages are encouraged to get into the spirit of Tuesday's theme, but it's kids who'll receive half-price entry for dressing up as their favourite comic book character or cartoon character. Superman, Batman and Captain America will be appearing throughout the day. The park, near Newquay, also has 40-plus regular rides and attractions for three to 13-year-olds, including a brand-new reptile house, Crocodile Corner, and 40,000 sq ft of indoor play areas, which could come in very handy if the weather turns.
• Near Wadebridge, 01841 540 276, crealy.co.uk, family of three £40.68, family of four £54.24 (online ticket prices)

Pembrokeshire: Oakwood Theme Park

Oakwood Theme Park is celebrating another family favourite: Peter Pan. Neverland, their new £4m attraction, will be up and running in time for half term. Spread over three acres, it includes a pirate-themed log flume, a crocodile rollercoaster, Hook's House of Havoc soft play and a Sights of London taxi ride, featuring Big Ben, the Tower of London and Nelson's Column. Older visitors seeking a few more thrills shouldn't miss Megafobia, often said to be one of the world's best wooden rollercoasters.
• Oakwood Theme Park, Narberth. Adults £19, children £13, family of four £59 (online ticket prices)

West Sussex: Arundel Castle 25-27 May

If you live in – or near – West Sussex, avoid doing battle with the usual bank-holiday traffic and stay closer to home to witness a fight of a different sort: Arundel Castle's three-day enactment of a battle between the Houses of Lancaster and York. Though such a siege never actually happened here, the idea is to give visitors a sense of life during the War of the Roses and how it would have felt for the castle to come under threat. Over 200 participants from the Raven Tor Living History Group will be dressed in replica outfits, plus they'll be medieval craft demonstrations and 14th-century armour to try on. Expect plenty of cannons and combat on the edge of the river Arun.
• arundelcastle.org, tickets £8, free for under 5s

Plymouth: pirate weekend, 25-26 May

Landlubbers are invited to get a taste of life as a pirate in Plymouth over the bank holiday weekend. Historical ship the Bessie Ellen will be berthed in Sutton Harbour, and visitors will have the chance to go on board to explore (free, from 10am to 4pm) with a costume competition judged daily at 3pm. There's also a treasure hunt through the area – download the map on visitplymouth.co.uk or pop into the Barbican-based tourist office. Plus there'll be sword-fighting demonstrations, a pirate-themed puppet show, face painting and craft workshops around the harbour and Barbican.
• Barbican and Sutton Harbour, from 10am to 4pm, free, visitplymouth.co.uk

Northumberland: Hadrian's Wall, 28 May-2 June

Enroll at Roman soldier school to mark 10 years since Hadrian's Wall Path was relaunched as a national trail. Maximus, the centurion, will be leading activities that include making paper Roman helmets, handling ancient artefacts, dressing up and taking part in a Roman drill. There are various other events along the wall, including walks along the Cumbrian section. • Housesteads Roman Fort, near Bardon Mill, visithadrianswall.co.uk. Adults £6.20, children £5.60, English Heritage members free

Leeds: Food Festival, 24 May-9 June

You've got a window of more than two weeks to visit the Leeds Loves Food festival, as well a range of over 50 venues to choose from. There's pop-up dining and cocktails in the Trinity shopping centre, the chance to show off your baking skills during the Great Leeds Bake Off, blind whisky tasting, a night food fair, and all manner of food stalls. Masterchef finalist Sara Danesin-Medio will also be giving a cooking demonstration and serving dinner to a lucky few at the Northern Ballet Dinner Club. The event culminates in the final weekend (7-9 June) with the Yorkshire Food and Drink Show in Millennium Square. See leeds-list.com for a mouth-watering look at the highlights.
• See visitleeds.co.uk for many free events and some ticketed dinners

Portrush, Northern Ireland: raft race, 25-26 May

This local tradition is in its 32nd year, and around 80 homemade rafts are expected to fill the waterfront. Many are imaginative, lots are colourful, some are just plain silly, but all have the primary aim of staying afloat from the West Strand beach to Portrush harbour. Fortunately, the RNLI – who run the event – is on hand throughout, just in case. There's a festival atmosphere and no shortage of entertainment along the quay. There's a waiters' race, too, which takes place in the harbour on Sunday at 3pm and is also quite the spectacle, with lots of fancy dress and crowd participation.

