Teacher who made lewd pie request struck off

A teacher who tried to get students to satisfy his food fetish was this week banned from teaching in Scotland. Gavin Bradford asked students to smear themselves with ketchup and eggs and pour milk into their underwear in front of webcams while he was employed at a college in Canada. He also asked one female pupil to stuff a pie down his pants in the late-night exchanges between 2006 and 2007. After the scandal, Mr Bradford returned to Scotland and worked as a performing arts lecturer at Coatbridge College, near Glasgow. This week, the General Teaching Council for Scotland said his conduct had fallen short of the standards expected of a registered teacher.

More suspensions for assault among primary pupils

The number of pupils expelled from schools in England dropped by more than 11 per cent last year, according to figures released this week. The Department for Education said that 5,080 pupils were permanently excluded, down from 5,740 in 2009-2010. But the figures also revealed that growing numbers of primary school children were suspended for assaulting their classmates and teachers. About 89 pupils aged between five and 11 were ordered out of class in 2010-11 for assault.

Make maths compulsory until 18, say Lords

Studying maths in some form should be compulsory for all pupils until the age of 18, a report from the House of Lords science and technology committee has recommended. The report backed the idea of a single syllabus post-16 to offset the risk of competing examination boards driving down standards. It also urged higher education institutions to make A-level maths a requirement for studying STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects at university.

Teenagers say they’re not learning for yawning

Many teenagers do not believe they are getting enough sleep to remain alert at school and stay healthy, research suggests. Girls are more concerned about their sleeping habits than boys and young people are more likely to say they are not getting enough as they get older, according to the Schools Health Education Unit. More than one in four girls aged 14-15 and just over a fifth of boys of the same age do not think they sleep enough to concentrate on their studies.

See feature, pages 26-28

Universities will dig deep to improve access

Universities will be spending more than #163;671 million a year on improving access through outreach work, scholarships and bursaries by 2016, the Office for Fair Access has announced. The figure contrasts with the #163;403 million spent in the past academic year, the last before full fees of up to #163;9,000 are introduced in September. The government will also contribute money towards improving access through its National Scholarship Programme, raising the overall figure spent on access to #163;809.5 million. Business secretary Vince Cable said: “The government is determined that no one with the ambition and ability, whatever their background, should come up against barriers to accessing higher education.”