violence is at record levels, there are staff shortages and overcrowding. drug abuse is rife and somejails have been written by unrest. reformers would like to see fewer people sent to prison and two months into thejob, so fewer people sent to prison and two months into the job, so would the justice secretary. months into the job, so would the justice secretary. we do need to make sure that ourjudges and magistrates have confidence in the community centres as the alternatives to prison because i think everybody wants to make sure that people who go to prison really deserve to go there because of the seriousness of their crime or the threat they would pose to the public if released. would you like to see the population come—down?” if released. would you like to see the population come-down? i want to see the population come—down but we have to make sure that we do that in a way that protects public safety. 0k, a way that protects public safety. ok, so we are doing the search. obviously this is somebody‘s house... meanwhile, ministers are on a mission to recruit two and a half thousand extra staff. these new officers are learning the ropes at coldingley prison in surrey as part ofa coldingley prison in surrey as part of a graduate recruitment programme. i saw it as of a graduate recruitment programme. isaw it asa of a graduate recruitment programme. i saw it as a stepping stone into me going into forensic psychology with my psychology background and that is how i saw it. but at the minute and a woman is reunited with her diamond ring 13 years after losing it — it was found wrapped round a carrot in her garden. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news.

the wait for a—level results is over for hundreds of thousands of young people in england, wales and northern ireland. this year's results show a slight rise in a and a—star grades, for the first time in six years. the results in england are the first since major changes were made to the qualifications, which mean students now sit their exams at the end of two years of study, instead of taking modules halfway through. in top grades, boys have moved ahead of girls. the first time that has happened in many years. the first time that has happened in many years. our reporter chi chi izundu has been with students opening their results at a college in east london. results day. years of studying and nervous expectation even to find out what you have got. for the first time in six

years those getting top marks at a level has increased and that marks at a level has increased and that is despite reforming the system. really, really good. hopefully going on to studying accounting. are you happy? very happy. have you broken the news to your mum and dad? my mum, yes. she started screaming! she was screaming a lot, yes. as part of the reform, as modules coursework will not be part of the final grade. students must study for two years and sit an exam at the end. this year, 13 subjects are affected, including chemistry, biology and english literature, and universities have a input to the changes. it is challenging to be the first year to do a new exam, but the new exams reflect the needs of universities and employers. universities were very clear that they wanted to see

students arrive for their first year better prepared to cope with the challenges of that difficult first year. the new changes to the system do not apply to schools in wales, which are still coupling macka one and a—level grades. we were concerned that the old as qualification disappeared and there was a narrowing of the curriculum. it was looking like subjects in the creative arts, like music and drama, those are starting to disappear, and the same but modern foreign languages. and this is a time when the what young people to be celebrating creativity but looking to be global citizens, so those areas of real concern. in a* grades and a grades, boys have moved ahead of girls compared to last year's results. for those who did better than expected or even those that didn't, they will be checking whether they are onto their course at their university of choice. one very happy student is 20—year—old malala, who tweeted news of her place at oxford. the number of university places

allocated has fallen with tens of thousands of places still available. ucas, the universities and colleges admissions service, says that a16,000 places have so far been confirmed, down 2% on last year, reflecting a dip in the number of 18—year—olds in the uk. this is expected to mean a "buyers' market", with more options available to students looking for university places through the clearing process. phil mackie is at the admissions service's headquarters in cheltenham. for tens of thousands of teenagers, their parents and teachers, this is their parents and teachers, this is the place they dread calling on results day but this year if you haven't quite got the grades the advice is do not panic. there are more places available through

clearing than usual. if you are calling round you never know who will pick up the phone. it is lenny henry here. i am the chancellor at birmingham city university. although it is expensive, going to university remains the main choice for 18—year—olds. remains the main choice for 18-year-olds. my mum used to say," you need an education to fall back on" and she was right. for young people out there, you have to take advantage of this. it is amazing and 40% of the student body are mature stu d e nts 40% of the student body are mature students so it is never too late. not everyone agrees. writing in the daily telegraph, nick timothy today there are more put off by the