• portrushraftrace.co.uk, free

Wiltshire: Sunrise festival, 30 May-2 June

The poor crowd at Sunrise festival didn't see much sun last year, when the British weather turned the site into a mud bath. This year, organisers vow to make it more watertight, having moved from their site on an organic farm in Somerset to Thoulston Park, Wiltshire. Said to be the most sustainable festival in the UK, it is powered entirely by renewable energy (including waste vegetable oil). There's even a solar-powered dance stage. Let's hope they have some sort of back-up, just in case. The Storylands area will keep the kids entertained, and there's music across 10 stages, with a line-up including Dub Pistols, Krafty Kuts and the Beat.
• sunrisefestivals.co.uk, adults £115, children £25, family tickets £255

London and beyond: Chelsea Fringe, 18 May-9 June

There must be something in the water, because Chelsea Fringe has certainly grown in its second year, now sprouting some 200 projects as offbeat alternatives to the Chelsea Flower Show. Moving far beyond SW3 and spreading right across the capital and beyond – including Bristol, Canterbury and even Vienna, the three-week event is already well underway. The botanical garden-inspired gin bar sounds like a fine idea, but more child-friendly activities include a treasure hunt through Chiswick herb gardens and a dog show at Inner Temple Garden. But the pick of the crop has to be the tie-in events with Battersea Power Station, primarily because it makes the perfect excuse for visiting its new pop-up park (open until September).
• chelseafringe.com

Vicky Baker

The Eton entrance questions every 12-year-old future PM should be asked | Daisy Buchanan

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:30 GMT

'You are the prime minister,' candidates were told, not implausibly. But how would they fare with these humdingers?

Much is made of the fact that girls are expected to enter their teens in a state of anxiety, uncertain of their wishes, ambitions and future powers. Whether this is true or not, such allowances are rarely made for adolescent boys, who are expected to be filled with careless confidence. Especially if they're adolescent boys who hope to attend Eton.

The 12- and 13-year-olds competing for the school's King's scholarships in 2011 probably felt quite confident encountering a question that stated "You are the prime minister". We can't know whether the majority pictured themselves off camera in The Thick Of It or dancing around Downing Street a la Hugh Grant in Love Actually, but their moods may have darkened when it emerged they were being asked to justify the act of deploying soldiers who had opened fire and killed 25 protesters.

The scenario for the question was set in year 2040, when one of the candidates could feasibly be in a position to answer the question for real. Which makes me think Eton is the perfect training ground for future leaders, not because it offers an education better than anything else available in Britain, but for the reason that it forces its students to make their minds up about moral issues at an early age. If you want a decision made quickly and efficiently, you go to a person who sees the world in black and white – ideally, someone who thinks like a fairly bright 12-year-old.

Having made its privileged participants resolve the thorny issue of avoidable, government sanctioned fatalities, one can only hope the rest of the scholarship exam was packed with the sort of questions that would prepare them for other dramas that might present themselves as they approached middle age. For example:

• You're in the Royal Enclosure at Ascot when you notice your female companion is wearing the same hat as the Duchess of Cambridge. Do you?

a. Use your origami skills to quickly construct a brand new hat from your companion's pashmina.

b. Cry "Oh no, the wind!", grab hold of the offending headgear and fling it into the Grandstand.

c. Force your companion to spend the duration of the event locked in the lavatory.

• The year is 2050, and it's time to look into some London property for your grown-up children. Based on the anticipated fluctuations of the housing market, which area represents the best investment? Show your workings.

• Is it ever acceptable to appear on a reality television show? Write an answer, remembering to take into account the risk of besmirching your family name, the damage a camera crew could inflict upon any inherited carpets and the value of potential merchandising opportunities.

• You're staying at a friend's place in the country, and after too much port you eat your host's collection of Fabergé eggs when he's asleep. Write a full and profuse apology in 3,500 words.

Ultimately there are no right answers here – but as long as your response reveals the full, unwavering weight of your convictions you should be well on your way to leading the country, via the country's top public school. Perhaps a better question to set prospective Etonians would be "The year is 2041. You are the prime minister, and a full-scale class war has broken out …"

Daisy Buchanan

Suffolk and Hackney schools join up

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:22 GMT

Complacency is to blame for poor performance in Suffolk Schools, according to a report.

Panicking locals mistake school CSI-style science project for real murder scene

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:56 GMT

The scene of the forensic science project in Kington, Herefordshire, was so convincing residents living nearby became convinced a major crime had been committed in their quiet community.

Sex education struggles with porn

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:10 GMT

In an age when "extremely violent and sadistic imagery is two clicks away", school sex education is struggling to keep pace, suggests a study.

'Porn made me think sex was brutal'

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:10 GMT

'Porn made me think sex was brutal'

Automated marking: bad for essays?

