Best of Today

The government has started a major review of the curriculum and assessment in England's schools, chaired by education policy expert Becky Francis. But how could we rethink England's curriculum and assessment?Today hears from schools across the country trying new ways of doing things from using AI in classrooms to a more skills based approach and looking at why the 'exam season' might cease to exist.The series hears from: former Conservative Schools Minister Nick Gibb; Jill Duffy from the OCR exam board; Jason Arday, former guest editor of the Today Programme and professor of the sociology of education at Cambridge University; Sir Ian Livingstone, a giant of modern British business and the man behind the Livingstone Academy; and Claire Heald, CEO of the Cam Academy Trust.Listen to the Today programme on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds: 6-9am Monday-Friday, and 7-9am on Saturdays.

Earlier this year, the Today programme gave our listeners the chance to look at an issue that matters to them.Herbie and Ayesha both voted for the first time this year. They wanted to look at the disconnect they believe exists between young people and politicians.Listen to the other stories explored by our listeners this week on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds between 6am-9am.

All this week we've been hearing stories brought to us by Today listeners. Dr Lisa Wright and Dr Mark Walton are both clinical psychologists, who work on Merseyside in the only NHS unit of its kind - where they are trying to cut criminal offending rates using therapy. It's not an alternative to prison - the NHS Forensic Psychology centre in Liverpool works with people who have served custodial sentences who might be at risk of re-offending. Listen to the other stories explored by our listeners this week on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds between 6am-9am.

Earlier this year, the Today programme gave our listeners the chance to look at an issue that matters to them. Anna and Chloe - along with Chloe's 19 year-old daughter Pearl - wanted to ask "University: Is it worth it?" and interrogate the value of a university education in 2024. As part of our coverage, Today has exclusively seen a blueprint for the future of universities in England. Universities UK, which represents 142 universities, is calling for a rise in tuition fees linked to inflation and more government support for students. Listen to the other stories explored by our listeners this week on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds between 6am-9am.

Earlier this year we gave listeners the chance to ask us to look at an issue for them. Martin and Sandra from Macclesfield, in East Cheshire called their application Where’s my bus? They both rely on the buses to get around and met on a Facebook group dedicated to their local bus service. The new government has plans to give local authorities more power to take control over bus services, for example through a ‘franchising’ arrangement. Our Transport Corr Katy Austin took a look at whether this plan will help listeners like Martin and Sandra and Today presenter Nick Robinson spoke to Graham Vidler, Chief Executive, Confederation of Passenger Transport.

All this week the Today programme is looking at stories that have been brought to us by our listeners. Vanessa and Toby are parent governors at a secondary school in South London. They have noticed far fewer children and families where they live, and primary schools closing down as a result. Exclusive research for Today has shown that primary school numbers have fallen by 5% in London in the last five years. And they are projected to continue falling at double the rate of the rest of England. Listen to the other stories explored by our listeners this week on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds between 6am-9am.

Garry Richardson has finished his last sports bulletin on Radio 4's Today programme - 50 years to the day since he started at the BBC. Garry is best known for his sporting interviews, but his career has ranged from climbing towers for Radio Oxford to singing with the great Buddy Greco.James Naughtie picks some of the highlights from Garry's half century.

Radio 4 is marking Friday 12th as “Just One Thing Day” in celebration of Dr Michael Mosley’s life and legacy. Throughout the week, we’ve asked his friends and colleagues to tell us what change they might have made that was down to him. Speaking to Today’s Justin Webb, Dr Clare Bailey Mosley shares touching tributes, and reflects on his work, influence, and legacy. Listen to the Today programme on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds: 6-9am Monday-Friday; and 7-9am on Saturdays.

The Today Debate is about taking a subject and pulling it apart with more time than we have in the morning.Amid a significant backlog in crown courts in England and Wales and related problems in the system in Scotland and Northern Ireland, Today presenter Mishal Husain asks if justice delayed is justice denied?Joining Mishal on the Today debate panel are Claire Waxman, the Independent Victims' Commissioner for London; Charlie Taylor; His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales; Joanna Hardy-Susskind, a barrister at Red Lion Chambers; Lord Falconer, Labour Peer and former Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice and Sir Max Hill, who was the director of Public Prosecutions for England and Wales until October last year.

When Theresa May was diagnosed with type 1 in her 50s, she told the consultant: "I'm too old. I can't be”. Lady May says she would also eat Jelly Babies when her blood sugar dropped during meetings.The former Prime Minister has now chaired a parliamentary inquiry into the life-threatening consequences of having both type 1 diabetes and an eating disorder.She speaks to Today's Justin Webb why a joined-up approach by the NHS is needed so that healthcare professionals are aware of the 'conflicting pressures' on people with type 1 and an eating disorder. She also discusses her experience while in government of managing her blood sugar levels.

The last of our Christmas guest editors is the CEO of the global biopharma company GSK, Dame Emma Walmsley.She wanted her programme to look to the year ahead with optimism. In these highlights from her programme hear Dame Emma in conversation with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who urges politicians not to treat their opponents as enemies but as fellow human beings.Dame Emma also speaks to the Health Minister for Singapore; visits Kew Gardens and she asks former guest editor and Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse to discuss with a group of students, the scientific and technological advances they are most excited for in 2024. Simon Jack interviews Dame Emma to end her programme and she chooses a special piece of music.