cost of education. a lot of people think it is costly now because the costs have obviously gone up. you have to put the cost of university in context. student there a proportion of it, so does the taxpayer. it is right there is a sharing out of that cost. it would be unfairon the sharing out of that cost. it would be unfair on the general taxpayer, many of whom have not gone to university and benefited from the higher salaries that graduates earn. here it is as busy as ever and it will remain as part of the a—level results day ritual. phil mackie, bbc news, cheltenham. and in fact we will be back in cheltenham at 2:30pm when we will be putting questions to spokesman from ucas about your higher education choices. whether you got better results than you expected or are a little bit

disappointed, you can learn more about the clearing process. that is at 2:30pm on the bbc news channel. let's speak to the former labour higher education minister bill rammell, who is now vice—chancellor of the university of bedfordshire. they are part of the million plus group — which represents a number of the uk's newest universities. thank you forjoining us this afternoon. looking at the data that is coming in so far on a—level results, what is your assessment? well, it is very competitive. we have known that for a long while. many students are applying to university for the first time through clearing and students are in the driving seat. i am on record as saying i do not see a problem with that. competition is good, it can be healthy and it ensures university really focus on what matters to students. so you agree with the assertion that today is a buyers market for students?|j

assertion that today is a buyers market for students? i think it is a buyers market. we are likely to take, at the university of bedfordshire 2000 calls. we have staff working very hard to support people through that process and i would make the point that going to university is the best investment you can ever make and we want to help people through that process. you do not agree with the assessment from timothy dogma that british stu d e nts from timothy dogma that british students come out of university with. no, i don't. ithink there is a real misnomer when we talk about student debt. what we have is a graduate repayment system where you only pay back what you are earning. after 30 years, whatever you have not repaid is written. if you could get debt like that on the high

street there would be a stampede of people trying to get hold of it. also if you read nick timothy ‘s article, he is an elitist. he wants article, he is an elitist. he wants a cap on the number of people going to university. that is the challenge we face. do it properly fund higher education or do we go back to the days of having an elite system for about 10% of the population? days of having an elite system for about 1096 of the population? talking about 1096 of the population? talking about the elite system and you may talk about the elite groups of universities and newer universities. you are part of this million—plus group as we alluded to in the introduction. a group of newer universities. how are you marketing yourselves to say to students, "well, take a look at us. " well, we are doing well at bedfordshire. our student numbers have gone up. we are introducing a new foundation year for students who do not quite make the cut initially. partnership with providers in london and that has really helped us to move forward but

i think part of the way we have succeeded is a realfocus i think part of the way we have succeeded is a real focus on the student. that is very different to a lot of the selective universities. personalised support through personalised tutors, a huge investment in student facilities and particularly a real focus on teaching. in recent teaching excellence framework we got a gold standard and you won't get that at all research intensive, selective universities. so we have to promote what we are doing very well. and do you think that the a—level students who are coming through to you, does that a—level experience prepare them for university because this is another big discussion point today, isn't it? the quality of a—levels and whether there has been an narrowing of the curriculum, and of opportunities for students to get a breadth of knowledge. well, i do

have some concerns. michael gove initiated these. i think he intended to see a reduction in the number of people succeeding. on the face of it, that has not happened today. i think in part because of very good teaching and support and in part because young people were very, very hard. but we need to see what the impact of those changes are and i think that our concerns about the hollowing out of the curriculum and an narrowing down of options. but clearly the change has been made. we will have to see what happens when stu d e nts will have to see what happens when students come to university. a busy office behind him, taking a lot of calls i expect. the government is to stop funding one of the largest private training companies in the uk, after a damning report by the education regulator ofsted. learndirect ltd, which provides apprenticeships and adult training to more than 70,000 people, has been rated inadequate in its latest inspection. the department for education will withdraw all funding by nextjuly, and has stopped the firm taking on new apprentices.