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:11 GMT

Knowing that your work will not be seen by the human eye takes all the satisfaction out of essay writing

How would you like your work to be marked by a robot? If you're a student on a free online course – like those run by EdX – then you can expect to have your essays assessed through instant grading software. It works by recognising and rewarding the key words, phrases and structures in your work.

Using this type of technology on a free, unaccredited course is one thing but the New York Times recently reported that four US states – Louisiana, North Dakota, Utah and West Virginia – now use automated essay grading systems in secondary schools. Automated essay grading is also increasingly being used in large-scale standardised tests in the United States.

But academia is not on board. A petition against its use has collected 3,600 signatures, and has the support of the well-known computational linguist, Noam Chomsky. The petition argues that automated essay grading should not be used in any decision affecting a person's life or livelihood and should be discontinued for all large-scale assessments because "computers cannot read", or measure the essentials of effective writing.

If this hasn't convinced you that automatic grading shouldn't be let loose on students, see the example of Les Perelman. While working as a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he submitted a nonsense essay to the US Educational Testing Service's automated grading system e-Rater. It got the highest possible mark. Here's an excerpt from his work: "I live in a luxury dorm. In reality, it costs no more than rat-infested rooms at a Motel Six. The best minds of my generation were destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, and publishing obscene odes on the windows of the skull." The essay is hilarious, but the idea that our marks could be entrusted to the same software is not so funny.

Perelman concluded in his critique of automated essay marking that longer writing and bigger words got better grades and that the ways to corrupt the auto-grader are almost limitless. E-rater, the creators of the software that graded his essay, responded by saying that if students were smart enough to deceive the software they deserved good grades. Considering that Perelman's advice leads to the absolute nonsense quoted above, I wonder whether any of the humans at E-rater actually read his essay before they made that comment.

It appears that automated grading isn't ready to replace human markers. We don't have to worry about it coming to our universities just yet. But one day it might be wise enough to recognise a good essay from a mediocre one – and this raises some questions.

Do we get a discount on our fees equal to the wages saved by getting an unpaid computer to do the marking in a nano-second?

In all seriousness though, the biggest question for me is not pragmatic but romantic. I wonder how it will feel to slave over a piece of work for hours and know that no-one at all will ever read it. It's not like I kid myself that my undergraduate essays are actually furthering the debate. The process is essentially an exercise, pretty much just for the benefit of the student. But I can hope for more… that if my essay is inspired, it might pique the interest of the marker, surprise or entertain them. If nobody reads it there will be no illusion it is more than practice: a you-and-back-to-you feedback loop.

The beautifully crafted essay will simply disappear into the void, unread.

Kalia Rosa

New curriculum workload 'too high'

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:06 GMT

More than 80% of nursery and primary school teachers in Scotland have warned of high workloads as a result of the new curriculum, a union claims.

Exam technique: a little help to make the grade

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:04 GMT

The exam season is upon us: Murray Morrisson offers proven methods to maximise performance under pressure.

Hay Festival 2013: Roger Thurow looks at the effects of famine

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:00 GMT

Author Roger Thurow gives an insight into the devastating effects of malnutrition.

Personal statement: 10 most overused opening sentences

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:00 GMT

Ucas have compiled a list of the 10 most overused opening sentences in personal statements.

Ban for teacher who spent two years trying to woo pupil, 15

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:00 GMT

A geography teacher has been banned from teaching indefinitely after she "romantically pursued" a pupil for almost two years.

University: was it worth it? The £9,000 question

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:00 GMT

Students paying £9,000 fees are finishing their first year. David Ellis asks them if it has been worth it.

Summer-born children, sex education and school swimming: research in brief

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:00 GMT

Our weekly round up of the latest research papers, methods and ideas related to teaching and learning

Future of school swimming

More than 1.1 million primary school children will start their half-term holidays being unsafe around water, a new report claims.

The Amateur Swimming Association (ASA), the governing body for the sport, surveyed 3,501 primary schools in England for its report and found that more than half (51%) of key stage 2 children were not able to swim one length of a standard (25 metres) pool unaided.

The report, the largest ever investigation into the state of school swimming, also found that the average state school pupil spends just eight hours and 15 minutes each year having swimming lessons at school – less than the national curriculum recommendation of 22 hours.

The ASA report shows almost 45% of schools stated the biggest barrier to delivering better quality school swimming was budget constraints.

This September, each primary school will receive a minimum of £9,000 additional ring-fenced funding as part of the government's £150 million injection into school sport. The ASA is calling for curriculum swimming and water safety to be a priority for this funding, with schools that are not currently meeting the statutory requirement to ensure that every child has the opportunity to swim 25 metres by the time they leave primary school.

