Exam chiefs have been accused of "fixing" this summer's A-level results to restrict the number of pupils who are awarded the new A* supergrade.

I've just added 35 new PurpleMash app-tivities to Teaching Ideas. These are interactive resources that you or your pupils can use in your classrooms for free. The apps just added include:

Early Years Apps - Simple online activities which children can use in a wide range of ways.

Display Apps - A range of online tools to help you make classroom signs and displays.
Look out for the Purple Mash sign to find them -->

How to use the online service Voicethread to develop pupils' empathy for characters.
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/usingvoicethread.htm

Britain's most selective universities have made no progress in the past 15 years in increasing the number of places given to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, a major study out today reveals.

Gallic pride might not normally be expected to volunteer for a lesson in Teutonic efficiency. But in a move that could dramatically alter France's arduous educational culture and bring it into line with Germany's less intense model, a hundred secondary schools across the country have agreed to test a new model that lightens the academic load in favour of afternoons filled with sports.