Prof Kelli Burns has denied saying she believes Facebook is listening to people's conversations via the microphones on their smartphones.

In a news story that went viral this week it was reported that she had said key words around her phone which then appeared on Facebook.
Prof Burns says there was a practical explanation for what had happened.
Facebook has previously told the BBC it does not allow brands to target advertising based on microphone data.
"Some recent articles have suggested that we must be listening to people's conversations in order to show them relevant ads. This is not true," Facebook said in a statement.
"We show ads based on people's interests and other profile information - not what you're talking out loud about."
Prof Burns, a social media expert from the University of South Florida, sat with a reporter from US-based News Channel 8 and mentioned African safaris and the car brand Jeep.
When she checked her Facebook news feed, the first post on her timeline was from a friend who had written about an African safari which someone had commented on three hours earlier.
"Nowhere have I heard anything about Facebook serving you your friends' posts based on what you are saying or Googling," she said.
"This friend has a lot of friends, and gets a lot of engagement, it's no surprise that it would be at the top of my feed."
She also saw an advert for Volkswagen, which is the brand of vehicle she owns herself.
"Although the angle of the story was supportive of the idea that Facebook uses the microphone I never made the claim that I believe that is happening, or that my one experiment with a reporter was in any way proof of that happening," she added.
She said she feels the story has been "blown out of proportion" but that she has since heard from other people who believe it has also happened to them.
"I believe there are a lot of strange circumstances and coincidences out there and people are looking for those," said Prof Burns.
"The fact that this story has gone global says a lot about people's concerns about privacy.
"I am not a scientist or a privacy expert - but I never said in that story that I believe Facebook can hear you."
Earlier this year, the BBC performed its own experiment with several Android smartphones to see if it was possible to turn them into eavesdropping devices.
Security experts managed to create an app that could listen in to conversations for prolonged periods without draining the phone's battery.
When quizzed, both Google and Facebook denied that they would use such a capability to tailor adverts and content for users.
Facebook also said that its ads are based only around information shared by members on the social network and their net surfing habits elsewhere.


A couple whose bodies were found at a house in Bradford have been named.

Margaride Rufino, 38, and Anthony Roberts, 37, were found dead at an address in Cross Road, Idle, on Sunday evening.
Their two-year-old daughter, who was not present at the property, is being cared for by family members, police said.
Detectives are treating the incident as murder but are not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths.
Officers were called to the property after receiving reports of a domestic incident.
Ms Rufino, known as Guida, was found with serious neck injuries while Mr Roberts was discovered with leg injuries.
They were both pronounced dead at the scene.
Two knives were recovered from the property and West Yorkshire Police has appealed for witnesses come forward.


Former Olympic heptathlete Kelly Sotherton says one missed drugs test "doesn't mean you are doping".

She also understands why athletes get into trouble because "sometimes your mind isn't 100% as all you're thinking about is training".
According to the Daily Mail, Mo Farah missed two tests before winning double Olympic gold for Britain in 2012.
The Mail says the second one came at Farah's home in February 2011, when he claimed not to have heard the doorbell.
Nine UK athletes missed two tests in the same year as Farah did.
Yet UK Anti-Doping chief executive Nicole Sapstead told BBC Sport that it is "not common" for an athlete to miss a test.
Farah's gold medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m at London 2012 were among the defining moments of the Games.
At the time, UK Anti-Doping rules stated that an athlete who missed three tests in any 18-month period could face a ban of up to two years.
That meant Farah could have been ruled out of his home Olympics with one more breach of the regulations.
The rules have since been amended and athletes who now miss three tests in a 12-month period can be banned for four years.
Sotherton said top-level athletes are tested up to 20 times a year and have to know three months in advance where they are going to be.
"You are never free of drug testing," said the 38-year-old, who won Olympic bronze at the 2004 Games in Athens.
"I've been tested nine times in six weeks before - at my house, at the track, at my partner's house.
"But a missed test doesn't mean you are doping. It may mean you have been a little bit careless. That doesn't make you a drugs cheat.
"I was very organised and I made a slip of a number by one day. That's how a missed test can happen."
Sotherton's sentiments were echoed by Jenny Meadows.
"It is very difficult to work out where you are going to be three months in advance," said the former European indoor 800m champion.
"You do have to remember, of course, where you said you would be and make sure you are at that place. Even this week I was out of the house before my testing slot should have started."
While European and Commonwealth 800m silver medallist Lynsey Sharp spent one hour every day for two weeks sat in a Boston cafe while on holiday because the doorbell did not work in her rented apartment.
"There is not a lot of room for mistakes," said Sharp. "I do think we have great system but it can make it difficult for athletes."
Michael Rimmer, who won an 800m silver medal at the 2010 European Championships, said he had missed tests in the past and has suggested athletes are tagged so the testers know where they are at all times.
But Michele Verroken, a sports ethics and anti-doping adviser, said there had to be "an element of surprise" to testing.
"There is no obligation on the testing agency to test you in just that hour because athletes would manipulate the system and provide you with a clean sample," she said.
Christine Ohuruogu, who won 400m gold at the 2012 Olympics, was given a one-year ban in 2006 for missing three out-of-competition tests.
The independent disciplinary committee which heard the Briton's case admitted it was a "harsh sanction" for someone who had "no intention of infringing anti-doping rules".
The ban was described as a "much-needed wake-up call for athletes" by John Scott, who was UK Sport director of drug-free sport.
Sapstead believes that UK athletes are "incredibly supportive of the whereabouts system" despite the requirements placed on them.
She claims athletes understand that it protects them and their sport.


USA's Jordan Spieth added the US Open title to his Masters victory after a thrilling climax at the much-criticised Chambers Bay.

The 21-year-old carded a one-under 69 to win his second major of 2015 by one shot on five under after Dustin Johnson three-putted the last from 12 feet.
South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen sank six birdies in his last seven holes in a 67 to tie with Johnson for second.
World number one Rory McIlroy (66) briefly threatened but ended level par.
Spieth, who remains on course to become the first player to win all four majors in a calendar year, is the youngest player to win the US Open since Bobby Jones in 1923.
He is the fourth-youngest player to win two majors and the sixth to win the Masters and US Open in the same year.
"I'm in shock but I feel for Dustin," said Spieth. "It's cool to be able to have two legs of the grand slam now, and to conquer golf's hardest test - the US Open is conquering the hardest layout in all of golf.
"I didn't have my best ball-striking at all and really grinded over those four or five-footers - that was the difference."
Johnson said: "I did everything I was supposed to do. I hit the ball really well. I just really struggled getting it in the hole. I didn't think I was hitting bad putts, they just weren't going in."
Spieth, the world number two, started the final round in a four-way tie for the lead with Johnson, Branden Grace and Jason Day of Australia on four under.
He bogeyed his opening hole to drop back to three under but 12 pars and two birdies followed to keep the Texan in touch before a three-shot swing on the 16th put him three clear with two to play.
Spieth and playing partner Grace were both five under but the South African, who had played solidly for 15 holes with two birdies and a bogey, hit his tee shot 50 yards right and out of bounds.
That led to a double-bogey six and he dropped to three under, while Spieth drained a 28-foot birdie putt to move to six under.
Johnson, playing in the final group with Day, led by two at one stage after a couple of birdies in a bogey-free opening nine holes.
He looked to have cracked on the back nine, though, with three bogeys in four holes dropping him back to three under after 13.
However, Spieth and Johnson were level after the par-three 17th. Spieth found trouble with his tee shot and double-bogeyed while Johnson hit the green and holed his birdie putt.
Both players missed eagle putts on the last but after Spieth kept his nerve to hole his fourth shot, Johnson pushed his attempt wide.
Australian Day, who shared the overnight lead, never looked comfortable on Sunday as he continued to battle the effects of the vertigo that had troubled him since the end of Friday's round.
He countered three bogeys with two birdies on his front nine but a double-bogey six on the par-four 13th effectively ended his challenge and he finished with a four-over 74 and level-par total.
The tone for an extraordinary final day of an extraordinary tournament was set when Northern Ireland's McIlroy holed six birdies in his opening 13 holes, including an incredible 72-foot putt.
That lifted the 2011 US Open champion from four over to two under but his momentum was halted when he missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 14th and a six-foot par putt on the 15th.
A further bogey followed on the 17th and he finished with a par five at the last.
"It just wasn't meant to be, I didn't play the last few holes well all week," he told BBC Sport.
"It's going to take a few days to get over it but when I look back on it I'll be happy about it - a few missed putts will have made the difference."
With McIlroy ripping up the course, Australian Scott, who started the day on three over, crept almost unnoticed into contention with four birdies in his opening 11 holes.
The 2013 Masters champion, who finished tied ninth at the US Open last year, birdied the 16th and 18th to set the clubhouse lead at three under.
Scott's fellow Australian Cameron Smith, 21, shot up to a tie for fourth with an eagle-three on the 18th after his fairway-wood approach rolled to within a couple of feet of the hole.
The South African, who won the 2010 Open, was nine over par early in Friday's second round but two four-under-par 66s saw him start the final round at one under.
Three consecutive bogeys on the front nine looked to have put him out of contention. However he played the back nine in just 29 shots, with six birdies in his last seven holes to take the clubhouse lead off Scott.
And it took a birdie-four at the last from Spieth to deny him a play-off.
For all the criticism of the greens this week, Cheng-Tsung Pan of Chinese Taipei, had just one three-putt and that came in Sunday's final round at the 13th hole. Cheng-Tsung may have been helped by being a student of the local University of Washington.
England's John Parry started Sunday on six over par. He opened his final round with five straight bogeys as he carded the worst round of the day - a nine-over 79 to drop to 15 over.
America's Chris Kirk took a sextuple 10 on the par-four first. There were no lost balls, hacks out of the rough or penalty shots, just an inability to chip a ball up a slope. He watched as his first five attempts rolled back to his feet and even when he did get the ball on he green, he three-putted. He only dropped two more shots in his eight-over 78 but finished last on 21 over.
Jordan Spiethon the potential for winning the Grand Slam of all four majors in 2015, as he now prepares for next month's Open at St Andrews: "You can't win them all if you don't win the first two. We'll go to the home of golf prepared to try and win the Claret Jug."
Rory McIlroy on his level-par week: "I'm not sure if I've ever hit the ball that well in a major championship."
England's Ian Poulter was among numerous players who waited until the final round to really let rip on the state of the course: "This was the surface we had to putt on. It is disgraceful that the USGA hasn't apologised about the greens. They were simply the worst, most disgraceful surfaces I have ever seen on any tour in all the years I have played."
Chris Kirk, after finishing last on 21 over: "The US Open is a great tournament with incredible history. The USGA should be ashamed of what they did to it this week. My score has nothing to do with why I feel that way, I played poorly. The course wasn't overly difficult, just tricked up."
Lee Westwood on his Chambers Bay experience: "It's the kind of course I'd like to come and play with my mates, with a cart and some beers."
In a 15-minute rant, Billy Horschel, who carded a three-under 67, said: "We're not looking for perfect greens. We're looking for something that's very consistent and this week they're not. Four is God awful. Ten is not much better where it was. That hole is in dirt. It's literally dirt. There's no grass around that hole.
Referring to the limited or no access to some holes for fans, Horschel added: "It blows my mind that they would build a golf course and not think about the fans. The fans got robbed this week."
And Horschel said that a caddie was asked if there was any grass on the fourth green and replied: "Yeah, two blades, and they're not even close to each other."