Summer-born children

The issue of summer-born children having a lower academic attainment than their older classmates has been the subject of countless studies and theories. Growing evidence suggests that the month in which a child is born matters for a range of skills and behaviours and can have an effect on self-esteem and a child's confidence in its own ability within class.

New research from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggests that attainment is predominantly to do with the age a child takes a test.

The authors of When you are born matters: evidence for England suggest that UK national test scores could therefore be age-adjusted to allow for this or the child would sit the test at a particular age rather than on a particular date. However, it points out that this would not help problems that summer-born children face, such as engaging in risky behaviour, such as underage smoking.

Compulsory sex education call

Calls are being made for sex and relationship education to be made compulsory in secondary schools, following a new report.

The report, from the End Violence Against Women (EVAW) coalition, whose members include Amnesty International and Refuge, assessed the government's pledge to prevent violence against women and girls. It says that the Department for Education (DfE) is failing to take action to protect children and shape positive attitudes to women and more needs to be done to promote a solid campaign in schools.

The report asks for a number of measures to be implemented by the DfE including making it a legal obligation to teach children about sexual consent and respectful and equal relationships and also to make it law for schools to collect data on assaults. The report also highlights the needs for ongoing training for teachers to allow them to spot and respond appropriately to any signs of abuse.

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. Looking for your next role? Take a look at Guardian jobs for schools for thousands of the latest teaching, leadership and support jobs.

Emma Drury

Children's Commissioner: pupils 'raised on a diet of porn'

Fri, 24 May 2013 05:00 GMT

A generation of children are developing permissive attitudes to sex and viewing women as objects after being raised on a "diet of pornography", a major study has found.

Employers warned against giving jobs to unpaid interns

Fri, 24 May 2013 05:00 GMT

Top companies should ignore unpaid internships and degree classifications during the recruitment process to create a "level playing field" for applicants from poor backgrounds, a Government-backed report has recommended.

University applicants 'optimistic' about job prospects

Fri, 24 May 2013 05:00 GMT

Students beginning university this September are more confidant about their graduate job prospects than last year's intake, according to a new survey.

Protect children from internet pornography, report demands

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:08 GMT

Report finds evidence of a high correlation between exposure to violent and sadistic images and behaviour

Children are exposed to violent and sadistic imagery which risks distorting their attitudes towards relationships and sex, according to the children's commissioner for England.

A report released on Thursday by the commissioner's office found that children who watch pornography are more likely to develop sexually risky behaviour and become sexually active at a younger age.

It called for urgent action to "develop children's resilience to pornography" after discovering that a significant number have access to sexually explicit images. It also called on the Department for Education to ensure all schools delivered effective relationship and sex education, including how to use the internet safely.

"We are living at a time when violent and sadistic imagery is readily available to very young children … even if they do not go searching for it, their friends may show it to them or they may stumble on it while using the internet," said the commissioner, Maggie Atkinson.

"For years we have applied age restrictions to films at the cinema but now we are permitting access to far more troubling imagery via the internet. It is a risky experiment to allow a generation of young people to be raised on a diet of pornography."

The report, based on a review of academic research, also found that pornography could influence children's sexual attitudes, foster a negative attitude towards relationships and lead them to engage in risky behaviours such as unprotected anal sex, sex at a younger age and the use of alcohol and drugs during sex.

Sue Berelowitz, the deputy children's commissioner, said compulsory education was the only way to ensure children were guarded "against the possible impact of pornography on them and their relationships". She said: "As part of our inquiry into the sexual exploitation of children in gangs and groups we have seen that young perpetrators of sexual abuse describe their activity as 'like having been in a porn film'. This report provides the evidence to support there being a high correlation between exposure to pornography and it influencing children's behaviour and attitudes."

Miranda Horvath, senior lecturer at Middlesex University, which led the review of academic evidence, said: "When pornography is discussed, it is often between groups of people with polarised moral views on the subject. Rather than adopting a particular ideological stance, this report uses evidence-based research to draw its conclusions and further the debate."

The report's recommendations echo calls made by the End Violence Against Women coalition to make sex and relationships education compulsory in secondary schools. A recent survey by the National Association of Head Teachers found many parents believe schools should teach about the dangers of pornography as soon as children are old enough to use the internet.

Alexandra Topping

Survey finds today's university students are anxious to find alternative social activities that do not involve drinking

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:00 GMT

The class of 2013 are a sober bunch - anxious to escape from the clutches of alcohol while socialising at university, a survey out today finds.

