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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?
The UK tax authority's failure to hit a target of reducing tax credit fraud and error has "cost the taxpayer dear", a committee of MPs says.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) was challenged by the government in 2010 to cut fraud and error by £8bn by 2015. HMRC has now predicted that this would only be reduced by £3bn, a report by the Public Accounts Committee said.
The tax credit system was aimed to provide financial support for parents returning to work...
WikiLeaks founder uses subject access request to access British agency chatter, which allegedly calls extradition 'a fit-up'
Authorities at GCHQ, the government eavesdropping agency, are facing embarrassing revelations about internal correspondence in which Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is discussed, apparently including speculation that he is being framed by Swedish authorities seeking his extradition on rape allegations...
Exclusive: Retailer accused of scheme in which goods shipped to Europe from UK are invoiced to Irish subsidiary at lower rate
Marks & Spencer has become the latest in a string of UK companies to face criticism from tax campaigners over the way it structures its online sales to Europe – with one describing its sales operation as similar to that of the internet retail giant Amazon...
Some people are "put off" making important calls because of confusion over the amount they will be charged, according to the telecoms regulator.
Ofcom is planning a change in the system of "non-geographic" numbers, which start with 03, 08 or 09.
The latest research carried out by Lloyds TSB International has shown that more British expats are choosing to transfer their savings out of Pound Sterling and into local currencies. In September 20112, 26 per cent of UK expats living in other countries had the majority of their savings in the British Pound, but this has now dropped to just 13 percent...
Judge rules deal was not unlawful but criticises former tax boss for taking into account potential embarrassment to Osborne
The former head of Revenue and Customs (HMRC) took into account potential embarrassment to George Osborne when letting off Goldman Sachs from paying up to £20m in interest payments, a judge has concluded...
Education secretary suggests A* and A grades may be replaced by one to four scale to create more distinctions in highest grades
Top GCSE marks of A* and A could be replaced by a one to four numerical scale, education secretary Michael Gove told MPs on Wednesday, as one option to distinguish between high achieving candidates and make a break with the previous grades awarded.
"Rather than having A*, A and B, you might have one, two, three, four, and it might be the case that one, two, three, four cover the band of achievement that is currently A* and A," Gove told the Commons education select committee.
Changing the marking scale "would help refix the level at which people could recognise outstanding behaviour," he said...
The number of living people giving one of their organs to a stranger almost tripled last year in the UK, according to new figures.
The Human Tissue Authority (HTA) approved 104 so-called altruistic organ donations in 2012-13 compared with 38 the previous year. The figures include the first case of someone giving part of their liver to someone they had never met. Altruistic donations now make up about one in 12 of all living donations...
Sol Campbell investigates the unemployment rate for young black British men.
Former England and Arsenal footballer Sol Campbell investigates why the unemployment rate for young black British men is roughly double that of their white counterparts. He follows four under-25-year-olds in their search for that all-important first job, and asks: are employers to blame, or do young black men need to work harder at finding work?
Lord Green said the key ingredients of a recipe for growth included the needs to: deepen trade between EU member states and to realise the full potential of the Single Market open up the EU to trade with countries outside Europe – the developed world and the emerging economies cut regulation and to make European markets more productive and competitive
Seven members of a sex grooming ring are found guilty of offences including the rape and exploitation of children from Oxford.
An Old Bailey jury heard six girls were drugged and suffered sadistic abuse while aged between 11 and 15. The court heard victims were plied with alcohol and drugs before being forced to perform sex acts. Some had also been beaten, burnt and threatened...
Brown unveils Labour campaign against Scottish independence declaring that only Labour will protect UK institutions
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The pound falls after lower fuel prices lead to a lower-than-expected inflation rate of 2.4% for April.
This was down from 2.8% in March, according to the Office for National Statistics, and the first drop since September 2012.
Inflation as measured by the retail prices index (RPI) fell to 2.9% in April, from 3.3% the month before...
The House of Commons votes to allow gay marriage in England and Wales, despite 161 MPs opposing the government's plans.
Several Tory MPs spoke against the proposals, which have caused tensions in the party, but the Labour and Lib Dem leaderships backed them.