Brendan Rodgers was full of praise for St Mirren after Celtic were forced to rally from a goal down to make the last four of the Scottish Cup.

Harry Davis gave the visitors a shock lead before goals from Mikael Lustig, Scott Sinclair, Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths saw Celtic home.
"St Mirren are at the bottom of the Championship, but they are the best team we have played domestically," Rodgers said.
"They are well organised."
Celtic trailed 1-0 at the break and could have been 2-0 down early in the second half when Moussa Dembele's mishit clearance rebounded off his own crossbar.
"I wasn't worried at half-time, but I knew we hadn't played as well as we could have," the Celtic manager told BBC Scotland. "Second half, we just had to stay calm and up the tempo a bit.
"Once we got the first goal we really opened up and we end up getting four goals in the second half.
"I think what was very good today was that again it was another good demonstration of the players under pressure. The players and the supporters stayed calm, stayed behind the team and that's what you have to do. We had a great second half but we'll learn from the first half."
St Mirren manager Jack Ross was proud of his side's display and felt the final score was not an accurate reflection of the match.
"We understood how we had to play and we did that in the first half," Ross said. "But, once they get that momentum in the game, Celtic are difficult to stop.
"They recognised they had to do something different and they brought on Leigh Griffiths.
"I don't think my players deserved that scoreline. The focus is now on the next game and it would be a bigger achievement to escape relegation than if we had won here today."
Rodgers, who confirmed goalkeeper Craig Gordon should complete the "formalities" on a new contract with the club next week, is relishing taking his team back to Hampden for the cup semi-final.
"I'm really looking forward to going back to Hampden again. We've been there twice for the League Cup, semi-final and final, and the team were magnificent in the games.
"We just wanted to get there and we got there so that's the most important thing."


Pokemon Go was released to most parts of the world this month, and in a matter of days has become a global phenomenon.

The augmented reality game has been downloaded by millions of players, who are encouraged to venture into real-life places to hunt down virtual monsters.
But the game has proved controversial - with some users disregarding safety warnings, leading to car crashes, muggings, injury and even death.
Saudi Arabian clerics have called the game "un-Islamic". Indonesia has banned its military from playing the game, and a Cossack leader has said it "smacks of Satanism".
Police around the world have issued warnings to players in the hope of preventing further incidents.
So what do we know of the incidents so far?
On July 20, Jerson Lopez de Leon, 18, and his cousin Daniel Moises Picen, 17, were ambushed while playing the game south-east of Guatemala City.
Mr Lopez de Leon was killed and his cousin was seriously injured. Police found nearly 20 bullet casings at the scene but are unsure of the motive behind the killing.
On July 18, a man crashed into a parked police car in Baltimore, US, kept driving, and finally stopped at the end of the road after the police ran after him. Police say he admitted he was playing Pokemon Go at the time.
Baltimore Police say there were two other Pokemon Go related incidents just this week.
On July 19, a group of 20 teenagers stole a boat in efforts to catch Pokemon characters on a lake in Liverpool, UK.
The group abandoned the boat in the middle of the lake after the coastguard was called to investigate. The rescue team said users should take care not to put themselves and rescue services at risk.
A woman in New Jersey, US, had to be rescued by firemen after getting stuck in a cemetery tree while playing the game.
The fire chief issued a public safety warning, but saved the woman further embarrassment by not releasing her name.
On July 14, two men in California, US, fell up to 33m (108 ft) off a cliff after ignoring "no trespassing" signs while playing Pokemon Go.
Firefighters rescued the men and took them to a nearby hospital. They have not been charged with trespassing.


Is transfer deadline day worth the hype or is it all style and no substance?

Match of the Day presenter  and England legend Gary Lineker reckons it should become a bank holiday.
On Twitter Joey Barton described it as being like "Christmas eve for football fans".
But is it always exciting?
For the latest moves and deals go here: Transfer deadline day, latest live
Everyone remembers the thrill of deadline day in January 2011, right?
Fernando Torres famously moved to Chelsea for Â£50m and Andy Carroll cost Liverpool Â£35m - despite having made just 41 Premier League appearances.
It's fair to say that neither of those moves ended up being a resounding success.
Luis Suarez, who also moved in the January window, certainly did the business for Liverpool but he was the exception rather than the rule.
Since that breathless day of big money moves things have quietened right down.
The highlight of deadline day in 2013 was probably Christopher Samba joining QPR, in 2014 it was arguably Kim Kallstrom going to the Emirates.
Many fans would argue those aren't names worthy of a national holiday, despite what Lineker says.
But surely the sheer volume of transfers makes up for the questionable quality of individual deals done?
Well it seems that isn't entirely accurate either.
According to Omar Chaudhuri, a data analyst with 21st club, only 74 deals have been completed on the final day of the window in the last four years.
Bear in mind, many of those players will be youngsters unlikely to ever play in the first team and the figure drops even further.
In terms of minutes played by the new signings, a quarter of new players fail to play even 20% of minutes.
It seems most clubs now realise the really good deals are done way before the deadline, when agents don't have the chance to inflate prices to a ludicrous degree.
Frankly even the speculation about who could potentially be moving was tame this year.
Fans on Twitter expressed their disappointment that there weren't more red herrings being bandied around on social media.
Perhaps most people are cottoning on that transfer deadline day is largely hype, not quite worthy of the attention it receives.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube


A leading Spanish senator and ex-mayor of Valencia, Rita Barbera, has died of a heart attack at 68, doctors say.

On Monday, she testified before the Supreme Court over claims of money-laundering by the ruling Popular Party (PP) during her 24 years as mayor.
Paramedics tried to resuscitate her for half an hour after receiving an emergency call from a Madrid hotel at about 07:00 local time (06:00 GMT).
The Supreme Court began investigating Ms Barbera in September.
Many of her team have been accused of corruption, but Ms Barbera denied any involvement in a suspected illegal financing network.
A lower court judge initially requested an investigation in April, but Ms Barbera's status as a senator, granting her immunity from the lower courts, meant she could only be investigated by the Supreme Court.
The investigation relates to Operation Taula, which saw 24 people arrested in January and is focused on the activities of local officials in Valencia, Alicante and Castellon.
All those held have links to the PP, the dominant political force in the region until elections brought a move to the left in May 2015, and the PP lost its absolute majority in Valencia.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy paid tribute to Ms Barbera, who he said "gave everything for Valencia and the Popular Party".
But a string of PP members and Ms Barbera's lawyer criticised political rivals for presuming her guilt and, they said, leading her to be "depressed and on medication".
Another leading PP member of Congress said she had suffered a "witch hunt".
Ms Barbera enjoyed a long period as mayor of Valencia - winning an absolute majority in five consecutive elections between 1995 and 2011.
Under her tenure, she vowed to create a city that rivalled Barcelona. The stunning City of Arts and Sciences cultural and architectural complex and the Norman Foster-designed Congress Centre were both built during the 1990s.
But in 2015 she was voted out, and took up a seat in the Senate.
In January 2016, Spanish authorities made a string of arrests under Operation Taula, amid evidence that PP officials in Valencia had participated in laundering money that funded past election campaigns.
Although Ms Barbera did admit making one donation of €1,000 (£860; $1,060), she denied receiving anything in return.
But while political leaders expressed their condolences, reaction to the former mayor's death was mixed. The left-wing Podemos party filed out of parliament when a minute's silence was held in the chamber.
"We regret the death of Barbera but cannot participate in a political tribute to someone whose career is marked by corruption," tweeted Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias.


While most of us spend the day before our wedding doing last minute preparations, Pip Black was happily running around London's Victoria Park.

