Update: 12:40

College students stay at home as FE staff strike
Strike action by lecturers and support staff today forced up to 40 further education colleges to close, causing disruption to tens of thousands of students. The Association of Colleges said between 30 and 40 colleges were unable to open, while another 60 departments were closed forcing students to stay at home. Lecturers' union Natfhe said about 30,000 lecturers were not at work today. They staged the one-day walkout in protest at an AoC pay offer worth 2.3 per cent.

Leicester to test revolutionary cancer drug
A revolutionary new cancer prevention drug based on a natural compound found in red wine is to be tested in Britain by the University of Leicester. Researchers there were awarded just over £1 million from the US National Cancer Institute along with the University of Michigan to carry out the trials.

Bonnington to scale Cumbria's 'greenest' library
Mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington is to climb the summit of Cumbria's "greenest" library. He is officially opening the £2.6 million learning resource centre at the University of Central Lancashire's Cumbria Campus in Penrith. But before he carries out the official ceremony, Sir Chris wants to see for himself the building's unusual flowering moss roof, and will climb two 20ft ladders to reach the top.

Trade and industry minister opens geodata centre
The newly extended National Geoscience Data Centre in Nottinghamshire is being opened by Brian Wilson, minister of state for trade and industry. The British Geological Survey holds information collected by generations of geoscientific researchers at the centre in Keyworth.

SATs make the grade in Dundee wider access study
Dundee University research backs the theory that American-style university entrance tests are valuable for assessing disadvantaged applicants whose school results often do not reflect their academic ability. Dundee's wider access study centre found the Scholastic Assessment Test accurately gauged the potential of 63 per cent of students in its access summer school.

Laureate launches experimental physics research centre
Nobel physics laureate William Phillips of the University of Maryland has launched a £9 million international research centre for experimental physics at Queen's University, Belfast. The centre is funded under the Spur (Support Programme for University Research) initiative, through a four year public-private partnership involving the government and Atlantic Philanthropies.