Life Lessons by Melissa Benn book review – clarion call to hearten the weariest teacher
The campaigner’s 15-point plan for a National Education Service would tackle inequality – and ease the pressures on teachers
From the archive: getting ready for university in 1985
Ian McEwan, Rose Tremain and Peter Whalley reveal what they really thought about going to uni and how it prepared them for life
Posh Boys: How the English Public Schools Ruin Britain – review
Robert Verkaik comprehensively illustrates the toxic stranglehold the public school system has on Britain
Richard Ovenden, Bodley’s librarian: ‘I feel a huge responsibility. I don’t want to screw it up’
The author and Oxford fellow on the joys of the city’s Covered Market, the importance of tea and debating with his daughter
Manchester University students paint over Rudyard Kipling mural
Students replace poem If by ‘well-known racist’ with Maya Angelou’s Still I Rise
Country diary: metamorphosis in a museum tower
Oxford: For 70 years, researchers have been watching ‘particularly hideous’ young swifts turn into long-winged angels
Only 1% of children’s books have BAME main characters – UK study
Research finds that of 9,115 titles published last year, only 4% featured BAME characters
How Minecraft is helping kids fall in love with books
Ever wanted to explore Treasure Island or pretend to be Robinson Crusoe? Minecraft is now being used to create an ‘immersive experience’ to engage reluctant readers – we see how it plays out
Renaming the Laura Ingalls Wilder award isn’t disturbing, William Shatner – it’s necessary
The Star Trek actor disagrees with the award being renamed because of her racist views on Native Americans, but these kinds of actions are needed
England: Poems from a School, edited by Kate Clanchy – review
A poetry anthology by immigrant schoolchildren in Oxford are full of heart and resolve
‘My blackness seemed curious, difficult to handle’: the day I ran away from Oxford University
As one of only 21 black students in my year, out of 3,000, I knew I’d be in a minority; I didn’t expect to be a curiosity. Could I find my place?
Philip Pullman attacks ‘monstrous’ English education policy
The His Dark Materials novelist says current ‘fetish’ for exams is unnecessary and could ruin children’s lives
Meic Stephens obituary
Literary editor, arts administrator, translator and poet who promoted Welsh cultural causes
South Carolina police object to high-school reading list
Union says depictions of brutality in The Hate U Give and All American Boys promote distrust of police and ‘we’ve got to put a stop to that’
John James obituary
Other lives: Poet and teacher of literature and film