Nursery reforms could cut childcare costs by 28%, DfE calculates

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:07 GMT

New calculations released by Department for Education will boost those seeking to push stalled plans through

The cost of childcare could be cut by as much as 28% if the government was to go ahead with stalled plans to raise ratios of children to staff in nurseries.

Government plans are currently stalled due to a disagreement within the coalition between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives.

The new calculations released by the Department for Education under a freedom of information request said parent costs could be cut from £4 an hour to £3.49 an hour (a 12% cut) while teacher salaries could go up. Alternatively, if the extra revenue was used solely to reduce costs for parents, this could yield costs savings for parents of up to 28%.

Conservative ministers had been hoping to relax staff-child ratios by September, but Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, vetoed the plans saying he thought the proposed ratio changes would lower the quality of childcare. Conservatives are likely to use the figures to show they have been on the side of parents and choice, but are being blocked by the Liberal Democrats.

Department estimates suggest that if legal ratios for under-threes rose from four children for each member of staff to six and increased from a ratio of one to eight to one to 13 for staff looking after over-threes, the number of full-time places could be expanded by 52% to 73.

This increase in places creates a gross additional revenue of around £200,0000 based on the nursery charging £4 an hour. Even assuming the setting required the employment of a graduate, revenue would rise by £166,0000. Distributing this over 73 childcare places for 52 weeks a year and 39 hours a week the nursery could maintain its revenues and reduce its fees from £4 an hour to £2.88 an hour, a reduction of 28%.

The figures are bound to be raised by allies of the education secretary, Michael Gove, and the children's minister, Liz Truss, to show that parents are being denied a large-scale cut in their childcare costs by Liberal Democrat objections.

It is not yet clear if the plans can be revived, but Gove has acknowledged that his plan to introduce the changes by September are looking hard to implement. He claimed that Clegg had vetoed the plans because he was worried he was about to be challenged for his party leadership by the business secretary, Vince Cable.

The Daycare Trust earlier this year showed nursery costs rising while wages are stagnating: it found average childcare costs were increasing by more than 6% a year (more than double the rate of inflation).

After-school care costs more than a family holiday to Florida and the costliest nurseries are more expensive than top public schools.

Patrick Wintour

US graduation season 2013: the best commencement speeches

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:40 GMT

Joe Biden, Michelle Obama and Stephen Colbert are just some of the heavy-hitters speaking at college graduations this year

Every year around this time, clusters of newly minted "adults" in caps and gowns sit like sponges, soaking up the wisdom that booms from the front of the auditorium:

"Parents, friends, distinguished guests, graduates of the class of 2013 …"

So begins the commencement speech, a tradition at college and university graduations around the US. They can be boring, they can be painfully sincere, and they can also be the stuff of legend. Nearly 10 years after David Foster Wallace presented This is Water at Kenyon College, the speech was transformed into a short film and went viral.

Last year had some pretty powerful speeches, and 2013 is off to a pretty good start. Navigate this list to see who's taken a turn at the podium so far:

Week one:

* Joe Biden
* Michelle Obama (Round One)
* Julie Andrews
* Nate Silver
* Neil deGrasse Tyson
* Bill Clinton
* Melinda Gates

Week two

* Barack Obama
* Michelle Obama (Round Two)
* Cory Booker
* Stephen Colbert
* Arianna Huffington

Vice-president Joe Biden, University of Pennsylvania, 13 May: 'I'm not making this up'

Say what? "There will be no U-Haul truck behind my casket."
Quotes: Steve Jobs.
Theme: Hard to pin down. The veep's speech touched on pretty much everything: immigration, gay rights, climate change, the economy, technological innovation, women's rights, Vietnam, China's expansion and the war in Iraq.
Humor: Five-star. By far the funniest of the recent commencement addresses.
Advice: "I have gained too much wisdom to offer any advice."
Best line: "Don't listen to the cynics. They were wrong about my generation and they were wrong about yours."

Michelle Obama, Eastern Kentucky University, 11 May: 'We're all called to serve'

In her first of three commencement speeches this year, Flotus urged graduates to go out and find students with different systems of belief. "If you're a Democrat, spend some time talking to a Republican," Obama told about 600 education, business and technology graduates last weekend. "And if you're a Republican, have a chat with a Democrat. We know what happens when we only talk to people who think like we do. We just get stuck in our ways."

Julie Andrews, University of Colorado, 10 May: 'When adversity hits, go out and learn something'

Say what? "When I was driving in from the airport, I wanted to get out of the car, go over to a grassy knoll and do my signature turn from the Sound of Music."
Quotes: TH White
Theme: The importance and power of the arts.
Humor: 2/5.
We learned: Andrews never finished high school and she also never went to college.
Applause: Loud.
Surprise: Many more sound of music references than we had anticipated.
Best line: "So congratulations, dear students. These hills are truly alive with the graduating class of 2013."