Together with her business partner Joan Murphy, each jogged with their toddlers in front of them in pushchairs.
It's this serious passion for health and fitness that brought the two then-20 somethings together when they met on a trip to Cornwall with mutual friends back in 2007.
Forming a bond over surfing, they lamented what they both saw as a lack of fun fitness options available in the UK capital.
Returning to London, they batted around business ideas during runs in Hyde Park, or over a few gins and tonics after work in the advertising industry, where both were employed. Meanwhile, weekend mornings were spent researching possible locations to open a gym.
Within a month the duo had hatched their plan to create a new type of female-friendly gym called Frame.
The aim was to run energetic and feel-good classes covering everything from dance to "rocket yoga", and "dynamic Pilates".
Their ambition was to radicalise the fitness market, which they felt was staid due to a lack of innovation.
Crux to the strategy was introducing a pay-as-you-go model, giving their customers the flexibility to drop in on classes, such dance sessions as "Frame Rave", "Music Video" and "80s Aerobics", without having any commitment to go to more.
Armed with a bank loan, the pair quit their jobs and launched Frame's first gym, or as they call it, "fitness studio", in Shoreditch, east London, in 2009.
"It was all a bit of a whirlwind," recalls Ms Black, 33, a former England hockey player.
"We just clicked. Joan had just returned back from New Zealand [her home country], and had looked at what was happening in the fitness industry there
"And in true Joan style she sucked me in and decided to tell me what we were going to do, which is quite useful in a business partner. I quite like that."
Ms Murphy, 35, says Frame was unique when it started out.
"We were the first multi-disciplined pay-as you-go studio," she says.
"If you wanted to go to Pilates [at a studio] you had to pay up front for 10 classes. There was no fitness pay-as-you-go.
"If you didn't want to buy gym membership because you only wanted to go once or twice a week there was nothing. We wanted to put all the disciplines under one roof and make it accessible."
However, before their venture even got off the ground, Frame faced a major setback.
Days before their Shoreditch venue was set to open, a road closure meant there was no access to the gym.
"There was no through road," says Ms Black. "So we had to wait six months before opening. We had handed out flyers, recruited teachers."
With the postponement of the fitness studio and bills mounting, they both took temporary jobs - Ms Murphy as a carer for the elderly, and Ms Black looking after children.
When Frame was eventually up and running, both got stuck into the day-to-day operations, each clocking up 30 hours a week either on reception, or as an instructor, on top of running the business.
"We were a proper start-up," says Ms Murphy.  "But it wasn't just about starting a fitness business, it was what we wanted to do."
Thanks to positive word of mouth, and some advertising, Frame's customer numbers quickly grew.
Further helped by the continuing growth of the UK health and fitness market, which according to industry figures is now worth Â£4.3bn per year, Frame has since taken out additional bank loans to open two further London outposts in Queen's Park and King's Cross.
The expanding empire has swelled Frame's turnover to Â£2.8m in 2015, up from Â£2.1m on the previous year.
Opening more gyms is now firmly on the agenda for the two ambitious women, who in December received funding from angel investors.
"We're keen to cut our teeth outside of London, and our growth plans in the long term are quite big," says Ms Black.
The goal is to open two new gyms per year, and mooted first locations include Brighton, Bristol and Manchester. They also currently have a month-long pop-up gym near Old Street tube station, in east London.
Frame has also tapped into other revenue streams, such as having cafes at its venues. There has also been a move into clothing, with a second sportswear collaboration with High Street fashion chain Whistles set to launch in May.
And while women remain the main focus, men can join Frame, and in fact now make up 20% of customers.
Paul Davis, a senior leisure and technology analyst at market research group Mintel, says Frame's success is down to two main reasons - its upmarket offering, and its range of classes.
"Whilst the vast majority of growth in the health and fitness club market can be attributed to the growth of the "no-frills" budget gym sector - city-based fitness boutiques such as Frame look to deliver an elite experience at the other end of the scale," he says.
"By focusing on areas outside of traditional gym activities such as dance classes and post-natal Pilates the studio appeals to a predominantly female demographic, who may not otherwise show an interest in joining a typical fitness club."
But why the name Frame? Ms Murphy says: "It's about a healthy, happy frame of mind, a frame out of your day."
She adds that the company also wants people "to move their frame with us".


Hundreds of extra schools could have to be built in England to cope with the school population bulge, say public sector buildings specialists.

Official figures suggest there will be almost 730,000 more school age children by 2020 than there were last year.
Scape group, which advises local authorities on new buildings, says this amounts to 24,287 more classrooms.
But ministers say there is "significant capacity still in the system... before new places need to be created".
A Department for Education spokeswoman said local authorities would continue to create thousands more school places in coming years, with 600,000 additional pupil places created in the five years to May 2015.
"And we are investing Â£7bn in new places up to 2021," the spokeswoman added.
However the Local Government Association, which represents 370 councils in England, says its own research suggests that although existing schools have been expanding to cope with the bulge, many have almost run out of space.
And once it is no longer possible to increase the size of existing schools - new ones will be needed, the LGA points out.
Department for Education figures project 8.6% more primary school pupils in England by 2020 - but the biggest increase will be as children move into secondary school where pupil numbers are expected to rise by 12%.
Scape's report says this could amount to the equivalent of more than 2,000 new schools.
"The country will soon start to feel the full weight of the impending boom in pupil numbers and we're already seeing unprecedented pressure on school places.
"A radical new wave of school-building must be a top priority for the government," said chief executive Mark Robinson.
Scape says demand for places will vary between regions, with London, the south-east and east of England feeling the most pressure - and the north-east and north-west facing more modest increases.
The LGA has long been critical of the government's emphasis on free schools as the solution to the places crisis and says Scape's calculations support their argument that powers to open new schools should be returned to councils.
They also want academy schools, which are outside local authority control, to have to expand to make sure every child has a place.
"Councils have a statutory duty to ensure every child has a school place available to them but find themselves in the difficult position of not being able to ensure schools, including academies, expand," said Richard Watts, chairman of the LGA's Children and Young People Board.
"Finding suitable sponsors with the capacity to take on the running of a successful new school is also proving a challenge."
The DfE spokeswoman said the system was responding well to growing pupil numbers and thanks to "hard work and investment, 1.4m more pupils are now in good or outstanding schools than in 2010".
The overwhelming majority of parents (more than 95%) received offers in their top three preferred primary or secondary schools this year, she added.


Two masked robbers stole jewellery worth £200,000 in an armed raid at a shop in Lancashire.

13 July 2016 Last updated at 20:43 BST
CCTV captured the moment the men, armed with a shotgun and handgun, threatened two members of staff outside Janet Isherwood jewellers in Kay Street, Rawtenstall.
The men then forced their way into the shop, before escaping with the jewellery and driving towards Bacup.
Lancashire Police is appealing for anyone with information about Monday morning's robbery to come forward.


A woman undergoing treatment for leukaemia said she was "overjoyed" that her sister has been granted permission to travel from Nigeria to donate bone marrow.

May Brown from Weymouth, Dorset was told her sister Martha was a "10 out of 10" tissue match.
Martha was initially refused a visa to the UK because her income was too low.
The Home Office said it reversed its decision on her visa application due to "exceptional circumstances".
It comes after more than 61,000 people signed a petition against the refusal.
Immigration Minister Robert Goodwill said: "I have carefully considered the case of May Brown and decided that her sister will be granted leave to enter the UK given the compassionate and exceptional circumstances."
Beverley De-Gale, co-founder of African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT), said Mrs Brown started a second round of chemotherapy at King's College Hospital in London last Friday in the hope the surgery would go ahead.
Mrs Brown, 23, who lives with her husband Mike and two-year old daughter Selina-May in Weymouth, had been told her only chance of survival was an urgent stem cell transplant.
Mrs Brown said she was "overjoyed" by the news of the visa u-turn.
"I would like to thank the British public and beyond, and my MP Richard Drax for their overwhelming support. I would also like to thank ACLT," she said.
"I will forever be grateful for the love and support they have shown my family and me."
Medical tests identified Martha as a perfect match, the ACLT said, but she was initially refused a visa because her teacher's salary of £222 per month was too low.
The charity, which set up the petition, said Mrs Brown had offered to cover all of her sister's costs.


A formerly sceptical climate scientist says human activity is causing the Earth to warm, as a new study confirms earlier results on rising temperatures.

In a US newspaper opinion piece, Prof Richard Muller says: "Call me a converted sceptic."
Muller leads the
          Berkeley Earth Project
, which is using new methods and some new data to investigate the claims made by other climate researchers.
Their latest study confirms the warming trend seen by other groups.
The project received funds from sources that back organisations lobbying against action on climate change.
Their
          latest study, released early on Monday (GMT)
, concludes that the average temperature of the Earth's land has risen by 1.5C (2.7F) over the past 250 years.
The team argues that the good correspondence between the new temperature record and historical data on CO2 emissions suggests human activity is "the most straightforward explanation" for the warming.
The paper reiterates the finding that the land surface temperature has risen 0.9C just in the last 50 years.
In a piece
          authored for the New York Times
, Prof Muller, from the University of California, Berkeley, said: "Three years ago I identified problems in previous climate studies that, in my mind, threw doubt on the very existence of global warming.
"Last year, following an intensive research effort involving a dozen scientists, I concluded that global warming was real and that the prior estimates of the rate of warming were correct. I'm now going a step further: Humans are almost entirely the cause."
When establishing the project, Prof Muller had been concerned by claims that established teams of climate researchers had not been entirely open with their data.
He gathered a team of 10 scientists, mostly physicists, including such luminaries as Saul Perlmutter, winner of this year's Nobel Physics Prize for research showing the Universe's expansion is accelerating.
Funding came from a number of sources, including charitable foundations maintained by the Koch brothers, billionaire US industrialists who have also donated large sums to organisations lobbying against acceptance of man-made global warming.
However, one collaborator on the previous tranche of Berkeley Earth project papers,
          Judith Curry of the Georgia Institute of Technology
, declined to be included as an author on the latest one.
Commenting on the paper, Prof Curry said: "Their latest paper on the 250-year record concludes that the best explanation for the observed warming is greenhouse gas emissions. Their analysis is way oversimplistic and not at all convincing in my opinion."
She also told the New York Times: "I was invited to be a co-author on the new paper.  I declined.  I gave them my review of the paper, which was highly critical.  I don't think this new paper adds anything to our understanding of attribution of the warming."
The Berkeley Earth project studies have not yet been published in peer reviewed scientific journals, but the team has submitted them to the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.
Prof Michael Mann, director of the Earth Science System Center at Penn State University, said that there was "a certain ironic satisfaction" in seeing a study funded by the Koch Brothers "demonstrate what scientists have known with some degree of confidence for nearly two decades: that the globe is indeed warming, and that this warming can only be explained by human-caused increases in greenhouse gas concentrations".
Prof Muller, meanwhile, describes his own change in standpoint as "a total turnaround".
He explained: "These findings are stronger than those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC], the United Nations group that defines the scientific and diplomatic consensus on global warming."
The University of California physics professor added: "I hope that the Berkeley Earth analysis will help settle the scientific debate regarding global warming and its human causes.
"Then comes the difficult part: agreeing across the political and diplomatic spectrum about what can and should be done."
Sceptical blogger Anthony Watts criticised elements of the team's findings, releasing details of his
          own analysis
 which claims to show "spurious doubling" in US temperature trends over recent decades.


