Update: 13:15

Students protestors hound Hodge
Hundreds of student protestors greeted higher education minister Margaret Hodge at Bristol University yesterday as she kicked off a nationwide tour in which ministers will attempt to sell their policy on top-up fees to the higher education sector. Students from Bristol and Bath universities and the University of the West of England bombarded the minister with questions after her speech in the students' union.

Skills minister warns reforms will take time
Adult skills minister Ivan Lewis blamed successive governments for failing to tackle youth offending in a speech to a conference on the role of education in reducing crime held in London yesterday. Mr Lewis said: "For too long we have shied away from painful yet stark realities." But he warned that the government's reforms in schools and post-16 education would take time to change the cycle of low educational attainment and deprivation.
Speech at www.dfes.gov.uk/pns/newslist.cgi

Dundee: home of the 'silver surfer'
Dundee University has won funds to set up a cybercafe for "silver surfers" as part of its research into technology for elderly people. A £500,000 donation from the Wolfson Foundation will provide a custom-built laboratory dedicated to designing computer technology to meet the needs and abilities of the elderly.