Newspaper headlines: Private schools and passport delays - BBC News
A rise in vocational qualifications and complaints over passport control delays make headlines.
The Times says private schools are encouraging more pupils to learn a trade instead of encouraging them to go to university.

It reports that the number of those in the independent sector taking Btec vocational qualifications has doubled in the past four years.

Julian Thomas, master at Wellington College, tells the paper that spiralling university fees have led to "greater questioning of whether or not university is the right route for everyone".

In an editorial, the paper welcomes the move and says the significant rise in students taking vocational exams instead of A-levels signifies that "change is in the air".

But it warns that for the country that built the Spitfire, Britain is still a "technical education laggard".

Both the Times and the FT Weekend carry reports that British Airways has criticised the Home Office over the long delays faced by some air travellers at passport control in UK airports.

The Times says the airline claimed that at Heathrow's Terminal 5, two-thirds of the electronic gates that are supposed to speed up passport checks were routinely closed.

The Daily Mirror, which also has the story, sums it up in the headline "borderline farce".

But a spokesman for the Home Office rejects the criticism, telling the paper: "While we make every effort to to keep delays to a minimum, we make no apology for this important work."

A former policy chief at Number 10 tells the Daily Telegraph the Tories are "turning hostile" to big business.

George Freeman criticises the party's failure to champion business and warns that ministers must back "insurgent capitalism" and convince a new generation of its benefits.

In a comment piece, Mr Freeman argues that one of the main problems has been that in so many core markets including banking, energy and transport, an entrenched dominance by a few established players has been allowed to evolve and has done so - to the detriment of customers.

"Eton rocked by scandal of leaked exams," says the Guardian on its front page.

It reports that a deputy head teacher at the school has left amid allegations that he circulated questions from a forthcoming economics exam to other teachers before a test for sixth-formers.

The paper says the discovery came after an investigation into leaked questions in the exam by Cambridge International Examinations.

In a statement, the school confirms that there has been a breach of exam security by one of its staff and says he has now left the institution.

The Daily Mail reveals that smart bins that text council workers when they are full are set be tested as part of a government scheme to tackle littering.

It says that if bins could be emptied more quickly it would stop rubbish spilling out onto High Streets and curb those who drop litter on the streets because all the bins are full.

The Times reports that ale lovers may well have been crying into their beer this week over the revelation that one London bar is charging £13.40 for one of its premium pints.

It says that the price of Cloudwater's 8.2% Double IPA is almost four times the UK average.

But if you thought the price would deter thirsty customers, you would be wrong.

When the Sun tried to buy a pint at a London Bridge pub, a barman told their reporter: "You're too late. It went in no time."