Today's news

Degree of affluence helps university hopefuls
Parents who want their children to go to university should live in a detached house in a salubrious neighbourhood, read The Daily Telegraph , avoid having sons and give birth to their daughters in September, according to a detailed analysis published yesterday by the Higher Education Funding Council. A full break down of the figures and comprehensive analysis appears in today's Times Higher Education Supplement .
Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Times, Independent

University offers £1,000 bursary
An English university that opposed variable tuition fees is to charge the full amount - but offer big bursaries. The University of Central Lancashire said it would seek the maximum £3,000 annual fee from students from 2006. But it is offering £1,000-a-year to all UK, full-time undergraduates from homes where the principal earner's gross salary is less than £60,000.
BBC

Kelly stands by Opus Dei link
Education Secretary Ruth Kelly has defended her role in the Catholic conservative Opus Dei. Ms Kelly has insisted in an interview with the Daily Mirror that her faith was a private matter that had nothing to do with her job.
Daily Mirror

Physics risks failing its MoT test, says scientist
Physics is "in danger of failing its MoT" because of serious flaws in higher education, an awards ceremony will be told tonight by one of the country's most distinguished scientists. Professor Sir John Enderby, president of the Institute of Physics, will tonight call on the Government to change the funding of university physical science departments to reflect the real cost of teaching, and highlight the urgent need for better careers advice in school.
Daily Telegraph

Scotching the great debt myth
Bahram Bekhradnia says that the evidence suggests that the introduction of fees in 1998 had little effect on participation rates among underprivileged groups.
Independent

Will Cambridge fall down?
The world-renowned architecture department at Cambridge University has been saved from trouble, but for how long, asks Elaine Knutt.
Independent