Latest UK news

Commons raps HE access reports
Education select committee chairman Barry Sheerman was criticised in the Commons yesterday over reports into higher education access and student retention. Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate, Liberal Democrat MPs said that the reports, published by the committee earlier this year, failed to place enough emphasis on the deterrent effects of student hardship and debt. Mr Sheerman said the reports accurately reflected the evidence taken by the committee. Education secretary Estelle Morris has since admitted that some people could be deterred by the current policy of tuition fees and student loans.

Cambridge students crack bank codes
Two Cambridge University PhD students have designed a computer program to crack bank security codes, potentially giving them access to thousands of Pin numbers. Michael Bond and Richard Clayton plan to put the details on the internet in an effort to ensure security is improved.

Scottish ministers tipped for top job
Scottish education minister Jack McConnell and enterprise and lifelong learning minister Wendy Alexander are being tipped as potential successors to Henry McLeish as Scotland’s first minister. Mr McLeish resigned yesterday following a lengthy debacle over his constituency office expenses.

Supply staff will be one in two, says report
Supply teachers could account for half of school staff by 2014, according to a report from the Institute of Public Policy Research. More studies should be carried out on teachers who leave permanent jobs to work for agencies, it concludes.