Top stories

• Workers protest over job cuts as colleges waste millions on consultants and agency staff New figures revealing that £51,213,507 has been spent on expensive agency staff and paying consultant fees by further education colleges have been slammed by UNISON and UCU as a waste of money.

• Staff strike at Tower Hamlets Tower Hamlets College will be brought to a standstill tomorrow as members of UCU go on strike as part of their ongoing fight to save jobs and vital adult education courses.

• UCU responds to new graduate figures UCU today said the government needed to remove barriers to higher education during difficult economic times.

• Launch of joint partnership agreement between the National Union of Teachers and UCU In a move to ensure a stronger voice in debates that will affect all those in education the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and UCU are today joining together in a historic joint partnership agreement.

• UCU comment on fee rises as loans and grants are frozen Commenting on the news today that university tuition fees will rise by 2.04% next year, but student grants and loans will remain frozen at last year's rates, UCU said the announcement did little to persuade people that the government was serious about education not becoming a victim of the recession.

• Picnic protest over job cuts at Warwickshire college Strike action on the cards unless North Warwickshire and Hinckley College removes threat of compulsory redundancies.

• Unions accuse colleges of shameful hypocrisy on pay Further education unions - GMB, UCU, UNISON and Unite - today accused college heads of hypocrisy on pay after figures revealed that 80 colleges across England had boosted their principals' salaries by more than 50% in 8 years.