Harlequins scrum-half Karl Dickson will be out for up to 10 weeks after having surgery on a hand injury.

The 33-year-old sustained the injury in the 42-9 defeat by Montpellier in the European Challenge Cup last weekend.
"Thanks to Mike Hayton for fixing my finger. He did a great job. On to rehab now," the uncapped Englishman tweeted.
Dickson, who moved to the Twickenham Stoop from Bedford Blues in 2009, has scored one try in 11 appearances for Quins this season.
With first-choice scrum-half Danny Care in the England squad for the Six Nations, Tito Tebaldi will make his first Premiership start for Harlequins against Newcastle on Sunday.


Maybe it is time for Englishmen to forget their long-held sporting antipathy towards Australians and start learning to love them instead.

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After Trevor Bayliss transformed the national cricket side from slow and stodgy and beaten by the West Indies into Ashes winners within four Tests of taking charge, his compatriot Eddie Jones has now pulled off an Antipodean resuscitation perhaps even more remarkable.
Six months ago England were heading out of their own World Cup at the group stage, capable of beating only Fiji and Uruguay. They were tactically flawed, confused in selection and apparently unhappy in each other's company.
In five matches, Jones has not only ended a 13-year wait for a Grand Slam - with the 31-21 win over France - but done so with a team that should have its best days ahead, and in a place where victories will always be that little bit sweeter.
England supporters can't afford to be fussy about where a Slam is won, not after the preceding two decades have brought just one. Not when Wales have won three, France two and Ireland another since their last.
Listen: the moment England clinched the Grand Slam
But triumphing in Paris has always had something special about it - for once the outsiders rather than the big brothers, a hard-core of the dedicated rather than quiet corporate, a long day that can turn into a longer night and oh, whoops, it's morning.
There were celebrations in the white clusters around St Denis and there will be celebrations back in Blighty, not only for the substance of the Grand Slam but the often anxious way it was achieved. Because France were much better than their recent dreary history indicated they would be, liberated at times as they were of old and motivated as much as anything by a desire to stamp all over an English party.
To a list that includes Tony Stanger, Scott Gibbs and Duncan Hodge was nearly added Maxime Machenaud, the scrum-half's seven perfect penalties from seven keeping his side always within tantalising reach and threatening to snatch away a Slam when it was within English fingers.
In a team that made remarkable 508m with ball in hand, wrecking-ball winger Virimi Vakatawa made an even more astonishing quarter of them.
As throughout the championship, this was another incomplete performance from England. They conceded 14 penalties, lost control for a significant period of the second half and looked increasingly anxious as Machenaud narrowed the lead at one late stage to just two points.
They could be forgiven those nerves, because that is exactly what defining contests on unforgiving foreign soil do to players, and they could be forgiven that slump because they got through it.
Few Grand Slams are won with perfection. They are achieved as much as anything by a refusal to yield when reasons to yield are all around, by a cussedness as much as a cavalier spirit, by an ability to wriggle out of tight spots and to secure the tight, tense wins.
And deserve to win England did. They scored three tries to none, had 55% of the possession and had 60% of the territory.
And they did it as a team. Thirteen tackles from George Kruis, which you might expect, and 15 from James Haskell, which some might not, but 13 too from Owen Farrell.
Tries from Danny Care, with a classic dart and dash from the Danny Care playbook, and a third in three Tests from Anthony Watson, but also with one from prop Dan Cole, when his first 60 Tests had seen him score just one other.
Turnovers from the back row, where they usually originate, but turnovers too - and more of them - from the second row, in Maro Itoje, and two more apiece from Farrell at inside centre and Mike Brown at full-back.
Stuart Lancaster has been the fall guy in much of this - characterised as the coach who oversaw the worst ever finish by a World Cup host, the nice guy whose replacement by the grizzled, nastier Jones has brought instant dividends.
It's both unfair and an oversimplification. Four years ago, at the end of his own first season in charge, Lancaster was also in charge of a famous win at the Stade de France, having reinvigorated a side tainted by World Cup failure. He also gave international debuts and then experience to much of this side - Kruis, Watson, George Ford, Jack Nowell.
What Jones has done is less open surgery than simple remedy.
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Chris Robshaw not working at openside? Swap him over to blindside, where his natural game finds a natural fit. No alternative who fits the bill as a modern-day jackalling seven? Spread the load equally around the team, and ask all to target the breakdown rather than making it the responsibility of just one.
Need a front row in the old-fashioned hard-bitten English image, and a line-out that holds under extreme pressure? Bring back Dylan Hartley, and trust him with the captaincy to keep his darker deeds in check.
No bash-it-up centre fit enough to start? Move Farrell out from his usual 10, let his natural aggression give you something in defence and his place kicking give you a reliability that Ford cannot quite always match.
Jones has had a little luck. A player like Itoje comes along very few times in a coach's career. None of his other principal men have struggled with injury the way some of Ireland's key men have. His first season opened with away games against the weakest two teams and continued with its toughest two opponents at home, both Wales and Ireland also finding their way into an amended style.
But luck alone does not win Grand Slams, and this was not a night for caveats.
The last England side to win a Slam did so after three years of near misses, with a team that had been together in its key combinations for four years, with players at the peak of their rugby prowess.
Jones's team has an average age of 24. His locks have less than 20 caps between them but have played like men with 50 apiece. He has a fly-half still fresh to the international game, a number eight that takes a tank-trap to bring down and, in Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade, returning centres who in their contrasting way could add even more to a backline that scored tries in every match.
This was the end of a long wait, all right. It could also be the start of something rather special.


Leinster Lightning clinched a clean sweep of the Inter-Provincial trophies as George Dockrell's century helped them earn a draw in the three-game against the North West Warriors.

After starting the day on 61-2 in response to the Warriors' 302, Ireland spinner Dockrell showed his all-rounder credentials with his fine knock.
Lorcan Tucker also hit 61 with Eddie Richardson unbeaten on 50.
The Warriors reached 53-0 as the match ended in its inevitable draw.
After rain meant no play on the first day, Oraine Williams hit 121 in the Warriors' first innings at Malahide.
After Tuesday's wash-out, Williams' knock helped the Warriors post 302 all-out on Wednesday with Craig Young's 36 bringing the visitors over the 300 mark.
Leinster only needed to avoid defeat to earn a second straight clean sweep of inter-Pro trophies.
Williams and debutant Graham Kennedy put on 110 for the sixth wicket after the Warriors had been in a degree of trouble at 67-4.
HANLEY ENERGY INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
At Malahide, Day 3
NW Warriors 302  (85.4 overs), O Williams 121, C Young 36, G Kennedy 28, A Austin 27, S Thompson 20, K O'Brien 3-45, G Dockrell 2-64
Leinster Lightning 378-9 (73 overs) G Dockrell 101, L Tucker 61, E Richardson 50 no, C Young 3-89
NW Warriors 53-0
Match ends in draw


Young voters seem more concerned about affordable housing and immigration than crime according to a survey for Radio 1 Newsbeat.

The results also suggest young adults care more about keeping down the cost of living than the rest of the population.
More than 6,000 18 to 24-year-olds were questioned in the biggest survey of its kind.
They had to choose three government priorities from a list of 12.
Managing the NHS was the top result, with 42% ranking it in their top three.
That's slightly less than the 50% of the general British public who believe the NHS should be a top priority.
The survey by ComRes interviewed 6,345 British adults aged 18-24 online in February 2015.
Thirty-three per cent of young adults chose "Keeping the cost of everyday items, such as food, energy and travel" in their top three - compared to 23% of the general population.
Despite "Improving the education system" being the lowest priority for the public as a whole (9%) it's the fourth highest among 18 to 24-year-olds.
Almost a quarter (24%) said it should be a top three priority.
The results suggest young adults are more concerned than everyone else about the cost of everyday items, improving education, housing affordability, making the welfare system fairer and reducing crime.
Controlling immigration was their third highest priority with 28% putting it on their list. That's much lower than the 49% of the general population who feel it should be a priority.
The general public figures are based on a ComRes survey of 2,039 adults (aged 18+) carried out in January 2015 and weighted accordingly.
Newsbeat's politics reporter Greg Dawson said: "The survey findings reflect what young adults across the country have been telling us in recent months.
"Many are struggling to afford to rent, let alone buy. Some are still living with parents because of the cost of moving out.
"But despite that the issue of whether they'll bother to show up to the ballot box on polling day divides opinion."
Read more about what young adults thought of the poll findings.
One in four (26%) said they were certain to vote. Another 21% said they were likely to vote.
The most common reasons from those unlikely to vote was either that they didn't know enough about the candidates and issues or that they feel "politics isn't for people like me".
Nearly two-thirds (63%) said they would be more likely to vote if they were able to do so online or by using an app.
UKIP's Nigel Farage and the Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron featured most heavily when young adults were asked about the main party leaders.
David Cameron was the party leader most respondents "trust the most to tell the truth" (20%). However, he was deemed the "least fun to go on a night out with".
Conversely, 28% said they trusted Mr Farage the least to be truthful. However, most (21%) said he "would be the most fun to go on a night out with".
See what the key findings were from Newsbeat's survey in this YouTube video
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube


Great Britain suffered a setback as they lost both of their duels during the second day of racing in the America's Cup Qualifiers.

