Pupils expelled from school for dealing drugs, attacking other children and carrying weapons are being allowed back into lessons against teachers' wishes, it emerged today.

The Government's flagship academy schools have been accused of shifting pupils onto inferior courses to dramatically inflate their GCSE results.

A £2bn a year programme to provide free childcare is failing to have a long-term impact on education standards, according to the spending watchdog.

Poor teachers should be denied pay rises to stop underperformance being "rewarded", the head of the schools watchdog said today.

Universities should be hit with the "nuclear" option of huge financial penalties for failing to recruit enough poor students.

The running of Scotland's universities will become politicised under SNP proposals to introduce elections and quotas for key officials, experts have warned.

Urgent action is needed to protect children and teachers from exposure to deadly asbestos in schools, MPs warned today.

Pupils should be assessed using multiple choice questions, project work and oral tests as part of a shake-up of A-levels, the qualifications regulator has suggested.

Middle-class parents do not trust schools to educate their children properly, according to an academic.

Examiners are effectively competing with each other to market their qualifications as the easiest, according to the Government's former education standards chief.

The Education Secretary, Michael Gove defends his policy of downgrading vocational qualifications and cutting them from official school league tables, saying young people must be able to prove themselves academically.

The number of applications to university has fallen by over 40,000 this year, but demand for university places from 18-year-olds has not fallen dramatically.

The teaching of complementary medicine has no place in British universities, says David Colquhoun.

A grammar school boy expelled over claims of sex in a store room has had the decision overturned after the allegations were blamed on a Facebook smear campaign.

More than 3,000 "Mickey Mouse" qualifications are being slashed from official league tables to stop schools playing the system to boost rankings, it is announced today.

Telegraph View: Michael Gove's plan means that courses in subjects such as a diploma in horse care, customer service and nail technology will no longer be listed as 'equivalent' to GCSEs.

University has come under pressure to reveal identity of mysterious Chinese foundation that is donating £3.7 million for a new professorship.

Schools set up to teach badly behaved pupils are often little more than "holding pens" where children spend time playing pool and searching Facebook, a Government advisor has warned.

University applications are down by almost 44,000 in just 12 months, figures show, with demand among teenagers from middle-class backgrounds dropping the quickest.

Thousands of young people have decided against applying to university because of the introduction of tuition fees of up to £9,000 a year, official figures will confirm today.