Last week Vince Cable said he was persuaded of the benefits of a graduate tax to replace tuition fees. Photograph: Kevin Coombs/REUTERS The coalition government was today said to be split over how to charge graduates for their degrees after a senior Conservative source was reported to have dismissed plans favoured by the skills secretary, [...]

Students must be given the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of scientific concepts. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian Almost 500,000 pupils were told today that the science GCSE they took last summer was too easy. The exams regulator, Ofqual, said its investigation had revealed standards demanded by the exam were too low. In some [...]

The UK spends a high proportion of its university budget on student support. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images The university funding crisis is largely manufactured – the result of the new government’s panicky surrender to deficit busting, but also of the increasingly wild debate about who should pay for higher education. The coalition partners are deeply [...]

Students protest against higher tuition fees. Photograph: Scott Barbour/Getty Images The idea Top-up fees, ie the status quo What it means English undergraduates are given loans to pay their tuition fees. They pay these back when their earnings reach £15,000, over 25 years. This model was introduced amid controversy by Labour under Charles Clarke and [...]