Having won their opener before losing race two on Saturday, Ben Ainslie's Land Rover BAR were defeated by defending champions Oracle Team USA and Emirates Team New Zealand on Sunday.
A nosedive after gate three resulted a 39-second defeat for BAR against USA.
We very, very nearly sunk
And despite a penalty, New Zealand beat BAR by one minute and 28 seconds.
It looked promising for Ainslie's team when they led USA into the first gate, before skipper Jimmy Spithill's Oracle charged into the lead. A mistake after gate three cost the GB catamaran more time.
There followed another defeat, this time against New Zealand. The Kiwis were handed a two-boat-length penalty after the start having crossed the boundary, but they still managed a handsome win following a poor turn by BAR at gate two.
*Land Rover BAR started the qualifiers with two points and Oracle Team USA with one point after finishing first and second respectively in the 2015-16 America's Cup World Series.
**The top four teams progress to the next round
Land Rover BAR CEO Martin Whitmarsh, the former chief of McLaren's F1 team, said Ainslie's catamaran almost perished during the defeat by Japan on Saturday.
BAR's port hull careered into Japan's starboard hull prior to the race.
"We very, very nearly sunk," Land Rover BAR CEO Martin Whitmarsh told the Daily Telegraph. "It was foiled back so we didn't take too much water on. When we got back here and went down on the hull, very quickly it began filling with water.
"If we had left it in the water for a few more minutes it would have sunk. You've got all the electronics, everything.
"I could have climbed up through the hull yesterday, it was that big. We're talking about 20ft in terms of length."
Despite the extensive damage, BAR's shore team worked through the night to have the catamaran race-ready for Sunday.
It was a great Sunday for USA who won all three of their races. The French catamaran also recorded its first win, with victory over Sweden's Artemis.
New Zealand also added to their success over BAR by defeating Japan, who currently prop up the table.
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Each team will race each other twice in the qualifiers, scoring one point per win, with the top four teams progressing to the challenger round.
Land Rover BAR started the qualifiers with two points and Oracle Team USA with one after finishing first and second respectively in the 2015-16 America's Cup World Series.
The top four challengers are split into two best-of-five semi-finals from 4 June, with the winners competing in the final for the right to take on holders Oracle Team USA - who are also taking part in the qualifiers - in the actual America's Cup matches.
The first to seven points wins the America's Cup, or the Auld Mug as the trophy is known, with a possible 13 races to be sailed on 17-18 and 24-27 June.
The America's Cup, the oldest competition in international sport, was first raced in 1851 around the Isle of Wight and has only been won by four nations.
Three races take place on Monday, with the British team involved in the opener against France. Racing runs from 18:00-19:30 BST.
Race 13 - Great Britain v France
Race 14 - Sweden v New Zealand
Race 15 - France v Japan
Link to full schedule


The couple behind the San Bernardino attack that killed 14 people were radicalised before they started dating, the director of the FBI has said.

James Comey said Tashfeen Malik and husband Syed Farook spoke of jihad and martyrdom during conversations on an online dating service in late 2013.
The FBI believes the duo were inspired by foreign terrorist organisations, but said the investigation is ongoing.
Last week's massacre was the deadliest terrorist attack in the US since 9/11.
The couple were both killed in a shoot-out with police hours after the attack.
Speaking during a Senate hearing in Washington, Mr Comey characterised the couple as "homegrown violent extremists", and said that precise nature of the foreign influence is still under investigation.
Earlier this week, another FBI official said that there was no evidence uncovered so far to suggest the attack was plotted overseas.
Mr Comey said the investigation "indicates that they were actually radicalised before they started courting or dating each other online, and noted discussions they had about jihad before their engagement last year. Malik moved to the US in July 2014 on a visa designed for fiances, and married Farook - a US national - a month later.
The BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington says the revelation is significant, as it contradicts earlier suggestions that Malik may have radicalised her husband.
Meanwhile, the investigation has broadened to examine anybody who may have been "involved with assisting them, with supporting them, with equipping them," the director said.
Over the weekend, police raided the home of Enrique Marquez, a long-time friend and distant relative of Farook who purchased the two large weapons used during the rampage.
Mr Marquez is being questioned by federal investigators. Media reports say that authorities had trouble finding him after the attack, but later found that he had checked into a mental health facility.
Mr Comey was also chided for not securing the couple's home, which allowed journalists to enter and produce reports from inside. The ethics of that reporting was widely debated.


Pop star Prince did not leave a will, his sister has revealed in court documents.

The papers, filed in state court in Minnesota, show Tyka Nelson has petitioned for a special administrator to oversee the star's estate.
The rock legend, aged 57, was found dead in an elevator at his Paisley Park Studios compound in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota last Thursday.
The size of Prince's fortune is unclear but includes $27m (£18m) in property.
Nelson is Prince's only surviving full sibling and stated in the papers that immediate action was necessary to manage her brother's business interests.
Prince is on course to dominate the UK charts this week, as mourning fans rush to buy his music, while the Hollywood Reporter claimed over three million of his songs and albums had been bought in the US since his death.
A private memorial service was held for the rock star on Saturday, attended by about 20 of his closest friends and family.
Following the service, drummer and frequent Prince collaborator Sheila E confirmed there were plans to turn Paisley Park into a museum, akin to Elvis's Graceland.
Thousands of fans have flocked to Paisley Park, the First Avenue nightclub, and other sites made famous by Prince since his death, while tributes have come from Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Justin Timberlake and President Obama, amongst others.


The head of Germany's "anti-Islamisation" movement Pegida has quit after disparaging anti-refugee comments and a photo showing him apparently posing as Hitler emerged.

Lutz Bachmann apologised for Facebook comments he made in which he reportedly called refugees "animals" and "scumbags".
He did not mention the photo of him with Hitler-style hair and moustache.
Meanwhile, thousands of people have marched in Leipzig at a Pegida rally.
Police were deployed to the streets of the eastern German city to prevent clashes with members of a rival anti-Pegida demonstration.
Pegida supporters chanted "We are the people", while their opponents shouted "Get out of here."
There were no reports of violence.
The rival rallies came as Mr Bachmann apologised for his "ill-considered" remarks.
"Yes, I am stepping down from the board," he was quoted as telling Germany's Bild daily newspaper in an online report.
Pegida spokeswoman Kathrin Oertel said the anti-refugee comments went too far. However, she sought to play down the "Hitler" photo as a "joke" and "satire, which is every citizen's right".
But the German government condemned it. Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told Bild: "Anyone in politics who poses as Hitler is either a total idiot or a Nazi. Reasonable people do not follow idiots, and decent people don't follow Nazis."
Pegida has focused on Leipzig after police banned a protest by the movement in Dresden on Monday over reports of an assassination plot against the movement's leaders.
What is Pegida?
Police in riot helmets formed a human corridor to funnel Pegida supporters through a crowd of counter-protesters.
To shouts of 'Nazis out!' they emerged smiling, holding their German flags high, into the square where a makeshift stage was set.
An appetising smell of goulash filled the air. A stall was doing a roaring trade. The square filled with people and noise - police estimate about 15,000 people came to support Pegida. That makes this the biggest demonstration they've held - outside Dresden, where Monday's weekly march was cancelled amid security fears.
I asked a woman why she had come. "I'm German," she replied. "I don't want my daughter to end up wearing a burka."
As always, Pegida supporters demonstrate for a variety of reasons. Another man reckoned 5% - maybe 10% of the people here - are racists. He had come along, he told me, because he worried about race relations.
"We don't want the problems that you get in places like Birmingham and Edinburgh," he said.
A spokesman for state prosecutors in Dresden, the east German city which has been the focus of Pegida rallies this winter, told Reuters news agency that preliminary proceedings had been opened over comments attributed to Mr Bachmann.
"The suspicion is of incitement to popular hatred," the spokesman said.
Mr Bachmann has denied being a racist.
Despite his resignation, Ms Oertel said that "Pegida will go on."
The movement has forced its way on to the political agenda in Germany with rallies that have attracted tens of thousands of people.


The European Union has given Greece three months to fix its border controls, in a move that could allow other Schengen zone states to maintain internal border controls.

Two weeks ago, a draft report found that Greece had "seriously neglected" its obligations to control the external frontier of the border-free zone.
Some EU states have re-imposed border controls on a temporary basis.
More than 850,000 migrants and refugees arrived in Greece last year.
Schengen free movement agreement explained
Macedonia tries to stop migrant flow
Migration crisis in graphics
Around 80,000 have already crossed from Turkey in 2016. On Thursday Nato announced it would deploy ships in the Aegean to deter people-smugglers operating there.
Most migrants want to travel through Greece and make their way to Germany and other countries in northern Europe.
Germany and other states have been critical of Greece's ability to stem the flow.
Article 26 of the Schengen Borders Code allows countries to keep temporary border controls in place for a maximum of two years, "in exceptional circumstances".
The significance of this decision is that it prepares the ground for existing temporary border checks to be extended beyond May, when they are due to expire.
Borders within Europe's passport-free Schengen area are open, and most remain so. But a few nations, including Germany, Austria and Sweden have been allowed to put in place some controls at specific frontiers to deal with the refugee flows.
If, in May, the situation has not changed the EU could then, legally, give the green light to Schengen nations to maintain their own controls for up to two years.
The European Commission has made clear the move will not isolate Greece from the Schengen area or be about suspending Schengen, but will allow other countries to deal with the consequences of the problems Greece is having controlling its borders.


A tenant who repeatedly complained about a crack in the ceiling has said she was injured when it collapsed on her while she slept.