adina campbell reports. insufficient training, lack of planning and poor quality teaching. just some of the findings in the ofsted report today which inspected learndirect ltd earlier this year. the company, one of the largest learning providers in the uk, was given the lowest possible rating for its training and performance. and those in the industry have described it as a scandal. it is very clear the senior leaders and directors haven't really played the attention they need to quality. quality doesn't just happen by chance. you have to work at it all the time. unfortunately it is learners and apprentices who will be losing out. on the learndirect ltd facebook page reviews have been mixed. one said it was a huge waste of time. another claimed that staff were on the train. someone else complained of no

support or communication. another said staff had been very helpful, inspirational, even. learndirect ltd didn't want to appear on camera. but they did send as a statement. it says the ofsted report is not an accurate reflection of their performance. they also say that they are financially stable and will continue to meet the needs of their learners. learndirect ltd was privatised in 2011. since then, it is estimated it has received £600 million of public funding. that money has come from the government. due to the nature of this latest report, the contract is now going to be wound up. but that will not happen until nextjuly. it is a particularly big scandal. the response from the government has been to give them special treatment. absolutely no doubt about that. in fact, learndirect said they expected to get three months termination

on the contract which would put them into administration. instead, special treatment, those termination notices are not being served and they will continue to offer apprenticeships under a company that they have set up last year. the company tried to block publication of this critical report in court, but failed. it is now hoped changes will strewn be made to ensure that more trainees get the guidance and support they need to improve their futures. firefighters are dealing with a large blaze at a glasgow fruit market. the fire broke out in the early hours of the morning. flames and smoke could be seen rising from the building in the north—east of the city. hundreds of traders work at the market, supplying produce to shops and restaurants in the west of scotland. lorna gordon has this report. in the early hours of the morning, a fire at the largest wholesale fresh fruit market in scotland.

the flames spread quickly and sent smoke billowing across glasgow. at its height, more than 70 firefighters tackled the blaze. conditions were difficult for officers working to bring the fire under control. the first—floor unit in the building you can see behind us, it has panels which make the building pretty dangerous for firefighters, and also assist with pretty quick, rapid spread of fire along its length. blochairn fruit market supplies fruit and vegetables and other goods throughout scotland, the north of england and northern ireland. hundreds of millions of pounds of produce passes through this market every year. it operates 2a hours a day. in the morning, when this fire took hold, these buildings would normally be full of hundreds of workers processing orders and filling bands. fortunately, no one was injured in this fire, but it is not yet clear what will happen to the companies which operate here,

or the people that they employ. my father has been working for 36 years at the market. i was brought up at the market. it is heartbreaking for me to see it that way. we still need to wait and find out what is happening. woke up this morning and the kids could see from the window. it is devastating. i don't know if i have got a job. work has started to try to get the market up and running as soon as possible. specialist fire investigators will try to establish what caused this huge blaze. the headlines on bbc news: thousands of students have been getting their a—level results — and the number getting the top grades has gone up slightly, for the first time in six years. the government is to withdraw funding from learn direct, one of the largest private training companies in the uk — after a damning report by ofsted.

400 workers have been moved to safety from a fruit market in glasgow after it was engulfed by fire. and in sport, we are underway with the first day night a test match to be held in britain. england won the toss and opted to bat but the surrey batsman stoneman already out for just eight on his england debut against west indies. england currently 18—1. becky james has retired from cycling at the age of just 25. he now intends to set up a baking business. and remain yet fed cup captain has appealed after being banned from official roles by the international tennis federation until 2021. the sanction followed his thai raid against great britain in april. i will be back on more on stories just after 2:30pm.

