Natfhe's FE members accept pay deal
Further education members of lecturers' union Natfhe have voted to accept the latest pay offer from employers, designed to bring teaching salaries in FE closer to schoolteachers' wages. They have accepted 3.5 per cent backdated to August last year, plus an additional 0.5 per cent from April and a minimum starting salary of £18,500. Talks on longer-term improvement of FE pay will resume in August.
Cambridge students protest against fees
Cambridge University students were today planning to stage a sit-in at Senate House to protest against tuition fees. The protest, part of the National Union of Students' "action week" against higher degree course charges, was aimed at persuading Cambridge's ruling council to formally oppose fees when it meets next week.
Chief scientific adviser talks up UK research
The UK is second only to the US in the volume and influence of its scientific research, the government's chief scientific adviser has told an audience at Oxford Brookes University. Sir David King discussed the lessons learnt from a number of high-profile UK issues, such as BSE, genetically modified organisms, climate change and energy, issues which have eroded public confidence in the way science is handled.