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Entering menopause at a later age may be associated with a small benefit to your memory years later, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. The paper, published today in Neurology and funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) suggests a possible link between entering the menopause late and memory retention.

Grammar schools are no better or worse than non-selective state schools in terms of attainment, but can be damaging to social mobility, according to new research by Durham University. The researchers say a policy of increasing selection within the schools system is dangerous for equality in society.

Scientists have been able to track the flow of water created by Greenland's melting glaciers, revealing that it's currently having a less significant impact on the Gulf Stream than previously thought. New model calculations, conducted by an international research team from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research based in Germany and the University of Bristol in the UK, suggest that a large fraction of the meltwater is effectively removed from the most sensitive areas by swift, narrow boundary currents, delaying the influence on the Gulf Stream.

Migrating birds 'share the pain' of the arduous task of leading a v-formation, so that they can then take turns saving energy by following in another bird's wake, a new study shows. The research, by an international team led by Oxford University scientists, is the first convincing evidence for 'turn taking' reciprocal cooperative behaviour in birds.

A clinical aptitude test originally pioneered by The University of Nottingham has been proven to be a significant predictor of performance in medical students. The UKCAT was launched in 2006 in response to a need to widen access to medical education and provide a supplementary assessment in the context of so-called A level grade inflation.

Earlier this month the "Too Much, Too Soon" campaign made headlines with a letter calling for a change to the start age for formal learning in schools. Here, one of the signatories, Cambridge researcher David Whitebread, explains why children may need more time to develop before their formal education begins in earnest.

20 Jun 2013 The University of Manchester's social work degree programmes have become one of the first five higher education institutions (HEIs) to be endorsed by the College of Social Work. The College of Social Work has launched the endorsement scheme for higher education institutions aimed at providing a kite mark of quality to qualifying social work degree programmes.

A worldwide consortium of researchers including academics from the University of Bristol has found that tiny differences across person's genetic sequences are associated with educational level. Philipp Koellinger from the Erasmus School of Economics explained: "The unique feature of our study is that we looked at a sample of unprecedented size in social science genetics research.

Imperial researchers develop model to more accurately describe the motion of soft matter particles. Chemical engineers and mathematicians from Imperial College London have put their heads together to create a new model that more accurately describes the motion of soft matter particles. Ben Goddard, a research associate who works with Professor Serafim Kalliadasis in the Department of Chemical Engineering, sat down to talk about soft matter materials, such as paints and sponges, and how their model can be applied in fields ranging from nanotechnology to environmental science.

A new study has revealed we are basically honest. The research by the University of Oxford and the University of Bonn suggests that it pains us to tell lies, particularly when we are in our own homes. It appears that being honest is hugely important to our sense of who we are. However, while it might bother us to tell lies at home, we are more likely to bend the truth at work, suggests the study.

An Oxford University pilot study, published in the journal PLoS One , shows that providing free sanitary pads to teenage girls in Ghana markedly improved attendance levels at school over just three months. More surprisingly perhaps, the attendance levels of girls who did not get free pads but had lessons on puberty also improved by the same rate over a slightly longer period of five months.

Patients suffering from a distressing side-effect of radiotherapy for head and neck cancers can benefit from acupuncture treatment, reveals a new study published today (Wednesday 24 October 2012). Patients who have received radiotherapy for head and neck cancer often suffer from the unpleasant and distressing side-effect of a dry mouth, caused by damage to their salivary glands from the radiation.