i will be back on more on stories just after 2:30pm. president trump has blamed what he calls the fake media for misrepresenting his position on the far right rallies in cha rlottesville. he's tweeted that he did not draw any moral equivalence between white supremacists and their opponents. as the fallout continues, the chief white house strategist steve bannon has attacked what he described as ethno nationalists as "clowns". the chief executive of apple ,tim cook, has become the latest prominent figure in the world of business to criticise president donald trump over his response to the white nationalist rallies in virginia, becoming one of a flood of resignations from advisory councils set up by the president. david willis reports. at the top of our agenda is the creation of great high—paying set up to help the president deliver on his promise to help "make america great again," the business advisory councils brought together the heads of some of the biggest companies in the us. who would have thought,

then, that the racial clashes in cha rlottesville on saturday, in which one person died, would have proved their undoing? the president's response to this violence shocked members of his own party and unnerved many corporate executives. once the country's most prominent african—american businessman, pharmaceutical ceo ken frazier, announced that he was leaving, others swiftly followed. we believed the symbolism of being associated with that spirited defence of racism and bigotry was just unacceptable. as a trickle of resignations turned into a flood, a close ally of the president, blackstone ceo steve schwarzman, rang to tell him that members were threatening to quit en masse, at which point the president took to twitter to pull the plug: rather than putting pressure on the

business people of the manufacturing council i am ending both. of the manufacturing council i am ending both. a large crowd took to the streets of charlottesville once again last night. a peaceful protest this time in memory of the 32—year—old woman, heather hayer, who died in saturday's clashes. but with racial tension simmering once more in the united states, few believe the debate will end here. david willis, bbc news, washington. and we're just take a look at the latest tweets from donald trump. in the last few minutes he has been saying sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments. of course, the situation in cha rlottesville course, the situation in charlottesville started with the idea of removing a statue. his tweets continue, you can't teach history but you can learn from it,.

washington, . .. history but you can learn from it,. washington,... that is what we have got from donald trump so far on the subject. our correspondent gary o'donoghue is in washington. gary, you would just seeing these latest tweets coming through as well. it is a pretty confusing message coming from donald trump, isn't it? about whether he is drawing any equivalence between the white supremacists and those who are opposed to them in charlottesville. well, let's be generous for a moment. here is his argument. he says that there is a group of people who are not white supremacists, not neo—nazis, not any of those kinds of far right who are concerned about the destruction of the culture of the destruction of the culture of the country and the history of the

country. i think that is what you will hear in say. the difficulty with that position is if he aligns himself, as he hasjust done in this tweets, with the battles over things like robert e lee, then there is no question that he is going to be seen as back in those far right groups who use those monuments and the removal and the arguments over the removal and the arguments over the removal of those monuments as a proxy for their own agendas. so it would be naive of him to think that he is not then going to be associated with those groups. on the one hand, he has been saying this morning, accusing him of moral equivalence between the two groups, that it equivalence between the two groups, thatitis equivalence between the two groups, that it is fake news. on the other hand, he's saying leave the statues alone which are a symbol of what has become the arguments between the far right on the mainstream. there must have been a sharp intake of breath when steve bannon wrote, as we

mentioned, describing f note nationalists, his term, as clowns. steve bannon has become a lightning rod for much of the criticism since cha rlottesville rod for much of the criticism since charlottesville because rod for much of the criticism since cha rlottesville because of rod for much of the criticism since charlottesville because of his right leaning tendencies. that influence in the white house administration. yet, there are two things here. he may describe them as the equivalent of clowns or losers. that is a pretty flippa nt way of clowns or losers. that is a pretty flippant way of describing people who killed a woman by driving a car into a crowd. secondly, i think people will find it difficult to a cce pt think people will find it difficult to accept that he is distancing himself from these groups. he has never been shy, if you like, of promoting a pretty hard right agenda when he rammed the breitbart media organisation that he set up. he