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill now goes before the House of Lords. David Cameron hopes it will become law soon, with the first ceremonies taking place by next summer. The bill, if passed, will allow same-sex couples, who can currently hold civil ceremonies, to marry. Religious organisations would have to "opt in" to offering weddings, with the Church of England and Church in Wales being banned in law from doing so.
Welsh Secretary David Jones and Environment Secretary Owen Paterson voted against the government's bill at its third reading. They were joined by 10 junior ministers...
Rising private rents, lack of affordable housing, benefit cuts and low levels of home-building force costly short-term solution, investigation finds
The UK has spent almost £2bn housing vulnerable homeless families in short-term temporary accommodation, according to figures that demonstrate the scale of Britain's housing crisis.
Rising private rents, a shortage of affordable housing and benefit cuts have forced local authorities, particularly in London, to place increasing numbers of households in bed and breakfast accommodation, hostels and shelters.
A number of prominent business leaders accuse those calling for Britain to leave the European Union of "putting politics before economics".
In a letter to the Independent, figures from BT, Shell, Lloyds Banking Group and Deloitte, estimated membership was worth up to £92bn a year to Britain. But the 19 signatories accepted reforms were needed and urged David Cameron to protect the City from EU ideas which they said put its standing at risk.
The move comes amid splits within the Conservative Party over Europe. On Sunday, Tory grandee Lord Howe accused the prime minister of "running scared" of Eurosceptics and losing control of his party on Europe.
Also:
Richard Branson and Martin Sorrell among signatories to a letter to ‘The Independent’ that takes aim at Eurosceptics http://ves.cat/geeB
Lloyds Banking Group shares were today trading above the Government's break-even price, fuelling speculation that taxpayers will soon start to recoup the more than £20 billion spent rescuing the lender.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to cut a further 1,400 jobs from its retail banking head office over the next two years.
Guardian investigation shows key role of British-based staff in pushing tax rulebook to its limits
MPs are ready to haul Amazon back to parliament to answer new questions about its tax status in Britain after a Guardian investigation's findings suggest the online retailer is pushing the tax rulebook to its limits to minimise its tax bill.
Company filings showed Amazon's main UK company paid just £3.2m in corporation tax on sales of £320m last year. However, the Seattle-based group has told investors its 2012 UK sales were £4.2bn...
Also: MPs challenge Google over UK tax reporting (BBC) http://ves.cat/gabq
The HS2 rail project has an estimated £3.3bn funding gap and the benefits for the economy are "unclear", the National Audit Office says.
In a report, the NAO said it had "reservations" about how the planned high-speed rail link would deliver growth and jobs.
It added that the project had an estimated £3.3bn funding gap. Labour described the report as "worrying", but Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin rejected the report, saying the case for HS2 was "clear"...
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...
Your daily visit to a coffee shop could also give you a chance to do a small good deed.
The daily trip to a local coffee shop may give you your caffeine fix - but thanks to a new scheme, it could also give you a chance to do a small good deed. The idea of "Suspended Coffee" is simple: When you buy yourself a coffee at a participating cafe, you also pay for a second one - which can then be claimed by someone who cannot afford it themselves. They don't have to "prove" anything to claim one, but the scheme relies on the good faith of everyone involved.
The movement has been growing in popularity since it began in Italy several years ago, and has already been embraced by hundreds of coffee shops around the world. Now Starbucks has announced it will soon be adopting a version of the scheme...
European commission carries out 'unannounced inspections' to investigate claims prices were rigged for more than a decade
The London offices of BP and Shell have been raided by European regulators investigating allegations they have "colluded" to rig oil prices for more than a decade.
The European commission said its officers carried out "unannounced inspections" at several oil companies in London, the Netherlands and Norway to investigate claims they may have "colluded in reporting distorted prices to a price reporting agency [PRA] to manipulate the published prices for a number of oil and biofuel products".
The commission said the alleged price collusion, which may have been going on since 2002, could have had a "huge impact" on the price of petrol at the pumps "potentially harming final consumers".
Labour party supporters increasingly believe that welfare recipients are undeserving and that the welfare state encourages dependence, with a noticeable share saying that poverty is caused by a personal failing rather than a problem with society, a landmark study reveals.
A report for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation examined the links between public attitudes to poverty, welfare and the state of the economy using data collected as part of the British Social Attitudes survey.
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