Professor Jason Arday is our latest Christmas guest editor. This year he was appointed as one of Cambridge’s youngest ever professors. A significant accolade by any measure but even more so when you consider that Professor Arday was diagnosed with autism and global developmental delay aged just three and didn't learn to speak until he was eleven or read and write until he was eighteen. He uses his programme to look at improving adult literacy and he speaks to the head of Universal Music UK about championing neurodiversity in the workplace. Professor Arday also indulges his passion for 90s music with a discussion including Blur drummer Dave Rowntree and as a fan of a sharp suit, he champions the tailoring industry.

Andrew Malkinson is Today's latest Christmas guest editor. He spent 17 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit before being cleared in July. He uses his programme to look at justice and how one can cope with being locked up unjustly. He speaks to John McCarthy, who was held hostage for more than five years in the 1980s. While in prison, the world of astronomy and space offered Andrew a sense of release and sanctuary from the immediate confines of his daily experience and a way to expand his world. So as part of his guest edit, he visits Jodrell Bank observatory. And he tells Today's Justin Webb about the months since his conviction was overturned and how he still feels anger.

The singer and UN environment ambassador Ellie Goulding is the latest Today programme Christmas guest editor. Ellie uses her programme to explore her twin passions of music and nature, including looking at rewilding projectsShe tells Today's Martha Kearney that nature has helped her through difficult times in her life, including postnatal depression. Ellie interviews fellow musicians Brian Eno and Chris Martin about the music industry's environmental impact. And she goes back to her sixth form college in Hereford and answers students questions, including about whether the music industry has changed for the better since the Me Too movement began.

James May, The Grand Tour and former Top Gear presenter, is Today’s latest Christmas guest editor. He looks at the future of driverless cars and why a culture change may be needed to end conflict between cyclists and motorists.James believes hobbies are good for people’s wellbeing so the Today team assembled a get together with hobby-mad listeners, including comedian Al Murray. He also looks at whether coffee culture is eroding the place of tea and gets a poetry lesson from Succession star Dame Harriet Walter. Here James shares highlights from his programme.

The writer Hanif Kureishi - who is our second Christmas guest editor this year - had a life changing accident which paralysed him on Boxing Day 2022. He uses his programme to explore his adjustment to becoming disabled, including its impact on his family and his friendships. Hanif first enjoyed professional success as a writer 1985 with My Beautiful Laundrette, which was Oscar nominated, and he later wrote the novel the Buddha of Suburbia - which became a BBC series - and My Son The Fanatic. In his programme, he speaks about how he has developed with his son Carlo a new way of producing and publishing his work. He also has a long conversation with Today presenter Mishal Husain just before he returns home from hospital.

Dr Nicola Fox, Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate NASA is the first of our Christmas guest editors this year.Her programme looks ahead to the launch of the Peregrine Lunar Lander next year which will start the ground work for sending a crewed mission back to the Moon.Dr Fox, who revealed she was a fan of Duran Duran on her recent Desert Island Discs, talks to band member Nick Rhodes about the influence of space on music. She talks to her counterpart at the European Space Agency, Carole Mundell, about her path into a top space job and she confronts the writers of the last Bond film.Dr Fox also speaks to Today Presenter Nick Robinson about why her father's interest in space inspired her and why she cries every time a space mission launches.

The daughter of Yocheved Lifschitz, one of the hostages freed last night, has visited her mother in hospital in Israel and has told Today she "seems OK". In an interview with Today presenter Mishal Husain, Sharone Lifschitz said: "The nurses are just having a chat, they say she is very sharp and is very keen to share the information, pass on the information to families of other hostages that she was with."Yocheved Lifschitz was held for 16 days after being abducted from her home in a kibbutz in southern Israel amid scenes of death and destruction. Today's Nick Robinson also spoke to BBC Correspondent in Gaza Rushdi Abualouf.And Noam Sagi joined Nick and Mishal in the studio. His mother, Ada Sagi, was taken hostage in the kibbutz of Nir Oz, near Israel's border with Gaza.

Emma Raducanu burst onto the world stage back in 2021 when she went from being an almost unknown 18 year old tennis player to winning the US Open. She became the first British woman to secure a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade at the 1977 Wimbledon Championships.The media interest in Emma has been huge worldwide due to her stratospheric rise, but her tennis career has been put on hold after three procedures on both wrists and an ankle left her on the side-lines for the past six months.Today's sport presenter Karthi Gnanasegaram speaks to former British number one Emma Raducanu about her much anticipated return to competitive action.(Photo: Robert Prange/Getty Images)

Judgements made in the family courts can affect families forever, including placing children in care or for adoption. After decades of calls for greater scrutiny of the family courts, at the end of January journalists gained access to report proceedings, in a landmark pilot scheme. Three court centres in Leeds, Carlisle and Cardiff allowed accredited journalists to report cases for the first time, providing the families involved remained anonymous. Our Correspondent Sanchia Berg spent several weeks in Leeds Family Court attending hearings. This week Today has featured a series of her reports, highlighting some of the issues that are usually hidden, including a mother's 'remarkable turnaround' to win back her baby. Today presenter Martha Kearney, also spoke to the judge who spearheaded the pilot, Justice Lieven.