would describe himself as an economic nationalist and clearly he is focused on things like the trade war with china and all those kinds of issues. but i think there will be a certain amount of scepticism about his attempt to distance himself from these other groups, even though that has never been any suggestion that he was part of those other groups. meanwhile, as all of this is happening, those top figures in business in the states, they are falling away from the president. they do not want to be associated with him. they are and i think that proves that you can't compartmentalise if you are the president. you can't just compartmentalise if you are the president. you can'tjust go off on one area like charlottesville and expected not to have an impact in other areas. you heard that ceo in the peace we have they're talking about it just too the peace we have they're talking about itjust too difficult the peace we have they're talking about it just too difficult to associate with those views. if you look at the list of these two groups, who ca res look at the list of these two groups, who cares about one advisory

groups, who cares about one advisory group or the other? but these were the great and good of the us business sector, all the people that we re business sector, all the people that were meant to be helping donald trump deliver on his promise to bring jobs, trump deliver on his promise to bringjobs, manufacturing, trump deliver on his promise to bring jobs, manufacturing, back trump deliver on his promise to bringjobs, manufacturing, back to the continental us and he has made enemies of them now. thank you for that. here, and nhs chief executive has been sacked. sir leonard fenwick, has been at newcastle upon tyne hospitals nhs foundation trust for a0 years. the trust said allegations relating to inappropriate behaviour, use of resources and a range of governance issues had been proven against him. our health correspondent dominic hughes has been following the story. he was the nhs is longest serving chief executive. as you said, for around a0 years he's run various hospital trusts in the centre of newcastle. and this investigation started

injanuary, it really caught everyone flat—footed. he was put, as you say, on gardening leave while these allegations of inappropriate behaviour, the use of resources and a range of governance issues, which are statement says today, were investigated after a long investigation by an independent human resources specialist. they were put to a panel, a two—day hearing heard that those allegations were found proven. sir leonard was then given an opportunity to respond, but at the end of that, the decision was taken to dismiss him for gross misconduct. a second panel was then convened when sir leonard appealed against that decision. and again, after a lengthy hearing, a statement from the trust today said that decision was upheld. interestingly, they also say that, in a statement issued by the trust today, that due to the serious nature of the issues, the trust was required to report a number of concerns to nhs counter fraud and security

management services, known as nhs protect. as a result of that, the trust aren't saying any more. clearly, these allegations now are being investigated by counter fraud investigators at the nhs. now let's turn tojeremy corbyn who has said that the ethnicity of abusers isn't a factor after a labour frontbencher sarah champion quit having claimed the country have a problem with british pakistani men raping white girls. she apologised for what she said was an extremely poor choice of words. let's go now to our political correspondent emma vardy. emma, there has been a bit of a backlash againstjeremy corbyn for not supporting sarah champion. so ta ke not supporting sarah champion. so take us through what he has been saying in response to that. sarah

champion was on the end of a lot of criticism for her comments in the sun. others have hit back and said that what she was saying was fact but nonetheless the pressure on her has increased. a number of labour party members called on her to be sacked and last night she stepped down. jeremy corbyn accepted her resignation and said she was not sacked. but he has been pressed today for his opinion on her comments, particularly on the issue of race and this crime. what he said is he has very much put the emphasis on the crime itself. he said this is a crime against women no matter who it is committed by and he has spoken out about what he says of her comments were wrong to make a sweeping generalisation about an entire community. i do not think you can label lay an entire community. i think you have to label those who perpetrate disgusting and

disgraceful crimes and they can be from any community. they can be white, black, they can be any community but they have to be dealt with for the crime as it is. and after rodber and other cases of that sort where british pakistani men groomed and abused young white girls, there has been a lot of debate about people being able to discuss this without being the fear of being labelled racist. there are concerns, aren't there, that this episode over sarah champion is closing down that space in some way that that debate can take place. that's right. we have seen a succession of these cases coming to to course. where british pakistani men have groomed young girls. that has led to questions as to whether race is an issue here. there have actually been some attempts at

