2 HRS AGO - Money expert Martin Lewis says student body ‘tainted’ by promoting high-interest loansThe consumer finance expert Martin Lewis has accused Ucas of abusing its position after the university admissions service allowed a private debt firm to market commercial loans with high interest rates to school leavers.A message from Ucas to students registered with its service carried advertising for Future Finance, a Dublin-based private debt firm that offers loans of up to £40,000 to students at UK universities, with annual interest rates of 16% or more. Continue reading... Collapse

7 HRS AGO - Accountability is important, but the new measuring stick being pushed on primary schools is blunt and unimaginativeAccountability in education is important. Politicians, acting on the public’s behalf, are right to seek evidence that schools are delivering a good service. So there is nothing wrong, in principle, with gathering information in order to track progress. The problem with the government’s new baseline assessment of four-year-olds – being trialled over the next six weeks in around half of English primary schools, and intended to replace the tests previously taken by seven-year-olds – is the idea’s execution.Ministers already have one failure behind them, after the data produced by the various providers of a previous round of tests could not be accurately compared. Not surprisingly, given this background as well as the current political instability overshadowing everything, the number of schools participating this time is smaller. But the problems do not end there, with a Collapse

9 HRS AGO - After repeatedly making the case for an FE funding boost, former skills minister Anne Milton has gone oddly quiet Collapse

9 HRS AGO - Lib Dems accuse government of ‘hiding’ cuts to funding for school buildings behind its headline spending increases Collapse

10 HRS AGO - Of course we must keep down the cost of uniforms, says Geoff Barton. But where to draw the line, when government guidance is vague? Collapse

11 HRS AGO - Most Britons support primary school teachers talking positively about LGBT families, a survey suggests. Collapse

13 HRS AGO - Lib Dems accuse government of ‘hiding’ cuts to funding for school buildings, behind headline spending increases Collapse

14 HRS AGO - Want to make a good first impression? Adam Riches offers his essential guide to keeping your foot out of your mouth Collapse

16 HRS AGO - Biggest gap between girls and boys is in writing assessments - where 85% of girls reach expected standard Collapse