The Office for Students has said that institutions should look at applicants' backgrounds when admitting students. By Sean Coughlan, BBC News.

Robbie MacIsaac, a pupil from Strathallan School in Perth, has won a national design contest by creating a blowpipe that could prevent pipers from developing 'bagpipe lung'. By Mark Bridge, The Times.

Fiona Millar writes in The Guardian about alternative GCSE examinations, saying the independent sector "is acting rationally by sticking to a tried and tested qualification" that should be good enough for all schools.

Karen Kimura, learning and development manager at the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST), argues that schools need to think differently about how to educate young people to manage money.

The Guardian profiles Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the Independent Schools Council, focusing on the publication of his recent book on vocational education, 'Other People’s Children'.

Emma Kell, a secondary teacher in north-east London, discusses her work-based dreams which continue through the summer holidays. Tes.

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