studies to see whether south asian men, are disproportionately involved in this type of crime. it has been very difficult to reach conclusions. police and social services say it is just not that easy. there have been questions as to whether political correctness has been allowed to get in the way of seeking the truth and thatis in the way of seeking the truth and that is the issue that sarah champion was addressing with her comments but it has led to her resignation and today we have heard jeremy corbyn speak out more fully about what he's saying sees as being wrong to label entire community. let's ta ke let's take a look at the weather forecast. looking at in improving picture today, with some showers knocking around. in northumberland, skies look like this this morning. we will all see some sunshine but

heavy showers across lincolnshire in the next hour. the showers are frequent for west scotland and northern ireland, the showers feeling warmer than they did yesterday given that we've got a much more in the way of sunshine. overnight, heavy showers working across northern ireland, scotland and north england as well mixed in with thunder and hail. tomorrow will bea with thunder and hail. tomorrow will be a cooler and blustery day, a day of sunshine and showers but they will be heavy and prolonged. rain will be heavy and prolonged. rain will affect in north—east scotland which could bring localised surface flooding and the gusts could reach gale force around the irish coast. blustery day tomorrow. this is bbc news. the headlines. the number of people receiving top a—level grades has increased for the first time in six years as teenagers across england, wales and northern ireland collect their results. changes introduced by the government

have seen a number of results solely based on final exams rather than coursework. the government have ended their contract with learn direct one of britain's biggest training companies amid concerns about standards following an ofsted report. there's been a big rise in the number of migrants making the crossing from morocco to spain. the spanish coastguard has rescued 600 migrants in the last day. a massive blaze at a glasgow warehouse has been brought under control. 400 workers have been moved to safety from a fruit market in glasgow after it was engulfed by fire. a little day into evening with the sport. the first day—night test on home soil is underway with england hosting west indies at edgbaston. and so many considerations for the players with the controversial pink ball in use.

our sport correspondentjoe wilson is in birmingham for us. england have chosen to bat, winning the toss. will that be a crucial decision at this early stage? interesting, i reckon whether it is a red ball, pinko polka dot ball, in a red ball, pinko polka dot ball, in a sunny day for a test match, you probably bat trust. with these floodlights behind me, when they come on in a kind of twilight zone, that's when we expect them all to miss behave a bit. could be difficult to bat then. the first delivery of the pink ball was perhaps met with the most familiar sight in english cricket, alastair cook nudged it away for a single. we can see he is scoring freely but england have lost their other opening batsman, mark stoneman out toa opening batsman, mark stoneman out to a classic new ball delivery which moved into the air a bit. he lasted

just six all on his debut. as england use this match partly to practice in dates slash night conditions for the ashes test match in adelaide, they will have an ongoing question about who will partner alastair cook at the top of the order —— day— night. it could be almost anybody. thanks very much, we've just seen the ball swinging about a bit. england havejust kicked off against the united states in their final group match at the women's rugby world cup. earlier, new zealand made it to the last four. they comfortably beat canada 48—5 to top pool a. wales take on hong kong at quarter past five but neither they, nor their opponents can go through. england made six changes for their match, both teams unbeaten so far. the winners will seal automatic qualification for next week's semifinals. the early stages, still 0-0. semifinals. the early stages, still

0—0. ireland have also made six changes for their match this evening with france, knowing defeat would eliminate them from the tournament. former cycling world champion and double olympic silver medallist becky james has retired from international track sprint racing aged 25. the welsh athlete who has been plagued by injuries during her career, and suffered a cancer scare in 2014 intends to set up a baking business. james won the world sprint and keirin titles in 2013 and took silver at the same events at the 2016 rio olympics. romania fed cup captain ilie nastase has appealed after being banned from official roles by the international tennis federation until 2021. the sanction followed his tirade at a fed cup tie in april where he swore at an umpire, insulted british number one johanna konta and her captain anne keothavong and made a derogatory comment about serena williams' unborn child. an independent tribunal will be arranged to hear his appeal. mixed martial arts champion conor

