Millions of pounds are being fraudulently claimed from Britain's university student loan system by "sham" students, according to an investigation by The Sunday Times.

The allegations point to "one of the biggest financial scandals in the history of our universities sector", said Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, who has announced an investigation into the claims.

What has been uncovered?
Thousands of people have fraudulently claimed a student loan by enrolling on degree courses, despite having "absolutely no academic intent" and no plans to attend nor to repay the loan, said The Sunday Times. The paper's investigative reporters reviewed leaked financial documents and company accounts, and interviewed sources in the Student Loans Company, the Department for Education and the Office for Students, as well as university lecturers.

Where is the fraud happening?
The majority of suspect students seem to be enrolled at so-called "franchised universities" – small colleges that provide courses for established universities. They often have low, or almost no, entry requirements. Some franchised colleges are reportedly enrolling international students "who cannot speak adequate English or accepting screenshots of Duolingo tests as proof of English proficiency", said the paper.

British students and foreign citizens with settled status can apply for tuition fee loans and maintenance payments. The tuition fee is paid to the course providers but the maintenance loan is paid directly to a student's bank account. But there are concerns that attendance is not being properly monitored. Loans are only repayable when a student leaves and earns more than £25,000 a year; the debt is wiped completely after 40 years.

More than 3,500 suspicious loan applications, totalling nearly £60 million, were identified by the Student Loan Company in the 2022-23 academic year, but The Sunday Times believes the latest figures could "run to hundreds of millions of pounds".

What will the government do?
Phillipson has announced that the Public Sector Fraud Authority will be investigating the suspected exploitation of the system. Franchised universities are important in helping students reach higher education, she said, but the system "lacks necessary guardrails against abuse".

Oxford has been accused of behaving in a "slimy way" in the run-up to next month's Boat Race against Cambridge. Four Cambridge rowers have been blocked from competing in the annual showdown, in what their team described as a "desperate ploy" by their rowing rivals. The dispute "is being taken so seriously that the vice-chancellors of both universities are now said to be considering intervening", The Guardian said.

'New low'
The "age-old rivalry" between the two university rowing teams took a "new turn" after the race organisers banned postgraduate teaching students from competing this year, said the Daily Mail. With only weeks until the big day, the ban prevents three Cambridge rowers – including former double world champion Matt Heywood – from taking part.

Oxford University – which for six years has had no victories in the women's race and only one in the men's – successfully argued that the PGCE teacher training qualification does not meet the degree-level eligibility criteria because "it is a diploma and that is not a degree".

The ruling is "an insult to teachers everywhere" and a "desperate ploy" from Oxford to "gain an upper hand" in "the most slimy way", former Cambridge Blue and Olympic champion Imogen Grant said on Instagram. Her fellow Cambridge graduate, Olympic silver medallist Cath Bishop, described the move as "utter madness", a "crying shame" and a "new low" in relations between Oxford and Cambridge boat clubs.

Falling foul of the rules
The "composition of both crews has often been contested" during the 196-year-old race, said The Guardian, with each side repeatedly accusing the other of "gaming the system by recruiting elite athletes to study easy degrees".

Also barred from this year's race – in a separate eligibility ruling – is Cambridge's Olympic champion Tom Ford. He "fell foul of rules" that exclude anyone who "first began a degree more than 12 years earlier", said The Spectator. This rule was introduced after double Olympic champion James Cracknell rowed for Cambridge in 2019 at the age of 46.

Mother's Day doesn't have to mean wilting blooms from the local garage. From cocktail sets to restaurant-level gift boxes, these edible treats are perfect for showing your appreciation.

Whittard's Luxury Tea Time Gift Box
A dream for tea lovers, this gift box from Whittard contains a beautifully crafted Greenwich teapot with a customisable choice of premium loose-leaf teas, and a tube of biscuits. 

M&S Collection Antipasti Gift Box
This foodie gift box is a good-value choice to delight mothers in need of an early-evening drink (along with requisite snacks). It includes a bottle of Montepulciano D'Abruzzo with some high-end savoury nibbles from the M&S Collection range.

The Newt in Somerset Cheese & Cyder Hamper
This "indulgent" gift hamper from celebrity favourite The Newt Inn in Somerset is an "absolute must-buy", said Glamour. With foodie treats from around the hotel's estate, it makes for a perfect grazing meal when your mother is all cooked out.

Selfridges Selection Cocktail Hour Gift Box
If you want to spoil your mother with a cocktail, why not make that two? This cocktail gift box from the luxury department store comes with a hand-distilled vodka from London and a carbon-neutral gin from Yorkshire, so she can knock herself up a Gin Sling or a Cosmopolitan depending on her mood.

Honey & Co. Mother's Day Sweet Treats Hamper
Bring restaurant-quality food home with this fine food hamper from Middle Eastern restaurant Honey & Co. It's a "failsafe gift option", said Good Housekeeping, with the contents comprising Sarit's citrussy preserved lemon and tahini biscuits, marmalade, a Cornish St. Eval candle and Ocelot Femme chocolate.

Why we should back Starmer's strategic lies
Alex Massie in The Times
Keir Starmer has become "a strange kind of liar", writes Alex Massie. The prime minister is "willing to say he believes things nobody can seriously think he really believes" – not least his "untruths" about his supposedly chummy relationship with Donald Trump, which are "so obvious they now have a kind of pantomime quality". Yet his lies are "sensible ones" for Britain. Although "flattering" Trump is "unpleasant", it's "more rewarding than telling the truth".

'Exam stress' is not a mental illness
Frank Furedi on Spiked
It's looking "likely" that GCSEs will become "simpler and fewer to protect pupils from the supposed scourge of stress", says Frank Furedi. But "the point of exams is to assess how well students perform under pressure". The "supposed epidemic of exam stress" is the result of "pathologising" children's ordinary emotions. "Coddling kids" will "teach them nothing – except that they are incapable of dealing with any kind of pressure". We risk "raising a generation of victims".

My date used AI to psychologically profile me. Is that OK?
Jemima Kelly in the Financial Times
The "murky pool" of online dating can be a "grim place", writes Jemima Kelly, and some due diligence before meeting someone new is "wise". But a "recent date" asked ChatGPT to "deep research me" and produce an eight-page psychological profile before our rendezvous. "Is it ethical to be using generative artificial intelligence in this way?" In this instance, it was "light-hearted", but I was "bothered" by the idea of "less savoury characters doing the same thing".