Fareena Ali's family rents a flat in Stamford Hill, north London, from housing provider Family Mosaic.
The family said the crack in Ms Ali's bedroom was reported and inspected in September but it was not repaired.
Ms Ali said she sustained leg injuries when the ceiling fell on her on Sunday. Family Mosaic has apologised.
Ms Ali, 23, works in a tuition centre and lives with her mother Farida and father Tariq, as well as a sister 21, and brother, aged 11.
She said she felt very "frustrated and angry" because the family had reported the problem to Family Mosaic on numerous occasions and also wrote to their MP about it.
"Many times we were told it would be fixed and were given times that the builders would arrive but no-one turned up."
Ms Ali said she had been left with a massive bruise and swelling on her leg which she was told at accident and emergency was caused by internal bleeding and would take months to heal.
"It is painful every time I walk," she said.
In a statement Family Mosaic said it was aware of the repairs needed at the property, following a full survey. It said some of its properties were very old and the work had been classified as routine repairs and not emergency work.
"Even though the ceiling had been made temporarily safe by our contractor, the ceiling has obviously collapsed in the meantime before the work could be completed," it said.
Family Mosaic said it would undertake a full investigation and added: "We would like to apologise to the family affected for any distress caused."


The first 'metro mayor' of the West Midlands will lead a population of nearly three million people across Coventry, Birmingham and the Black Country.

They will have powers over Economic Development, Education and Skills, Housing and Transport to be downloaded from Central Government and emphatically not uploaded from local authorities.
But this has not prevented the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), to be headed by the mayor, from being dubbed a 'super-council' by critics who think too much power is being concentrated in too few hands.
UKIP have been consistent critics of the entire project, dismissing it is "devolution of power from the People to the Establishment": but, as we shall see, they have overcome their misgivings sufficiently to run a candidate now that the contest is upon us.
Ministers in both the Cameron and May governments have pressed ahead with this latest exercise in regional devolution in defiance of malcontents in all the local political parties, including their own.
David Cameron once told me: "If you want the maximum level of devolution, devo max, you must have a focal point at the top for accountability."
More recently, shortly after leaving office, the former Chancellor George Osborne told the BBC he had "sweated blood to get a West Midlands mayor agreed."
The six candidates face a fight, not just for the honour of championing the West Midlands at home and abroad, but also to raise the general level of popular interest.
A recent COMRES poll suggested just under 40% of the electorate were aware the contest was happening at all.
Fears of a low turnout are reinforced by the fact that the seven constituent local authorities in the metropolitan area are not holding council elections this year.
This means the electorate who do bother to turn out to elect the mayor will be those prepared to do so for that reason alone.
They will also have to contend with the relatively novel 'supplementary vote' system; the ballot papers will show two columns  marked '1' and '2' alongside the candidates' names. Voters will be invited to mark an 'X' in the '1' column for their preferred candidate with the option of marking another 'X' in the '2' column for their second favourite if they so wish. But if they wish to vote for only one candidate, that's fine too.
When the votes are eventually counted, if no candidate has registered more than 50%, all the candidates apart from the first two will be eliminated and their second preferences will be added to those of the first round winner and runner-up to decide the result.
The candidates will appear on the ballot papers in alphabetical order.
James Burn (Green)
A social worker, small business owner and Solihull councillor, he is campaigning to lift more children out of poverty, encourage small businesses and distinctive high streets and deliver sustainable solutions to economic development and climate change.
Pete Durnell (UKIP)
An IT specialist from Warley, he also stood for West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner. He wants to subsidise lorries to use the M6 Toll instead of the M6, to invest in new technologies and to refurbish or convert empty homes, shops and offices to deliver affordable housing.
Beverley Nielsen (Liberal Democrat)
A former business leader turned university lecturer in Birmingham, she promises to unify and champion community interests by offering "a strong voice for change" to help people through the confusion and uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
Sion Simon (Labour)
A former Birmingham MP and government minister, he is currently one of the West Midlands'  Members of the European Parliament. He promises 8,000 new apprenticeships and a Â£500 million fund to clean up derelict sites for house-building and jobs creation.
Graham Stevenson (Communist)
A former union official from Coventry and current member of the party's Executive and Political Committees, he is promising to nationalise the M6 Toll and to introduce a minimum wage of Â£10 per hour.
Andy Street (Conservative)
Originally from Birmingham, he stood down as managing director of the John Lewis department store chain in order to fight this election.  He is promising to eradicate youth unemployment, to deliver 25,000 new houses and to invest in public transport.
This will be a significant test, both of whether or not the Liberal Democrats can sustain their recent recovery with their unambiguously anti-Brexit message and of UKIP's ability or inability to recover from their recent well-documented setbacks.
But as so often in the West Midlands, this election is generally seen as a predominantly two-party affair.
In the face of the widespread perception that this is and always will be "a Labour area", the Conservatives cite research by the Centre for Cities suggesting they need only a 4% swing against Labour 2015 General Election performance.
Labour point out they polled twice as many votes in that same electoral area.
That was before Jeremy Corbyn and Brexit. So how do the numbers stack up this time?
One of Britain's foremost polling analysts, Professor John Curtis of the University of Strathclyde calculates that the swing required by the Conservatives is not 4% but a more demanding 12%.
But even allowing for that, he still sees this as a knife-edge battle.
He told BBC One's Sunday Politics on 2nd April 2017: "The West Midlands looks like a draw. And another Labour loss would pile yet more pressure on Jeremy Corbyn."
Some mayoral elections elsewhere in the country may have the look of foregone conclusions. Here  at least is the prospect of a genuine contest.


Jake Sheppard's late wonder strike kept Dagenham second in the National League with a 2-1 win over mid-table Bromley at Victoria Road.

Brandon Hanlan gave Bromley a seventh-minute lead when he dispossessed Daggers captain Craig Robson, raced into the box and fired a low shot home.
With the visitors dominating, Hanlan almost doubled the advantage when his shot hit the post and went wide, but Dagenham levelled with their first attempt on target, Fejiri Okenabirhie slotting into an empty net after the Ravens failed to clear.
There were few clear-cut chances after the break until the 88th minute when Sheppard smashed in from 25 yards out to stop his side from dropping a place to third in the table.
Report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Dagenham and Redbridge 2, Bromley 1.
Second Half ends, Dagenham and Redbridge 2, Bromley 1.
Substitution, Dagenham and Redbridge. Scott Doe replaces Oliver Hawkins.
Goal!  Dagenham and Redbridge 2, Bromley 1. Jake Sheppard (Dagenham and Redbridge).
Lee Minshull (Bromley) is shown the yellow card.
Substitution, Dagenham and Redbridge. Josh Staunton replaces Jordan Maguire-Drew.
Substitution, Bromley. Tobi Sho-Silva replaces Bradley Goldberg.
Substitution, Dagenham and Redbridge. Paul Benson replaces Jake Howells.
Oliver Hawkins (Dagenham and Redbridge) is shown the yellow card.
Second Half begins Dagenham and Redbridge 1, Bromley 1.
First Half ends, Dagenham and Redbridge 1, Bromley 1.
Goal!  Dagenham and Redbridge 1, Bromley 1. Fejiri Okenabirhie (Dagenham and Redbridge).
Goal!  Dagenham and Redbridge 0, Bromley 1. Brandon Hanlan (Bromley).
First Half begins.
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.


Two bosses at a Kent hospital foundation trust put into special measures last year have resigned.

Medway NHS Foundation Trust said chairman Denise Harker and chief executive Mark Devlin had decided the time was right for them to move on.
The trust was criticised as failing and put in special measures following the Keogh Review in June.
It said a new chairman and chief executive were expected to be announced next month.
The Keogh Review found the trust, which runs Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, had major failings.
It was criticised for poor communication with patients, poor management of deteriorating patients, inappropriate referrals, delayed discharges and long waits in A&E.
The hospital was later told by the Care Quality Commission it must take urgent action to improve safety on a maternity unit.
In November health regulator Monitor said the hospital's problems were broader than first thought and said it must take urgent action or face leadership changes.
The trust said in a statement Ms Harker and Mr Devlin had decided to hand over leadership of the trust to a new team.
"I would like to thank Mark and Denise for their dedication and integrity," said Colin Wilby, its senior independent director.
"Their commitment to public service is indisputable and we wish them both every success in the future."
Earlier this week it was announced Medway Maritime's A&E department would undergo a Â£5m redevelopment.
Mark Reckless, Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood, said the hospital had appointed a new medical director and a new chief nurse.
"I think they are doing good work and I have seen some improvements but frankly, given the problems, I am not sure its been fast enough," he said.


Pro-independence leaders in Catalonia have vowed to press ahead with plans to break away from Spain, despite a decision by the Constitutional Court to suspend the secession process.