mcgregor believes he will beat floyd mayweather inside two rounds thanks to the use of lighter gloves when they meet. the gloves have been approved as a one off for the contest in las vegas, having less padding over the knuckles and are believed to favour the heavy puncher who is taught to be mcgregor. we have prepared for every possible outcome. i don't believe he makes it outcome. i don't believe he makes it out of the second round. i would like to show some skill and dismantle him that way but i do not see him taking the blows in the first two rounds. we are ready for every scenario, ready to go for war for the full 12 rounds and ready to put him away in the first 12 seconds. the england number three tom westley is out for eight. that's all the sport for now. thank you very much. news coming

into us, the brother of the man accused of masterminding an alleged plot to kidnap the british model is to fight extradition to italy. andy moore is outside westminster magistrates' court and can bring us up magistrates' court and can bring us up to date. this was a brief extradition hearing that lasted about ten minutes. the defendant was in the dock wearing a t—shirt and jeans listening to proceedings through an interpreter. he is from poland originally. we heard details of the allegations against him on the european arrest warrant that was executed yesterday when he was arrested in the west midlands. he is accused of a joint enterprise with his brother, that he kidnapped a british model in milan and held her accosted between the 11th and 17th

ofjuly —— held her hostage. they dropped her and demanded a ransom of 300,000 euros. briefly, that was the allegation against him he was asked if he consented to the extradition through his interpreter, he said no. then we heard from his solicitor who said on his behalf that michel herba denied any involvement in this alleged crime and would be fighting the extradition on the grounds that at the moment the case in italy is in early stages and there isn't enough evidence at the moment. that was no application for bail but it was no application for bail but it was refused anyway due to the seriousness of the crime. there will bea seriousness of the crime. there will be a brief procedural hearing in august but the full extrajudicial hearing went the taking place until later. the wait for a—level results is over for hundreds of thousands

of young people in england, wales and northern ireland. overall, this year's results show a slight rise in a and a—star grades, for the first time in six years. but the results in england were down slightly where major changes were made to the qualifications meaning students now sit all their exams at the end of two years of study, instead of taking modules half way through. so, those of you watching who received your a—level results today, did you get what you needed? or are you now having to look at other options? you've been sending in you questions all day and now i'm joined by iwan williams, an "exams helpline advisor" from ucas in cheltenham. thank you for taking your time to talk to us on what i appreciate is an incredibly busy day for you at ucas. cracking on with the question is, the first one is anonymous, many of them are. this person says

a—levels were truly awful, physics, chemistry and general studies was predict it a, a*, a and a, got d, d, eand u. predict it a, a*, a and a, got d, d, e and u. help, there was a big difference in what they expected and what they got? i think that is a typical scenario that we are dealing with today. to that person, don't feel alone, it's fine and there are lots in a similar situation and it's one of those things. my advice to anyone in that situation is to look at all the options and make the best decision. without knowing about the specifics, what we might talk about is potentially speaking to the school or college about resetting those exams if they feel there is a good chance you could improve the grade for next year. there is the option of adding a foundation year toa option of adding a foundation year to a degree, sometimes the foundation year will lower the

expectation requirements for a degree. options are for clearing, they will probably be put straight into clearing, looking at the courses are available. another option is looking outside of higher education, apprenticeships, jobs and a gap yearto education, apprenticeships, jobs and a gap year to build experience. lots of choice. if someone spoke to you on the helpline and they gave you more details of your specific circumstances, would you just lay out those choices or will you say in your situation, they should perhaps look at resits? do you steer people ina look at resits? do you steer people in a particular direction orjust lay out the options? we try to do i guess in some ways a balance of both, career advice is not about making decisions on behalf of young people but resenting options and understanding the emotional side of that decision. understand where they are atand that decision. understand where they are at and things that impacted them and we want to help them make a positive decision for themselves. it can sometimes be we might feel there

