Michael Gove may have been defeated in his curriculum battle, but the fight has been worth it

Even those opposed to Gove's history curriculum reforms must admit it has focused attention on teaching

Michael Gove leads his troops into glorious defeat at the Battle of the Curriculum

There is an apocryphal story told of a British officer of the First World War, sent from headquarters to the front, catching sight of the appalling horror of the battlefield and collapsing into tears, crying to the Heavens for the dreadful waste of life for so little land gained.

If Michael Gove – resplendent, perhaps, in a general's uniform – were to survey the scene of the recent "history curriculum wars", would he respond the same? Would he see, broken in the mud, the corpses of Mr Men called in aid of his argument; watch Niall Ferguson and Richard Evans, bloodied but unbowed, march from the field still defiantly bellowing at each other; note the unstilled sniper shots of @toryeducation still picking out enemy troops even after the armistice? And would he wonder "Was it all for nothing?"

Cost of a degree 'to rise to £26,000' after tuition fee hike

Graduates face being left with debts of almost £26,000 after universities revealed that the cost of a degree course would rise to a new high next year.

Data submitted to the Office for Fair Access has shown that the cost of a degree will rise in 2014.

Official figures show that annual tuition fees will increase by around two per cent to an average of £8,647 for new students starting in 2014.

Almost three-quarters of universities and colleges in England will charge the maximum amount – £9,000 – for at least one course, it emerged. This is up from just six-in-10 in 2013.

Arrest in music schools sex abuse probe

Police investigating allegations of sex abuse at two music schools in the North West make another arrest.

Police investigating allegations of sex abuse at two music schools in the North West make another arrest

A 65-year-old man has become the third man to be arrested by police investigating allegations of widescale sex abuse at top music schools.

The man was arrested by Greater Manchester Police as part of the probe into historic sexual abuse at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and Chetham's School of Music, both based in Manchester.

Schools 'playing the system' to boost GCSE exam grades

Children are being forced to sit exams in the same subject as many as seven times as part of an elaborate ploy to boost GCSE results, a Government investigation has found.

The DfE found that pupils were entering exams in the same subject as many as seven times to get a good grade.

Rising numbers of schools are entering pupils for a series of different tests in English and maths but only registering the best score to improve their position in league tables.

In many cases, children are taking exams a year or two early and then re-sitting the test after failing to get good scores at the first attempt.

Same-sex parents 'should be featured in school books'

Children's books used in primary schools should feature same-sex parents to help teach tolerance among youngsters, according to an academic.

Schools should stock books that promote same-sex parents to combat homophobia, it is claimed.

Mark McGlashan, from Lancaster University, said pupils as young as five should be introduced to texts that "challenge homophobic bullying and encourage inclusivity in schools".

There is evidence that giving young children access to picture books that show gay and lesbian characters in a good light can have “positive benefits” and promote equality, it is claimed.

Slumdog Millionaire professor sets up first 'cloud schools' for teacherless lessons

A radical new scheme involving holding lessons without teachers is to be tried out at two schools in Britain for the first time.

Prof Sugata Mitra

Two so-called “cloud schools”, in which children use internet links to learn directly from experts, are to be set up inside existing schools in the North East of England.

They are part of an initiative by Prof Sugata Mitra, the education expert whose previous ideas include providing “Hole in the Wall” computers in Indian slums to enable impoverished children to learn by themselves.

Graduate 'background checks' as 85 compete for each job

Middle-class students face extra competition for top graduate jobs as companies increasingly favour applicants from poor backgrounds to engineer a more “diverse” workforce, research suggests.

More companies are vetting recruits' backgrounds to prevent jobs being monopolised by graduates from middle-class families.

Rising numbers of employers are carrying out background checks on graduates during the annual recruitment round amid political pressure to boost social mobility, it emerged.

A new report reveals that more than one-in-six top companies currently vet applicants’ socio-economic status and numbers will increase to almost four-in-10 in coming years.

Costs for state school hits '£22,500 per child'

The cost of putting a child through state school has risen by more than £6,000 in the past five years, according to research.

The latest Aviva School Sums index reveals that families are paying out more than £1,600 per child per year

The cost of educating children is enough to make even celebrities wince.

In an interview with the Telegraph, Status Quo rocker Francis Rossi said his children's education was the biggest drain on an estimated fortune of £10m.

His eight children have been privately educated, but new research out today shows that the cost of educating a child through the state system adds up to more than £22,500.

Teachers to strike over pay, pensions and workload

Teachers are to stage a one-day national walkout in the autumn in a continuing row over pay, pensions and workload, it was announced today.

The General Secretary of the NASUWT union, Chris Keates

Every region in England and Wales will be affected by regional strikes in the first and third week of October, the NASUWT and the National Union of Teachers (NUT) said.

This will be followed by a national strike later in the term.

Degree courses filled with foreign students, minister says

Universities are being forced to fill large numbers of degree courses with foreign students amid a shortage of well-qualified British applicants, the Education Minister has warned.

Elizabeth Truss, the Education Minister, said not enough pupils were taking maths beyond the age of 16.

Many places to study subjects such as maths, science and engineering are going to undergraduates from oversees because home-grown teenagers fail to take appropriate A-levels in the sixth-form, according to Elizabeth Truss.

In a speech, she told how England was “way behind our competitors” in terms of the number of students studying maths beyond the age of 16 – a prerequisite for most technical degree subjects.