By Jack Grove. Nearly a quarter of million students, young people and education staff in the UK are set to receive funding from the new Erasmus+ programme. According to Androulla Vassiliou, European commissioner for education, culture, multilingualism and youth, who launched the student mobility scheme in London today, the UK will receive nearly £100 million (€120 million) from Erasmus+ in 2014. More...

By Paul Jump. CaSE report kicks off lobbying for research ahead of next spending review. Investment in science and innovation should not be seen as a zero-sum game in which public and private investment can substitute for each other, a new report argues.
By international standards, the balance of R&D spending in the UK is skewed disproportionally towards the public sector, prompting calls from some observers for the state to pull back and for industry to invest more. But the report argues that there is a strong correlation between public research funding and private sector involvement in research. More...

By Chris Parr. The use of English as the language of instruction is a “galloping phenomenon” across the world, according to a report. According to the interim findings of a report by the British Council and University of Oxford’s department of education, English is increasingly becoming the lingua franca for education institutions across the word – from primary schools to universities. University administrators tend to regard English as a Medium of Instruction - or EMI, as a facilitator to attracting financially lucrative international students and as a way to improve their institution’s position in global university rankings, the report says. Lecturers, meanwhile, are more idealistic, saying it could improve the exchange of ideas and promote better relations between countries. More...

By John Elmes. Education secretary Michael Gove has announced an independent review of the quality and effectiveness of initial teacher training courses. The review, which will report to Mr Gove by the end of the year, will look across the full range of ITT courses available and aims to find out what “defines effective ITT practice”, how “effective” the current system is and recommend where improvements can be made. More...

By David Matthews. Government austerity and the consequent falls in public sector employment are driving a decline in part-time study, a report released today concludes. The new study from the Higher Education Funding Council for England tries to understand why part-time numbers have fallen so dramatically, particularly among undergraduates, since the recession. More...

By David Matthews. The Scottish government has guaranteed that independence would not result in a cut to research funding in the country, even if universities north of the border lose access to UK-wide research councils. Currently Scottish universities win a disproportionately large share of funding from the UK research councils, which is distributed competitively. More...

By Holly Else. The University of Oxford’s technology transfer company is to help a group of Omani business leaders set up a new university in the country. Isis Innovation will be the lead consultant in the project to develop Muscat University, a private, not-for-profit institution set to open its doors in 2016. More...