Diplomas offer "weak vocational learning opportunities" and will do little to reduce the number of unemployed young people, an investigation of 14-19 education has concluded.
Last week Children's Secretary Ed Balls launched advice on how schools could help fight the spread of extremist views. He said they can play a "key role" in helping young people to reject the messages of violent extremists.
Government indecision over how to allocate the replacement for the education maintenance allowance (EMA) is preventing Connexions staff from advising young people on post-16 education and training choices.
What are they doing? Drama lessons at Ricards Lodge High School in Wimbledon are going continental, as pupils use technology to communicate with their peers at College Colette Sartrouville in Paris. Pupils at both schools are being brought together to rehearse two plays by Shakespeare and Moliere.
The departure of four senior civil servants will drain vital expertise from the Department for Education (DfE), it has been claimed, as already overstretched staff struggle to manage the pace of government reform.