Catalan Vice-President Neus Munte said it was the political will of the regional government to carry on with plans for independence in 18 months.
Spain's government earlier appealed to the Constitutional Court to intervene.
The court warned Catalan leaders they needed to comply with the order.
"If they fail to comply with the suspension, they may commit disobedience," read the ruling by the Madrid-based high court.
Catalonia's regional parliament on Monday passed a motion to start the secession process, stating an aim of independence within 18 months, and giving 30 days to start legislation on a Catalan constitution, treasury and social security system.
Looming independence or little change? Katya Adler assesses the mood in Catalonia
Catalonia's push for independence Could Spain's wealthy north-eastern region really break away?
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy earlier on Wednesday announced he had taken the case to the Constitutional Court. He called the motion a "blatant disregard for the state's institutions" and accused the pro-secessionists of "trying to do away with democracy".
"We're talking about the defence of an entire country. They are trying to liquidate the unity of a nation with more than five centuries of history," he said.
In a judgement that had been expected, the court's 11-judge panel agreed to hear the government's lawsuit against the Catalan move, meaning the motion is automatically suspended for a number of months while legal hearings are held.
The panel also agreed to Madrid's request that the judges "personally" notify acting Catalan President Artur Mas, his cabinet and the president of the regional assembly, Carme Forcadell, of the consequences should they decide not to abide by the court's ruling.
The pro-secession parties had fully expected their move to be declared illegal and as part of the motion had argued that the court lacks legitimacy.
Speaking at a news conference after the court ruling, Ms Munte said: "The political will of the government of Catalonia is to go ahead with the content of the resolution."
One of the Catalan independence leaders, Oriol Junqueras, tweeted: "The will of the Catalan people cannot be suspended. We are committed to continue with our democratic mandate."
Opinion polls suggest a majority of Catalans favour a referendum on independence, but are evenly divided over whether to secede.
Catalan nationalist parties secured a majority of seats in September's elections but fell short of winning half the vote. They said before the vote that they considered it a de facto referendum on independence from Spain.
Two big separatist parties make up the "Together for Yes" ("Junts pel Si") coalition but they needed the help of the far-left CUP (Popular Unity) party to secure an absolute majority in the Catalan parliament.
Artur Mas, who has spearheaded the drive for secession, has been trying to win re-election as Catalonia's president but has failed to secure the approval of the far-left party. The CUP has called for another Together for Yes candidate, Raul Romeva, to take over the leadership role.
Several parties oppose secession in Catalonia, including the Catalan Socialists and Citizens (Ciudadanos), a centre-right party which was born in the north-eastern region but has attracted increasing popularity across Spain.
Its leader, Albert Rivera, said earlier this week: "To those Catalans who want independence: the solution is not to break up the country, it is to reform it."
The rise in tensions between Madrid and Catalonia comes just weeks before Spaniards vote in the general election, on 20 December. It is not yet clear who will win the election but every party will want wealthy Catalonia to remain a part of Spain, observers say.
The stakes have risen. Prime Minister Rajoy's threat to suspend the powers of 21 key political figures in Catalonia, if decisions of the Spanish Constitutional Court are ignored, is the first time Madrid has produced a clear consequence, if the Catalan pro-independence camp continue with their project of trying to break-away from Spain.
Long criticised for inaction, and failing to recognise the determination of Catalan pro-independence parties, the Spanish government knows it has to get the balance right.
With an election looming Mr Rajoy knows he needs to be tough to please Spanish voters. But go too far and he risks antagonising Catalans who want to leave Spain.
So for now, the possibility of Spain trying to seize control of Catalonia's autonomous police force, known as the Mossos, or the prospect of Madrid cutting-off funding to the Catalan Government, known as the Generalitat, are just stories in Spanish newspapers.
But normally, implicit threats in newspapers come from somewhere.
The uncertainty speaks of a political crisis in Spain. No-one quite knows where this will end. The general election on 20 December could change everything.
The left-wing Podemos party is in favour of a referendum. However, the polls suggest Mr Rajoy's party could remain in government and therefore the Catalan crisis might continue.
In Britain, David Cameron made a Scottish gamble and held a referendum, which his side won.
But in Spain, there is not even a debate about whether there should be a referendum in Catalonia. There is a government committed to the unity of Spain, and a rebellion amongst a slim majority of Catalan regional parliamentarians, who are committed to breaking away.
This Catalan drama is "to be continued".


St Paul's Bessbrook fought back from five points down with nine minutes left to snatch a 1-12 to 1-12 draw against St Mary's Magherafelt in the opening MacRory Cup semi-final at the Dub.

Liam Quinn's goal helped Magherafelt lead 1-7 to 0-8 at the break and they extended their lead to 1-11 to 0-9.
However, Dean Hanrahan's 51st-minute goal sparked Bessbrook to hit 1-2 without reply to level the contest.
Kevin Small restored Magherafelt's lead but Shea Loye levelled in injury-time.
Loye finished with 0-5 for St Paul's after hitting the south Armagh school's last two points.
Points from Ryan Hughes and Loye gave St Paul's an early 0-2 to 0-0 advantage and with Liam Kerr also on target, they led by three points on three occasions in the first half.
However, Quinn's 21st-minute goal levelled the contest at 1-5 to 0-8 before points from the impressive Daniel Bradley and Simon McErlean put Mary's two up at the interval.
Mary's looked set for victory as they hit four out of the first five second-half scores to extend their lead to 1-11 to 0-9, helped by three consecutive Bradley points.
However, Hanrahan's goal got St Paul's back into the game and they missed a chance to lead when Mary's keeper Odhran Lynch saved a Kerr penalty, although the Bessbrook man did manage to slot the rebound over the bar.
After Loye's fourth point levelled the game, Small's score regained Magherafelt the lead only for Loye to level with the last kick in injury-time.
The second semi-final in the Danske Bank sponsored competition between St Ronan's Lurgan and St Colman's Newry will take place on Thursday evening at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh (19:30 GMT) with the Magherafelt and Bessbrook replaying their semi-final next Wednesday, at a venue yet to be confirmed.


A man who bludgeoned three sisters with a claw hammer in a London hotel while children slept alongside them has had his jail sentence increased.

Philip Spence, 33, from Harlesden, was convicted in October of three counts of attempted murder and jailed for life with a minimum of 18 years.
The Court of Appeal ruled he must now serve a minimum of 27 years.
During the trial it was heard one victim was hit so hard she lost part of her brain and can no longer speak.
The three judges sitting in the appeal court said: "It seems highly improbable that he will, after the expiry of 27 years, or indeed ever, be safe for release."
Spence attacked the sisters, from the United Arab Emirates, at the Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch on 6 April.
He admitted the attack during the trial, but denied attempted murder.
The court heard he hit Ohoud Al-Najjar, 34, with such force her skull split open as her nine-year-old nephew cowered under the sheets beside her.
She survived the attack but was left with just 5% brain function, lost sight in one eye and can no longer speak.
Her sisters Khulood, 36, and Fatima, 31, were both left with life-threatening injuries and still require medical treatment.
The attack was also carried out in front of Khulood's three children, aged seven, 10 and 12.
Spence fled the scene with a suitcase containing iPads, gold jewellery and mobile phones.
Solicitor General Robert Buckland QC argued that, although Philip Spence was convicted of attempted murder and not murder, he should receive a "whole of life" term.
These sentences are normally reserved for the most heinous murderers - people who have murdered more than one person, or murdered a child with a sexual or sadistic motive. Rose West received one, for example.
Mr Buckland said it was only recent advances in medical science that have been able to keep Spence's victims alive.
He told the court that even in the very recent past such cases would have led to murder convictions.
The Lord Chief Justice said he could envisage a case where the court might impose a whole life sentence for attempted murder, but that Spence's case was not such a case.
Her sisters Khulood, 36, and Fatima, 31, were both left with life-threatening injuries and still require medical treatment.
The attack was also carried out in front of Khulood's three children, aged seven, 10 and 12.
Spence fled the scene with a suitcase containing iPads, gold jewellery and mobile phones.
He dumped the claw hammer just outside the hotel in Marble Arch.
In a victim impact statement read at Spence's trial, Fatima Al-Najjar said the injuries to Ohoud had left her with a "living dead sister".
Speaking at Southwark Crown Court, Judge Anthony Leonard QC had said it was "nothing short of a miracle combined with the finest medical attention" that she survived.
The case was referred to the Court of Appeal by Solicitor-General Robert Buckland, on the basis the sentence was unduly lenient.
Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas, sitting with Mr Justice Globe and Mr Justice Knowles, said it was a "shocking" case but not one where a whole-life order would be the right sentence.
"In our judgment, the minimum term should be one of 27 years.
"It will be for the parole board in due course to consider whether this defendant, who is obviously highly dangerous, will, if ever, be released."
In October, Spence was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary during the attack.


China and the US say a new UN resolution against North Korea is needed, following Pyongyang's claim that it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb earlier this month.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is in Beijing for talks, called North Korea's nuclear ambitions a "threat to the world" and urged new sanctions.
But his counterpart Wang Yi suggested China would not support any sanctions.
China is North Korea's main ally, but has condemned Pyongyang's nuclear test.
On 6 January, a 5.1 magnitude tremor was detected in North Korea - which said it had successfully conducted an underground hydrogen bomb test.
However, nuclear experts questioned North Korea's claim, saying the size of the blast was not large enough to have been from an H-bomb.
Speaking on Wednesday after talks with Wang Yi, Mr Kerry said that both sides agreed on the need for a "strong" resolution against North Korea, and said that limiting the trade of goods and services across China's border with North Korea  was one potential measure.
However, Mr Wang said that while China supported the need for a new resolution, it "should not provoke new tension in the situation, still less destabilise the Korean peninsula".
"Sanctions are not an end in themselves," he added.
China is Pyongyang's biggest trading partner, and major ally - although relations have cooled since Kim Jong-un succeeded his father.
Nonetheless, experts say China is wary of destabilising North Korea, fearing that millions of North Korean refugees could pour across China's borders if the regime collapsed.
The two sides also discussed the disputed South China Sea, where China has multiple competing territorial claims with other countries.
China has angered several neighbours by constructing artificial islands on claimed reefs, and building runways and other facilities on them.
Mr Kerry called on China to stop construction and land reclamation in disputed areas.
However, Beijing said such activity was within its legal rights to protect its territorial sovereignty.
Mr Kerry, who will also meet China's State Councillor Yang Jiechi and  President Xi Jinping, is on an Asia tour that has included Laos and Cambodia.
In Laos and Cambodia, Mr Kerry had called on the two countries, who are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), to present a united front against China on the South China Sea disputes.
Mr Kerry said Laos supported a "unified Asean" that would protect maritime rights.
However, Cambodia says any territorial disputes should be resolved bilaterally with China - a position supported by Beijing.
Laos is chairing Asean this year and, like Cambodia, shares a close economic relationship with China.


Mae dynes wedi cael ei harestio ar amheuaeth o lofruddio ar ôl i gorff dyn gael ei ddarganfod yn Sir Conwy.