Nate Silver, Ripon College, 12 May: 'You're entering a world awash with data and statistics'

Say what?: "By election day last year, more people were Googling my name than the vice-president's".
Quotes: Various articles written about himself.
Theme: "The theme of this presentation is data and decisions."
Humor: 2/5.
Advice: "Accountability doesn't mean apologizing. It means learning from your mistakes and changing your behavior next time around."
We learned: "The trees are just the right size at Ripon".
In a word: Literal.
Applause: He doesn't stop talking for long enough to hear any.
Most similar to: One of his columns read aloud.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, Rice University, 11 May: 'America has lost its exploratory compass'

The popular astrophysicist's powerful speech focused on space funding. He spoke of the current state of space exploration and told the new graduates that the future of the industry is in their hands.

"You know why [private enterprise] can't lead it? Because space is expensive, it's dangerous and it has unquantified risks. You put all three of those under one umbrella – it cannot establish a capital market valuation of that exercise."

Bill Clinton, Howard University, 11 May: 'You must feel empowered'

Say what? "I am well aware that the commencement speech is the least important part of this day."
Quotes: The Quran, The Bible, The Dhammapada.
Theme: What we have in common is more important than our difference.
Humor: 3/5.
We learned: At Clinton's Georgetown graduation, a hard rain cut the mayor's commencement speech short. "Congratulations. If we don't get out of here we're all going to drown", he said.
Applause: The man can work a crowd.
Surprise: Addressed the student debt crisis (briefly).
Best line: "Creative co-operation works better than constant conflict and we forget that at our peril."

Melinda Gates, Duke, 12 May: 'Reject the cynics'

Quotes: Martin Luther King Jr.
Theme: The possibilities of human connection.
Humor: 0.5/5
We learned: In the 1970s, Duke University used to "grow" mutant frogs in the science building.
In a word: Sincere.
Applause: Rare.
Best line:

I don't want you to connect, for connection's sake alone. I want you to connect because it will inspire you to do something. To take action. To make a difference in the world. Humanity in the abstract will never inspire you the way meeting another human being will. Poverty is not going to inspire you to do something, but meeting people – that will inspire you.

Barack Obama, Morehouse College, 19 May: 'Along with collective responsibilities, we have individual responsibilities'

Say what? "Some of you are graduating summa cum laude. Some of you are graduating magna cum laude. I know some of you are just graduating, 'thank you, Lordy.' That's appropriate because it's a Sunday."
Quotes: Benjamin Mays, former president of Morehouse; Martin Luther King.
Theme: Using education to improve community and society; the government's ability to improve the lives of its citizens; the importance of personal responsibility.
Humor: 4/5, with most zingers coming right off the top.
Advice: "Just as Morehouse has taught you to expect more of yourselves, inspire those who look up to you to expect more of themselves."
Applause: Of course.
Best line:

"I will say it betrays a poverty of ambition if all you think about is what goods you can buy instead of what good you can do."

Michelle Obama, Bowie State University, 17 May: 'Be an example of excellence for the next generation'

Say what? "I just wish I could sing. Can't sing a lick."
Quotes: Frederick Douglass, Alice Walker, the Bowie State University school song.
Theme: Overcoming adversity through education.
Humor: 2/5.
Advice: "Be an example of excellence for the next generation and do everything you can to help them understand the power and purpose of a good education."
Applause: Frequent – and at all the points, the speech was designed to elicit them.
Best line:

"... Be that flame of fate, that torch of truth to guide our young people toward a better future for themselves and for this country."

Cory Booker, Yale College, 19 May: 'Be love, be kindness, be justice'

Say what? "That is not Darth Vader's hat, that is Boba Fett for crying out loud!"
Theme: The importance of learning from your darkest moments, and always practicing compassion.
Humor: 3/5
Advice: "Most of all, be kind."
Applause: A fair amount.
Best line:

"Real courage is holding on to a still voice in your head that says 'I must keep going.' It's that voice that says nothing is a failure if it is not final – that voice that says to you: 'Get out of bed. Keep going. I will not quit."

