By John Morgan. New College of the Humanities, the privately funded higher education institution charging fees of £18,000 a year, plans to open a free school in partnership with a private school firm.
NCH says in a statement today that it has applied to the Department for Education to open New School of the Humanities, a school for 11 to 18-year-olds in the London borough of Camden.
Two universities, Birmingham and Chester, already have permission to open free schools.
NCH's school would be run in partnership with Bellevue Education Group, which owns seven private preparatory schools in the UK and two Swiss boarding schools. Read more...

By Robert Booth. AC Grayling: New school will provide a grounding in the humanities for students to develop as well-rounded individuals. A private university college set up by the philosopher AC Grayling is bidding to open a sister state secondary school where the pupils could have access to lectures by top academics including Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker and Niall Ferguson.
The New College of the Humanities has applied to the education secretary Michael Gove to open a "co-educational free school for students of all backgrounds" in Camden, central London, with a specialism in humanities. When the university opened last September with its first 60 students it was widely criticised for providing an elitist education costing £18,000-a-year, twice the standard British university tuition fees. Read more...

By Patrick Collinson. An innovative scheme allows investors to back bright students who are an excellent credit risk and have an exceptionally low default rate. Every year some of the world's brightest young adults start MBAs at top institutions such as Insead in Paris, Harvard and the London Business School. Many go on to run multinational corporations, earning huge salaries. But just as many struggle to find loans to cover the cost of a one-year programme, which can be around £60,000. Into the gap has stepped an innovative scheme, Prodigy Finance, which links tomorrow's business leaders with today's savers desperate to earn better interest.
MBA students at the top schools typically earn more than £70,000 a year after graduating, yet face unique problems finding the money to study. For example, an American going to Oxford's Said Business School is likely to be turned down for a loan by a British bank because he or she won't have a credit record in the UK. The same goes for a Brit heading to Harvard or Insead. The American or French bank won't have a clue how to score them. Read more...