Update 11:45

Queen's Belfast called to account
The Northern Ireland Assembly’s committee for employment and learning is seeking an immediate briefing on the financial situation at Queen’s University, Belfast, following reports that departments and posts could be lost in budget cuts. The university would say only that it is going through its annual planning process and will report to senate in due course.

Bragg talks up reading at Liverpool
Broadcaster and novelist Melvyn Bragg is talking in Liverpool’s Central Library about his love of reading as part of Readers Day - an event organised by the University of Liverpool, Reader Magazine and the city council.

Scottish FE faces governance probe
Iain Gray, Scotland’s new lifelong learning minister, has launched a review of how further education colleges are governed. This will include examining ministers’ powers to intervene directly in cases of poor governance, and the Scottish Further Education Funding Council’s powers to ensure “propriety and value for money” in the use of funds.    

South Africa looks to boost student numbers
South Africa aims to recruit an extra 200,000 higher education students over the next ten years, increasing the percentage of 20-24 year-olds in higher education from 15 per cent to 20 per cent, education minister Kader Asmal announced.