The Scottish government has struck a funding deal of almost £2bn with councils to fund a flagship policy to boost early learning and childcare. Ministers have pledged to increase free nursery provision from the current 600 hours to 1,140 by August 2020. But spending watchdog Audit Scotland warned in February of a “significant risk” that local authorities would not be ...

Kate Middleton just gave birth to a baby boy — her third child with Prince William. The new baby, who is named Louis Arthur Charles, is fifth in line for the throne. Here’s a look at some of the parenting strategies Will and Kate have used while raising their first two children, George and Charlotte. Royal baby number three is ...

Cambridge University is introducing “flexible” offers to students applying for Mathematics, in a bid to boost the number of female applicants. The move, which is being trialled by eleven colleges this autumn, is designed to limit the factors potentially deterring women from applying for the course. An offer to study Maths at Cambridge has previously been conditional on achieving at ...

Tests on a six-inch-long mummified skeleton from Chile confirm that it represents the remains of a newborn with multiple mutations in key genes. Despite being the size of a foetus, initial tests had suggested the bones were of a child aged six to eight. These highly unusual features prompted wild speculation about its origin. Now, DNA testing indicates that the ...

National Offer Day: What to do if you fail to secure a place at secondary school Ahead of National Offer Day, many parents will be asking the same question across the country: what can we do if our first choice application is rejected? Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. In order to successfully reverse the decision, the journey through the ...

The chemistry teacher dropped the paper on my desk as the bell sounded. “Keep trying, Lauren,” he smiled. I stared at the large letter ‘C’ scrawled in red at the top of the page. That letter was following me round school like a bad smell; from chemistry and history to Spanish and maths, it glared at me from the top ...

Sweden is one of the most innovative countries in the world, yet has a business culture that discourages bragging about its success. So is this humility a help or a hindrance when it comes to start-ups? From household names such as Spotify and Skype, to gaming leaders King and Mojang and cashless payment companies iZettle and Klarna, Sweden is a ...

A five-year-old girl with a history of asthma was turned away from seeing her doctor because she was “late” – and died that night in hospital. An inquest heard Ellie-May Clark was not seen by Grange Clinic in Newport despite having an emergency appointment because it operated a “10 minute rule”. A chance to “provide potentially life-saving treatment was missed” ...

The Seychelles has created protected areas “the size of Great Britain” in the Indian Ocean. In exchange for getting some of its national debt paid off, the island nation has agreed to protect 210,000 sq km (81,000 sq miles) of ocean. The reserves will limit tourism and fishing activities in the Seychelles to halt further damage to aquatic life. A ...

White nationalist Jared Taylor is suing Twitter after the social network banned his account as part of a crackdown on abusive content. Mr Taylor’s lawyer says the suspension of his account is a form of censorship, accusing Twitter of discrimination. Twitter declined to comment on the case but has previously said that its tools are “apolitical”. Mr Taylor is head ...