Stephen Colbert, University of Virginia, 18 May: 'This is an impressive institution because it rejected my application'

Say what? "As has been stated before, the most impressive ranking of all has once again has to be Playboy naming you the number one party school in America. Now to be clear, I only read Playboy for the rankings."
Quotes: UVA founder President Thomas Jefferson.
Theme: The need for this generation to forge its own path to success.
Humor: 5/5
Advice: "If you must find your own path, and we have left you no easy path, then decide now to choose the hard path that leads to the life and world that you want. And don't worry if we don't approve of your choice."
Applause: A ton, but this was outnumbered by the laughs.
Best line:

"While traditional paths may seem harder to find, that also means that you will learn the hard lesson sooner than most generations that you must always make the path for yourself."

Arianna Huffington, Smith College, 19 May: 'Lead the third women's revolution'

Say what? "Congratulations. You have reached the light at the end of the tunnel. And I'm sure that when you first arrived at Smith four years ago you never would have imagined that at the other end of that tunnel would be a lady behind a podium talking to you in a funny accent."
Quotes: Archimedes, the Founding Fathers, Dr Seuss.
Theme: The need for today's women to redefine success.
Humor: 5/5
Advice: Get some sleep. Seriously.
Applause: Frequent.
Best line:

"Remember that while there will be plenty of signposts along your path directing you to make money and climb up the ladder, there will be very few signposts reminding you to stay connected to the essence of who you are, to take care of yourself along the way, to reach out to others, to pause to wonder, and to connect to that place from which everything is possible."

Ruth Spencer

Kayla Epstein

Suli Breaks: The secret of success? Forget exams – it’s all about getting the Breaks

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:23 GMT

In amongst videos of cats annoying their owners and trailers for the latest Ryan Gosling movie, a five-minute précis on the state of education does not stand out as an obvious YouTube hit – even if it is recited atop John Murphy’s “Adagio in D Minor” from the soundtrack to the sci-fi movie Sunshine.

CBI: opposition from heads 'damaging Gove's education reforms'

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:17 GMT

The Coalition's education reforms risk collapse because of a lack of support from head teachers, the chief of Britain's leading business organisation has warned.

Leading headteacher: Michael Gove 'chickening out' on return of grammar schools

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:30 GMT

One of the country's leading headteachers is to accuse Education Secretary Michael Gove of “chickening out” of bringing back a return to grammar schools.

Neet numbers 'lowest for decade'

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:28 GMT

The number of 16 to 18-year-olds not in school, work or training is at its lowest level for a decade, official figures show.

Academy 'superhead' spent £30,000 on birthday party, hotel bills and travel

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:55 GMT

An Academy "superhead" who was awarded a CBE spent £30,000 of public money on a lavish 50th birthday party, meetings in five-star hotels and taxi journeys to The Ivy.

Research in brief – 23 May 2013

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:48 GMT

Our weekly round-up aimed at showcasing the latest research across the subject spectrum at UK universities

Science and technology

• Surrey and UCL universities
Research finds the biological function of sleep is to allow for vital repair and maintenance of the cells in our brain, called neurons. The findings show these repair functions can only occur if the rest periods of individual neurons are aligned at a specific time scale. Vladyslav Vyazovskiy, lecturer in sleep and chronobiology at Surrey, says: "We have billions of neurons in our brain, and each of them is connected with thousands of other neurons that are constantly talking to each other and exchanging information. It appears that our neurons cannot rest and repair themselves independently; they have to all shut down at the same time so as not to disturb each other and allow each individual cell in our brain to obtain the rest it needs." Vyazovskiy adds: "If neurons attempt to obtain rest while we are awake, it is not only much less efficient, but also affects our performance negatively. On the other hand, under certain conditions some areas of our brain may be unable to fall asleep and remain in a local wakefulness state, resulting in us experiencing a very bad nights sleep".

• University of Cambridge
Research has established how a malfunction in protein molecules can lead to the onset of dementia. Scientists have been able to map in detail the pathway that generates "aberrant" forms of proteins which are at the root of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's. They believe the breakthrough is a vital step closer to increased capabilities for earlier diagnosis of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and opens up possibilities for a new generation of targeted drugs. The research is likely to have a central role to play in diagnostic and drug development for dementia-related diseases, which are increasingly prevalent and damaging as populations live longer. Dr Tuomas Knowles, says: "There are no disease modifying therapies for Alzheimer's and dementia at the moment, only limited treatment for symptoms. We have to solve what happens at the molecular level before we can progress and have real impact."

