Training chief apologises
John Harwood, the chief executive of the body responsible for post-16 learning and training in England, has issued a personal apology to college heads after he condemned 40 per cent of teaching in further education as "unacceptable". ( Guardian )
Charles rails against the 'moral wasteland'
Prince Charles made an outspoken attack on modern education yesterday. He said there had been a deliberate destruction of our cultural, historical and moral heritage. ( Daily Mail )
Edinburgh is new population magnet
Edinburgh has been named the most attractive city in Europe in a survey published by the EU's Statistical Office in Luxembourg. The area around Edinburgh had the highest "positive migration" figure in the European Union, while Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire were identified as losing the most residents. ( Independent )
V&A staff angered by boss's cash plea
Staff at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London have spoken of their anger after being asked to dig into their own pockets to help complete a £31 million building project due to be opened by the Prince of Wales this month. ( Daily Telegraph )
5,600 teachers without qualifications
The number of unqualified teachers has nearly doubled since Labour came to power. More than 5,600 recruits from overseas, trainees learning on the job and 'instructors and others' without teaching qualifications swelled the ranks of trained staff in English schools this year - compared with 2,940 in 1997. ( Daily Mail )
Scientists sniff at wine buffs' nose
New research by French scientists suggests that wine snobs may not always know their asti from their old beaune. They analysed the language of wine buffing and found the words selected to describe the bouquet were more likely to be linked to the wine's colour than to its scent. ( Guardian , Independent )
Dead poets' society eases tension of war
American soldiers are studying the poetry of the Great War as they prepare to go over the top in Afghanistan. Alongside maps of Afghanistan and military communiqués, US Marines are studying the verses of Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke and Siegfried Sassoon. ( Times )
Prince airs historic Kipling parody
A parody by Sir Ernest Shakleton of Rudyard Kipling's poem 'If' is to be read by the Duke of Edinburgh tonight before it goes on public display for the first time. ( Times )
Football stars score with both feet
Professional footballers have no such thing as a wrong foot, according to research by scientists at the University of Aberdeen. A comprehensive analysis of every match at the last World Cup has disclosed that players shoot and pass the ball as accurately with their supposedly weak foot as they do with the one they favour naturally. ( Times , Guardian )
Liars leave police guessing
The police are no better at spotting a liar than students, according to researchers at Portsmouth University. In studies, officers achieved 45 to 60 per cent accuracy, compared with a 50 per cent rate through chance alone. ( Guardian )