Cafodd Heddlu Gogledd Cymru eu galw tua 20:30 nos Iau i leoliad yn ardal Bryn Heulog yn Hen Golwyn, ble gafwyd hyd i gorff David James Kingsbury, 35 oed o'r dref.
Mae'r ddynes, sydd hefyd o'r ardal, yn cael ei chadw yn y ddalfa i gael ei chwestiynu gan yr heddlu.
Mae'r crwner wedi cael ei hysbysu a dywedodd yr heddlu y bydd prawf post mortem yn cael ei gynnal ddydd Gwener.
Dywedodd y Ditectif Brif Arolygydd, Andrew Williams: "Rwy'n apelio i unrhyw un wnaeth weld neu glywed dyn a dynes yn cweryla gyda'i gilydd, neu gydag unrhyw un arall, yn yr ardal."


Polish officials are seeking the arrest of a Minnesota man they say was a Nazi commander during World War Two.

Michael Karkoc, 98, is accused of ordering the killing of 44 Poles while he allegedly led a unit in the SS-led Ukrainian Self Defence Legion.
Polish prosecutor Robert Janicki said that evidence collected from years of investigation confirmed his identity "100%".
Mr Karkoc's family has denied he was involved in any war crimes.
The success and regrets of Nazi hunter Efraim Zuroff
Prosecutors from the Polish government-affiliated National Remembrance Institute have asked a regional court in Lublin to issue a warrant for Mr Karkoc's arrest.
If granted, Poland would seek to extradite Mr Karkoc to face trial.
"He is our suspect as of today," Mr Janicki said.
The Minneapolis resident is accused of killing civilians in the villages of Chlaniow and Wladyslawin in July 1944.
If convicted, he could face life in prison.
Mr Karkoc was previously investigated by German authorities in 2013 after the Associated Press reported he was a former Nazi commander in the SS-led unit, which was accused of burning villages and killing civilians in Poland.
The investigation was halted in 2015 after prosecutors said they received "comprehensive medical documentation" showing he was not fit to stand trial.
Mr Karkoc's son,Â Andriy Karkoc, said his father was not in Poland and was not behind any war crimes.
He said that stories about his father are "misinformation or disinformation" created by Russian President Vladimir Putin's government.
Efraim Zuroff, a top Nazi hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, commended Polish authorities for taking legal action.
Mr Zuroff told the AP that "it's high time that the Poles became more active seeking people who committed crimes in World War Two on Polish soil".


Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish is subject to an internal investigation by the club following reports of his involvement in an all-night party, manager Roberto di Matteo has said.

At 07:45 BST on Sunday, police were called to a Birmingham hotel as guests complained of a rowdy party, which the Daily Mail reports Grealish attended.
No arrests were made and Grealish, 21, was not one of up to 12 people ejected.
"We are aware of an incident at the weekend," Di Matteo told BBC WM 95.6.
"We started an internal investigation about it, which is still ongoing. When we finish the investigation, we will see what disciplinary action to take."
Grealish was warned by former boss Tim Sherwood in 2015 after he was pictured apparently taking nitrous oxide.
He also previously spent time training with Villa's youth team as a punishment when Remi Garde was in charge at Villa Park, after reports he visited a nightclub following a 4-0 loss at Everton.
"Unfortunately it has happened again. We expect our players to behave in a professional manner at all times, so it is something that we don't tolerate," added Di Matteo.
"It's important that he understands what he has, and he needs to grow up very quickly."
The Solihull-born former England Under-21 player signed a new four-year deal with the Championship club on 7 September.
Villa owner Tony Xia contacted Grealish directly via the social media platform Twitter on Wednesday, saying: "As I said before, focus every minute, on and off the pitch, choose the right people to be with."
Xia added: "It's not a warning but just elder brother's talk. I trust Jack can really learn and be a man."
Were five games into the Premier League season - but how will the table look after 38 games? Pick how you think it will look at the end, placing all 20 teams in order. Have a go then share with your friends.


Former Colombian footballer Freddy Rincon is wanted for questioning in Panama over alleged money-laundering, Interpol said on Wednesday.

Interpol issued a red notice, which seeks "the location and arrest of wanted persons with a view to extradition or similar lawful action".
Mr Rincon is wanted in neighbouring Panama on money laundering and drugs-related criminal conspiracy charges.
He denied any wrongdoing and said he was "surprised" by the notice.
Mr Rincon is famous for scoring a goal for Colombia against Germany in the 1990 World Cup.
He played for Italian club Napoli, Real Madrid in Spain, and Palmeiras and Corinthians in Brazil.
Prosecutors in Panama say Mr Rincon served as a front man for a Panama-based firm used by Colombian drug dealers to launder money.
Mr Rincon has in the past said the money he invested in the business was his and denied any links to drug trafficking.
He said the allegations were refuted back in 2007 when he was held for investigation for more than four months in Brazil.
Mr Rincon told Colombian weekly Semana: "Panama has no evidence against me, and that's why Brazil archived the case against me. Colombia should do the same."
He said in the past that he knew convicted drug baron Pablo Rayo Montano from their time growing up in the port city of Buenaventura. However, he denies doing any business with him.
Rayo Montano, who was captured in Brazil in 2006, was one of Colombia's most prolific drug dealers and laundered huge sums of money in Panama.


US researchers claim to have developed a single test that is able to identify past exposure to every known human virus infection, using a drop of blood.

The technique decodes the infection history imprinted in our immune response.
The scientists hope that the test will eventually provide important insight into how viruses contribute to development of a range of diseases.
The work was published in the journal Science.
During a virus infection, your immune system generates antibodies designed to fight the virus. Each antibody recognises a tiny fragment of the virus and their interaction is very specific - they fit like a lock and key.
Virus-specific antibodies can be long-lived; often persisting many years after an infection has disappeared. So, your antibody repertoire represents a historical record of all of the viruses that have infected you.
This immunological catalogue has been used for years to identify past virus exposure, but the diagnostic tests routinely used have been limited to one, or at most a few, different virus strains.
Prof Stephen Elledge from the Harvard University Medical School US, who led the research team, told Science in Action that the new technique will overcome this limitation: "You can ask questions about all viruses rather than have to do things one at a time, so it allows you to discover connections between different populations or different diseases amongst groups of people.
"Now that we can look at all viruses, it's a complete game-changer."
Researchers have been working out the genetic sequence - the blueprint - of all human viruses for many years.
The team used this information to generate a pool of bacteriophage - viruses that grow easily in the laboratory - with each bacteriophage expressing a tiny fragment of this human-virus blueprint on its surface.
Antibodies present in a drop of human blood could then be used as bait to go fishing in this phage pool - only bacteriophage that express protein fragments recognised by the antibodies in the blood sample will be caught. Sequencing the bacteriophage DNA reveals the human viruses that an individual has been exposed to.
The team used their test to interrogate sera obtained from more than 500 people of different ages and living in different global locations.
The data showed that the number of virus infections detected in people increased during life.
The study also suggested that those living in the US were exposed to fewer infections than people living in South Africa, Thailand or Peru.
"We don't understand why that is. It could be something to do with the different strains of the virus and our inability to detect them, or it could be something to do with the structure of the population, the sensitivity of the population [to infection] or practices in the country", commented Prof Elledge.
The greatest number of virus infections that were detected in any single individual was around 25, but the average number was only 10.
Prof Elledge thought that this was because some individual virus protein fragments can represent many related viruses.
Commenting on the significance of the new technique Will Irving, professor of virology at the University of Nottingham said: "It is a technology which is probably best applied on a population-basis rather than an individual patient basis.
"Whilst its accuracy in defining who had HCV or HIV infection could be massaged up to very respectable levels, I'd be nervous about using it as a diagnostic test to see if an individual patient has HIV infection.
"However, it will be a fabulous tool for looking at virus-disease associations which are speculative, or even currently unknown. For example, primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) has been reported, controversially, to arise from viral infection, so it would be great to compare the virome of PBC patients with those without the disease. Maybe you'd identify a consistent pattern suggesting a specific viral cause.
"Indeed any other disease of unknown aetiology - identifying specific virome reactivity could give a major clue as to a causative agent."
And the technique might also shed light onto why new treatments - immunotherapies - that are being deployed in the fight against cancers work in some individuals and not in others.
Prof Elledge commented: "It's possible that the people that respond [to therapy] are responding because they are taking advantage of existing immune responses to viruses, so we are looking at correlation in these patients to previous viral exposures to see if exposure to a particular virus makes it more likely to respond."


Shares in DFS Furniture have plunged by 22% after the sofa specialist issued a profit warning.

The company blamed the general election for contributing to a sharp fall in demand in the second half of its financial year.
It now expects its underlying annual profits to be between Â£82m-Â£87m, below the Â£94.4m it reported in the previous 12 months.
Its share price tumbled by 55.25p to 196.75p
DFS said the market-wide trend was linked to uncertainty regarding the general election and "uncertain macroeconomic environment".
It said it had seen "significant declines in store footfall leading to a material reduction in customer orders".
Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, said that the slowdown reported by DFS was "not surprising" given recent economic data.
"CPI inflation has accelerated to 2.9%, while wage growth is slowing. Real wages are falling. If the gap continues to widen then the likes of DFS could suffer further as spending takes a knock. Undoubtedly the uncertainty around the general election and Brexit means people are delaying big ticket purchases," he said.
DFS said it experienced short-term fluctuations to demand and, confident of longer-term growth, had maintained its investment levels.
But Mr Wilson said: "The relative resilience of the UK in the six months after the referendum, and comparative slowing thereafter, seems to be mirrored in the fortunes of DFS."


The Nobel Peace Prize, first awarded in 1901, has this year gone to four civil society groups in Tunisia.

The winner is selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, on behalf of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel's estate, and awarded to whoever "shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".
Over the years, 10 individuals from Africa have been honoured for their efforts:
"The Nobel Committee for the second time chose a prize-winner who was being persecuted by his own authorities"
"After having taken the initiative in negotiating a peace treaty between the two countries"
"The Committee has attached importance to Desmond Tutu's role as a unifying leader figure in the campaign to resolve the problem of apartheid in South Africa"
"For their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa"
"For their work for a better organised and more peaceful world"
"For her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace"
"For their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way"
"For their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work"
"For its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011."
Find out more