Education secretary ‘to consider options’ including repeal of controversial powers introduced by last government UK politics live – latest updates Powers introduced by the Conservatives to protect freedom of speech in universities have been halted by the new government in a dramatic about-turn, paving the way for ministers to scrap the legislation. Only days before it was due to come into force, the education secretary said she had decided to “stop further commencement of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, in order to consider options, including its repeal ..read more

To mark the end of the personal statement for university applications in Britain, we would like to see your old ones The Ucas personal statement has long been a dreaded stage in the university application process for teenagers. But from next year, the 4,000 character statement will be replaced by a set of questions on why students want to study their chosen subject and how they are prepared ..read more

Education secretary acknowledged crisis in sector with many institutions facing severe financial difficulties Universities in England facing severe financial difficulties should not expect a government bailout, the education secretary has said, despite warnings from the sector of thousands of job losses, course closures and even bankruptcies. With 40% of institutions projected to run budget deficits this year, Bridget Phillipson acknowledged the crisis. She said she was “determined to develop a brighter future for universities” and put them on a “sustainable footing in the long term ..read more

Doctoral student at Renmin University of China school of liberal arts in Beijing posted recordings on Weibo A top Chinese university has fired a professor, a day after a graduate student accused him of sexual harassment on social media in a rare public allegation and posted recordings as evidence, drawing widespread support. The woman, who identified herself as Wang Di, said she is studying in a doctoral programme at Renmin University of China’s school of liberal arts. She posted a 59-minute video on Sunday on the Weibo social media platform in which she said her supervisor, an ex-vice dean an ..read more

In the 1980s, 25% of pupils at my children’s primary school had free school dinners. The number now is more than 50%, writes local GP Dr Martin Judson Benjamin Myers and Anna Barker correctly point out increasing poverty among the permanent residents of Durham (My home town: How Durham changed under Conservative rule, 9 July). I have spent my career as a GP serving the local population and my family home remains in the city centre. My children attended local state schools. Poverty was an issue in the 1980s, particularly around the time of the miners’ strike. Twenty-five per cent of children a ..read more

Rosemary Fowler discovered the kaon particle during her doctoral research in 1948 but gave up PhD to have a family A trailblazing physicist who gave up her PhD 75 years ago to have a family has received an honorary doctorate from her former university. Rosemary Fowler, 98, discovered the kaon particle during her doctoral research under Cecil Powell at the University of Bristol in 1948, which contributed to his Nobel prize for physics in 1950 ..read more

These hated essays are going to be scrapped. It’s good news for those who can’t afford private tutors – and for those who had to read them Every autumn, as the fruit fills with ripeness to the core and the small gnats mourn among the river sallows, my inbox fills with requests for help from parents whose children have been tasked with writing an essay of 4,000 characters in which they explain to their prospective universities why they want to study a given subject. Except that, unable to articulate why they want to study English at Nottingham, they have begun to question why, when it comes dow ..read more

Social mobility experts welcome change in which students will instead be asked to answer three questions The years of sixth formers and their families agonising over personal statements for their university application forms will soon be a thing of the past, after the UK’s university admissions service announced they are to be dropped. Instead of a statement limited to 4,000 characters (including spaces), those applying for undergraduate places in 2026 through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) will be asked to answer why they want to study the course or subject, how their ..read more

Giant publishers are bleeding universities dry, with profit margins that rival Google’s. So we decided to start our own Arash Abizadeh is a philosopher and the Angus professor of political science at McGill University, Canada If you’ve ever read an academic article, the chances are that you were unwittingly paying tribute to a vast profit-generating machine that exploits the free labour of researchers and siphons off public funds. The annual revenues of the “big five” commercial publishers – Elsevier, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, Springer Nature, and SAGE – are each in the billions, and some ..read more

After years of austerity, the government’s plans imply another reduction in funding that public services simply cannot take The Resolution Foundation has estimated that Labour’s spending plans commit the party to around £18bn of annual budget cuts over the next parliament. As they stand, these would affect “unprotected” areas of government such as the Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Justice, local councils and higher education – and a funding shortfall for a depleted NHS. Ahead of this week’s king’s speech, when the new government will lay out its legislative agenda, five pub ..read more