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By Hayley Dixon. The deficit in the University pension scheme is as much as £10.5 billion, an analyst has claimed, and to plug the hole institutions may need to raise fees by £1,000 a year. 
 Tuition fees may have to rise by £1,000 a year to cover a massive black hole in a University pension fund which is worse than previously thought, an analyst has been claimed. The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), used by staff across the UK, has one of the biggest deficits in the country which it is claimed would be £10.5bn if judged by private sector standards. More...

By Graeme Paton. Apprenticeships will be overhauled with a greater focus on English and maths as part of a new drive to tackle the “scourge of youth unemployment”, the Prime Minister will say today. 
 Training schemes for school-leavers will be toughened up with new industry standards under proposals designed to make British apprenticeships the best in the world, according to David Cameron. In a series of changes, he will announce that future apprentices will need to demonstrate competence through more rigorous academic assessments, including increased English and maths requirements. Apprenticeships will be at least a year long and will be graded on a three-point scale – pass, merit and distinction – to put them more on par with other qualifications, it is revealed. More...

By Graeme Paton. Twenty universities and colleges will mark students' work using new "grade points" in favour of the 200-year-old system of first, second and third class degrees. 
 Universities could drop traditional degree classifications in favour of US-style “grade points” amid fears the existing system is too crude, it has emerged. At least 20 institutions – including six members of the elite Russell Group – will trial a new system of grading students’ work as part of a drive to boost transparency. More...

By Graeme Paton. A leading vice-chancellor has warned that the current £9,000 limit on annual tuition fees is no longer sustainable and "can’t remain frozen for ever". 
Ministers should consider increasing student tuition fees because the existing £9,000 a year cap is “simply not sustainable”, the country’s leading vice-chancellor has warned. Sir Christopher Snowden, president of Universities UK, said that the current tuition fee level “can’t remain frozen for ever” because it is causing damage to the higher education system. More...

By Graeme Paton. Row as one of Britain's top universities – Bristol – admits pupils from dozens of leading schools with lower grades than their peers.
Pupils from dozens of private schools will be admitted to one of Britain’s leading universities with low entry grades as part of a policy designed to engineer a more “balanced” student body. Bristol University is classifying pupils as being educationally disadvantaged if they attend a school ranked among the bottom 40 per cent in the country. It has drawn up a list of 1,370 relatively poor-performing schools that it suggests may be putting pupils at a disadvantage during the admissions process. More...