Arts and humanities

• University of Manchester
A three-year project to digitise over 200,000 documents produced by one of the most prolific Christian thinkers of the past 200 years has been launched. John Henry Cardinal Newman's handwritten archive, kept at the Birmingham Oratory, will be captured and re-housed by a team of experts and transformed into a comprehensive digital library. Father Ignatius Harrison, the provost of the Birmingham Oratory, says: "Cardinal Newman's long life of ministry and scholarship left a deep mark on the national consciousness of Britain, transforming its ecclesial, devotional, intellectual, and popular identities in ways we are still only beginning to understand. Through his prolific and widely influential writings and his example of practical holiness, Newman also left a deep and lasting impression on the non-English-speaking world." Mary Jo Dorsey from the National Institute for Newman Studies says: "An important goal of the digital library is to not only preserve and extend the Newman Archive to scholars around the globe, but to build a multidimensional research tool for the humanities. So we are delighted that the project will bring his teachings to the community of Newman scholars as well as to today's pluralistic, diverse society."

• De Montfort University
The friary in which Richard III's body was buried has been digitally re-created more than 500 years after it was razed to the ground. PhD student Asem Al Bunni's reconstruction of the nave, choir and steeple allows people to get an idea of how large the church would have been in Leicester – a possible indication of its importance in the city at that time. Critical discussion and further research work is now being carried out on what parts of the friary may have looked like – such as the great cloister, guest house, chapter house and dormitories. Dr Douglas Cawthorne, principal lecturer of DMU's digital building heritage team, says: "In this respect one of the initial things that strikes you about the building is its size. This was not a small church. It would have towered over the contemporary medieval buildings in the area in a way which is perhaps under-appreciated and would also dominate those adjacent to it today. There is much more to discover about the design of Greyfriars church in Leicester and it's a fascinating architectural piece in the historical mosaic of an important part of English history."

Social science

• Imperial, Leeds and Durham universities
Big business could learn survival lessons from family businesses according to new report. Family businesses are usually made up of a well functioning and diverse board of directors who are able to advise effectively, so are less likely to fail compared to big businesses. Professor Nick Wilson from Leeds University says: "This is one of the first studies to identify the board and ownership structure of private family firms in the UK and to track their survival rates relative to other firms". The researchers found that family businesses were less likely to go bankrupt because they are able to recruit and maintain an experienced, diverse and knowledgeable board of directors. The team also found that 80% of family owned businesses are more gender balanced, having at least one female director. Professor Mike Wright, at Imperial College Business School, says: "Running a successful business of any size is no easy task and this year we have already seen some high-profile businesses such as Comet being forced to close. Family businesses could provide lessons to larger firms, as our findings show that a more diverse and experienced board of directors, which are prevalent in family firms, could be related to reducing failures in businesses."

• University of Liverpool
Researchers have developed a smart phone app that helps users lose weight by carefully recording their food consumption. The team conducted a feasibility study using the app with 12 overweight and obese participants. They found that over a four week period the average weight loss of the participants was 1.5kg. Dr Eric Robinson who developed the app says: "Raising awareness of eating and weight loss achieved suggest this approach could be fruitful. The 1.5kg average weight loss observed is similar to a recent more intensive two month trial which investigated the impact of dietary/exercise advice and habit formation. Given that our trial was a very brief intervention with little contact time and no nutritional advice or support, this is a promising finding. Results suggest that a simple smartphone based intervention based on these principles is feasible and could promote healthier dietary practices."

And finally

• St Georges's University of London
Rethinking treatment goals improves results for 'untreatable' anorexics, research shows. Patients with the most severe and dangerous form of chronic anorexia are more likely to make a significant improvement towards recovery and stay in therapy if traditional psychological treatments are re-focused from weight gain to quality of life issues. By focusing treatment on quality of life, researchers found that 85% of participants with severe and enduring anorexia nervosa (SE-AN) completed their course of treatment – almost three times the usual retention rate. These findings are the first to show that people with SE-AN can be treated with an outpatient treatment programme. Professor Hubert Lacey from St George's, says: "Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder, and patients with SE-AN are notoriously difficult to treat. These findings challenge the view of some NHS services that individuals with an enduring course of anorexia have little or no motivation to change or are unlikely to respond to conventional psychosocial treatment."

Would you like your university's research featured on the network? Email claire.shaw@guardian.co.uk with your latest news

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Claire Shaw

More than 300,000 children missing school every day

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:14 GMT

The number of children skipping school each day has jumped by more than 33,000 in a year because of rising sickness rates, family holidays and the timing of an Islamic religious festival, it emerged today.

Sharp decline in foreign students

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:46 GMT

A steep decline in foreign students coming to study at UK colleges and language schools prompts fears of a knock-on effect on universities.

'Wage premium' of a degree falls by a third under university boom

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:25 GMT

The value of a degree has slumped by almost a third in the last 20 years because of a sharp rise in the number of people taking university courses.