By Helen Lock. You can do an apprenticeship in anything from costume design to financial services – but you'll need to do your homework first.
"Doing my A-levels felt like just another year at school and I wanted to start work," says Michael McGrath. So he starting working at Tesco from the age of 16, alongside college. These days he's employed at internet marketing company Ph. Creative.
"I was in limbo for a bit while I looked at my choices. I assumed apprenticeships would be in things like engineering and trades, so I looked for an engineering position, but then I saw vacancies in digital marketing and applied."The popularity of apprenticeships has risen sharply in the last two years – between February and April 2013, applications were up 32% on the same period the previous year, according to the National Apprentice Service, meaning there were 11 people applying for each vacancy. Meanwhile, David Cameron has described them as the "new norm". Read more...

By Michael Kelly. University degrees in languages may look like an endangered species. But hope remains, writes a former government adviser. It is a paradox of British higher education that our international profile has never been more important, yet fewer universities are offering language degrees. No wonder the government is worried that British graduates will be unable to make it in the global environment. Are we sleepwalking into tongue-tied isolation? Read more...

By Abby Young-Powell. Charities fear increased university fees are putting a heavy burden on elderly relatives. Grandparents believe that in the future they will have to help out financially with their family's university education, a report conducted by think-tank International Longevity Centre-UK has found. Read more...

By Anna Codrea-Rado. Over the last few days, a Guardian investigation has revealed that modern foreign language departments are closing at an alarming rate. Here's a summary of the key facts.
1. The number of universities offering modern foreign languages has declined by 40% over the past 15 years. In 1998, 93 universities offered specialist language degrees, whereas now only 56 do. Read more...

By Roger King. The case for a new higher education bill is clear, says Roger King. Without it we're in danger of fire without a fire brigade. Higher education has undergone dramatic change since the formation of the coalition. Since the publication of the 2011 white paper, Higher education: students at the heart of the system, there has been significant acceleration away from a supply-led system to a demand-led one. Read more...

You highlight valid concerns about language learning but portray a rather limited sense of what a modern languages degree embraces (Plunge in language degrees blamed on A-level marking, 8 October). The decline of those taking languages at A-level and subsequently university level compels Professor Kohl of Oxford to to declare, rather prematurely, that languages might soon be the "prerogative of the privately educated elite, and language degrees are restricted to Russell Group universities". This is not the case. Read more...

By Nicole Froio. Demand for counselling services on campuses in the UK has risen by a third since 2008 according to a new investigation.
The number of university students seeking counselling has risen over a third in the last four years, according to an investigation by Help Me Investigate. And at five universities numbers have more than doubled. Read more...

By Aarya Mishra. We are often told that Oxbridge is the best, but there are many other UK universities that offer a world class education.
With 26 British prime ministers, 58 Nobel prize winners, over 150 Olympic medals and a "notable alumni" list that reads like a historical hall of fame, the institutions of Oxford and Cambridge – collectively known as Oxbridge – are seen, by many, as the ultimate alma mater. Read more...

By Claire Shaw. Six UK universities have set up campus in Uzbekistan, a country with a poor human rights record – is the higher education sector sacrificing ethics in pursuit of international growth?
At least six British universities' have set up campus in Uzbekistan, a country whose human rights is widely condemned as one of the worst in the world. Read more...