Greg Watson, chief executive of the OCR exam board, claimed that public confidence in the exams system has reduced, and that schools were becoming ‘production lines’, concentrating on test results at the expense of education.

The Royal Society has announced the appointment of 38 new University Research Fellows (URFs) for 2009.

The Royal Society has announced the appointment of 10 new Dorothy Hodgkin Fellows (DHFs) for 2009.

A research paper on experimental methodology for the production of microbubbles – miniature gas bubbles that can remain suspended in liquid for an extended period of time – has won the EPSRC Journal of the Royal Society Interface Award.

The new government framework for the future of higher education proposes ways to align university courses with the needs of the economy. This includes incentives to increase the number of STEM courses.

Gordon Brown gives his support to Key Stage 2 SATS, saying there is a need to retain accountability through testing.

A scientist who is helping to treat thousands of people living with HIV and tuberculosis (TB) in South Africa has been awarded the Royal Society Pfizer Award. Dr Linda-Gail Bekker’s research looks at how TB epidemiology has changed in the HIV era.

Collectivistic cultures, which promote social harmony over individuality, protect people who are genetically predisposed to depression from experiencing the condition according to research published today in Proceedings of the Royal Society B

The leader of the Cambridge Primary Review has attacked ministers who dismissed the Review’s findings, claiming they were responding to media reports rather than reading the Review itself. Proposals include children starting school at age six.

Dinosaurs are known for their huge size, but a new species discovered in Colarado, USA, is notable for being tiny. The miniature creature from the Jurassic is described in Proceedings of the Royal Society B this week.

The Royal Society is calling for a £2 billion “Grand Challenge” research programme on global food security. A report published today (21 October 2009) says that the UK should lead international research efforts if we are to achieve the massive increase in food crop production that will be required by 2050 to meet global food demands without damaging the environment.