AngloCatalan Affairs

As Michael Gove says it is time to have different exam systems in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the BBC News website looks at the differences between the UK's school systems.

GCSEs and A-levels have been central to the education systems in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for many years, and though Scotland already has had its own separate system significant new reforms are in the pipeline.

So how different has state-sponsored schooling in the UK's constituent parts become?

In this video slideshow, Guy Atkins introduces the Edwardian postcard, which, with its brevity and speed of reply, was the social media of its day.Guy's article, The Edwardian Social Network, is the c...

The Bank of England calls the data snooping activities at financial news agency Bloomberg "reprehensible" and says it will liaise with other central banks.

Legislation which affects just England should normally need backing by a majority of MPs who represent English constituencies, a report says.

The McKay Commission said such a principle should be enshrined in a resolution of the House of Commons...

Guardian writers: Carragher's character, very different summers for Everton and Chelsea, and why Andy Carroll can go where he wants

The Bank of England upgrades its economic growth forecast, but separate figures show a rise in UK unemployment.

In his last inflation report as the Bank's governor, Sir Mervyn King said inflation should drop to its target of 2% within two years.

Sir Mervyn said that "a recovery is in sight".

Separate figures showed UK unemployment rose by 15,000 in the first three months of the year to 2.52 million.

However, the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance fell by 7,300 last month to 1.52 million, the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed...

The Labour leader Ed Miliband today called for an overhaul of housing and employment policy – and a concerted drive to teach English to recent immigrants – in an effort to improve integration and reduce the strains of a multi-ethnic society.

He admitted that the last Government made serious mistakes over immigration, underestimating the capacity of some communities to adapt to new arrivals. He also conceded that it had blundered by adopting an open-doors policy for new arrivals from the East European countries that joined the EU in 2004.

Under his proposals, Labour would expect migrants to learn English, tackle landlords who cram newcomers into overcrowded houses and ban recruitment agencies from seeking workers only from particular countries or ethnic groups...

Oxford, 20, 21, 22 June, 2012

Keynote Speakers:

-Bernardo Atxaga (Euskadi)

-Isabel Capeloa Gil (Portugal)

-Josep-Antón Fernàndez (Catalunya)

-José Manuel Sande (Galiza)