Schools would not have books to hoard if it were not for the taxes we all pay. Of course, children’s work should be returned to them. I do not frankly have the faintest idea what is meant by “development monitoring purposes”. You should insist that you are given the work.

In my view this is the arrogance of a technocratic approach to education which has lost sight of both the excitement of the child and the delight of proud parents.

My daughter’s independent school wrote to all parents to give us five weeks’ notice that the school would close at the end of last term. My contract with them says that I have to give a term’s notice to withdraw my daughter or pay an extra term’s fees. As they have given me less than a term’s notice am I entitled to a term’s fees from them?
Name withheld

Five weeks is not adequate notice, and education lawyer Jack Rabinowicz of Teacher Stern Selby tells me that a term’s fees as compensation would not be inappropriate.

A student who is in the middle of an exam course might well be awarded more. You should consult a solicitor.

My son has just graduated from Durham University with a BSc in natural science. For the final two years of his three-year course he did not have an academic tutor. He was bitterly disappointed with his 2:2. I do wonder if, had he had regular contact with a tutor, he might have had more guidance as to what was expected. How important do you consider an academic tutor for an undergraduate to be?
Name withheld

All students should have a tutor who has particular responsibility for them. This is not, in my view, so much to prepare the student for the exam as it is part of the university experience.

Sadly, resource pressures on universities means that this kind of personal contact is becoming increasingly rare.

If you have a question for Chris Woodhead, write to him c/o The Sunday Times, 1 Pennington Street, London E98 1ST or e-mail him, with your name and address, at education-questions@sunday-times.co.uk