Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson is to ask the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to examine the hidden costs parents may be charged when using government-funded childcare. Eligible working parents of children aged between nine months and four years old in England are entitled to 30 hours a week of government-funded …

When social workers asked a mother to submit a sample of hair for a drugs test, she thought it would prove she was clean and sober. But it turned out to be the start of a legal battle to regain custody of her daughter. Emily – not her real name …

A-level students in several countries, including the UK, have had their exam papers voided after it emerged they had been leaked online. Cambridge International Education, the exam board affected, said it had “moved quickly to put alternative measures in place for impacted students”. Some of those students will receive “assessed …

Thousands of people have told a parliamentary inquiry that they did not understand the terms and conditions on their student loans before they took them out. More than 52,000 people responded to a call for evidence by the Treasury Committee for its inquiry on the taxation of graduates – more …

Among those most worried are graduates who took out what are called Plan 2 loans between 2012 and 2023. Gemma, who now works for a tech company, is one of those graduates who contacted the BBC through Your Voice to share her frustration. Just after she graduated in 2016, her …

Falling pupil numbers in England’s schools should be used to cut class sizes, the largest education union has said. Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), told the BBC around a million pupils are being taught in classes of more than 31 children. Between 2023 and …

England’s exam regulator Ofqual says it is “closely monitoring” the marking of an A-level maths paper which students and parents say felt “unfair”. More than 20,000 people have signed a petition calling for the paper to be reviewed, claiming it was significantly more challenging than in previous years. The founder …

A council has suggested pupils cross an active military firing range and climb over metal barriers of an A road to get to school, according to an MP. Tom Gordon, the MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said North Yorkshire council were suggesting unsuitable walking routes in the rural constituency during …

Last month the UK’s leading baby-safety charity The Lullaby Trust and Morrison wrote to Streeting calling for “urgent action” to “ensure that no more babies’ lives are put at risk due to unregulated and bogus sleep advice”. Currently anyone can call themselves a maternity nurse, sleep expert or consultant, without …

It marks a turnaround after years of declining numbers starting from 2021, when enjoyment across all ages had been at 51.5%. By 2022 it had fallen to 47.8%, then 43.4% in 2023, before a sharp drop to 34.6% in 2024, before 32.7% in 2025. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, who has …

Prof Ellie Lee, a family and parenting researcher at the University of Kent, said while the results of the UCL study sounded “plausible”, there was a “rush to try and find silver bullets and single causes, when most things that happen as part of child development are relatively multifactorial”. Lee, …

Secretary of State for Technology Liz Kendall was addressing the Commons following the announcement of a social media ban for under-16s. BBC News

The amount of maintenance help available varies across the UK. Undergraduate students in England and Wales can borrow more for day-to-day living costs in 2025-26 than in previous years. The maximum maintenance loan for students from England living away from their parents outside of London, for example, rose to £10,544 …

Getting kids to drink water can be a thankless task – they would often rather do anything else. But the answer could be in foods that contain lots of water. From 12 months old, try frozen lollies made from plain water or very diluted fruit juice. For older kids, ramp …

When it comes to age verification, it is expected that the tech giants will do the checking. “The methods available to platforms are well established. Identity document scanning with a face match, email-based age checks and facial age estimation are proven to work at scale,” says Andy Lulham, Chief Operating …

Millions of hopeful medical students across India are resitting a crucial exam under unprecedented security, after the first paper was cancelled following allegations that the questions had been leaked. Nervous students were met with biometric identification checks, metal detectors, armoured patrols and frisking at exam centres on Sunday morning. Leaving …

“The market is clearly showing signs of slowing down. We’ve already seen enrolments to the UK and US fall by 20% over the last two years, and I expect another 10-15% decline from those levels going forward,” Sushil Sukhwani, founder of Edwise International, which sends thousands of Indian students to …

As temperatures increase significantly over the next few days, these are your rights. BBC News

“Countries such as Germany, Ireland, Italy and several other European destinations are attracting increasing interest from Indian students because of lower tuition costs, favourable post-study work pathways, strong employment prospects and a more attractive overall value proposition,” said Mayank Maheshwari, co-founder and COO of University Living, a student accommodation platform. …

Millions of candidates face biometric checks and frisking as air force deployed to secure exam papers. BBC News