In December the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) reported that, between 2000 and 2006, UK 15-year-olds fell from seventh to 17th place internationally in reading skills, and from eighth to 24th place in mathematics. Now we learn from the OECD (Report, 7 September) that between 2000 and 2008 Britain's graduation rates fell from third to 15th. Could you ask the secretaries of state for education who were in charge in those years (David Blunkett 1997–2001, Estelle Morris 2001–02, Charles Clarke 2002–04, Ruth Kelly 2004–06 and Alan Johnson 2006-07) to explain what went wrong?
Maritz Vandenberg
London
"It allegedly now costs as much to train a bandsman to play trumpet on a performing warhorse as it does a pilot to fly a fighter jet" (Comment, 8 September). In Holland army bandsmen can do much better: on YouTube, you can see a magnificent display of a Dutch military band playing martial music while riding bicycles. Bicycles are much cheaper to procure and to run than horses, and the same goes for fighter jets.
Tom Voute
London
77 years a Catholic, and I am both saddened and proud of my faith. Madeleine Bunting's article (Comment, 6 September) gave me some glimmer of hope. We should listen with reflective scepticism to what the pope has to say. The hierarchy should listen to the clarion calls for change sounding from all quarters of the globe. I fear Benedict XVI will not.
John Ryle
Wetherby, Yorkshire
The Rev Alex Brown, of the 383 sham marriages (Report, 7 September), could be likened to the Emperor Napoleon. For one is now a bowed priest whose phoney banns led to a law to woo, whereas the other was a proud beast whose "Boney fans" were led to their Waterloo.
Fr Alec Mitchell
Manchester
With regard to Hadley Freeman's comments on nominative determinism (G2, 8 September), I have wondered for some time if I should be concerned that the person looking after my investments at HSBC is called Nick Cashmore.
Marilyn Davies
Prestatyn, Clwyd