Latest UK news

Scots fear another results fiasco
Bill Morton, chief executive of the Scottish Qualifications Authority, is today set for a grilling by the Scottish Parliament’s education committee amid growing fears of a repeat of last year’s examinations fiasco. The SQA is facing a shortfall in markers, which the Educational Institute of Scotland says threatens the deadline for results.

Student vets to help in crisis
Student vets are being drafted in to help with the foot-and-mouth outbreak. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is signing up 120 fifth-year students for four weeks. Sparsholt College near Winchester, which earlier this month imposed a teaching ban on all but horticulture students, has lifted its embargo.

Bodleian plan put on hold
Following protests by staff and local residents, Oxford University is rethinking proposals for a paying visitor centre in the Bodleian Library. The university has temporarily withdrawn its planning application for a new visitors’ entrance to the library, designed to alleviate noise and congestion around the library.

Poor maths leads to engineering dropouts
Difficulty with mathematics is the main reason for students dropping out of engineering courses worldwide. In a report by software manufacturers MathSoft Education and Engineering and distributor Adept Scientific based on 938 responses from eight countries, the majority of lecturers say mathematics standards have deteriorated over the past ten years.