isa can sometimes be we might feel there is a more favourable option that can increase their chances for later success but it's done on an individual basis. we want to guide, support and help people. our next question is from somebody who wants to study medicine, getting a a* in psychology, b in chemistry and biology. he tries to get a clearance in medicine all over the uk, is there any other option to do medicine? medicine is probably the most competitive course going. it's difficult if you are going in there without the straight as and a*s, for options. but sometimes there is a way around that. sometimes there is a graduate entry to medicine, someone can do an undergraduate degree, ideally in a science type subject. maybe health science, biology, biochemistry, if they do well in that, minimum of 2: one in a

degree, they can apply to medicine. it adds a year to the process but i can assure that person it is possible to get into medicine if you don't have an undergraduate medicine degree. another question, asking what options are there for students who fail their a—levels. this is someone who has perhaps u nfortu nately someone who has perhaps unfortunately failed on every subject they've sat. what advice would you give to them? first i'd say, don't panic, try to stay as calm as you can. i understand it's an emotional day and sometimes receiving those results can be a shock. the next is to phone the exam results helpline to speak to me or one of my colleagues. the number for that, do give us a call, without knowing more facts about the situation, it's hard to look at potential options but there is lots of choice out there. resits,

foundation years, clearing, apprenticeshipjobs, foundation years, clearing, apprenticeship jobs, gap years, there are lots of choices. i'm picking what's best for them. the next question is will my as grades have any bearing for my university offer? that is dependent on the course they are applying to and the university in question. some will ask for a ucas points tariff, and they will ask for a certain number of points. they will access a—levels and as levels in that tariff. for more competitive courses, they asked for three a—levels and might want a particular grade and a points tariff as well. so, it really depends. macro as levels can be very valuable and can make a difference but it depends on the university and the course in question. good advice for people who are looking at options, not just to have people who are looking at options, notjust to have got people who are looking at options, not just to have got their people who are looking at options, notjust to have got their results today. another question asks, how

can students are being told they have a university place confirmed before receiving their results? take us through where some people get that sort of offer. what probably happened there is the universities will receive all exam results about a week in advance of when students receive them, giving them time to sort through and get their house in order. they are under embargo not to release that information until this morning, usually at eight o'clock. then, the track system, the online process that ucas run to update people's application status will be updated. if it happens before they can get into their school or college, they can check their track to see if they are successful or not but not necessarily know their results. if that happens to you, get down to the school or college and get your results because even if you know if you are successful or not, it will be difficult to get a

picture without those grades. if someone is successful, it doesn't necessarily mean you got the grades predicted, the university have offered you a course even if you got just below. if unsuccessful, you don't know where you stand with your clearing offers until you've got your grades. the next question, anonymous again! i think they all are. "i didn'tapply anonymous again! i think they all are. "i didn't apply to oxbridge this year..." first of all, congratulations to that fantastic result for that person, it's very unlikely oxbridge will have clearing opportunities because of the demand and applications they get. what i say is absolutely apply next year and if you've got that time, remember

oxbridge candidates will generally approach you with those as and a*s, there won't be much difference between students, use that 12 months to make yourself more employable. do volu nta ry to make yourself more employable. do voluntary work, travelling, those kind of things that will make you really sta nd kind of things that will make you really stand out if you get asked to interview and looked through your personal statement. the next person is looking ahead, beyond university. asking... imean, i mean, it's hard to predict because employers will have their own set of rules with what they want to look forfor the rules with what they want to look for for the graduates of the future. i know some of the bigger graduate schemes at the moment will look for ucas points as well as a 2:1 or other entry requirements. it might affect you later on but you shouldn't worry about that right now, focus on getting in the

university you want and the course that you feel positions you best for the future and at university, then work on your employability skills, get experience and develop your commercial awareness and think about what skills you need to use later on. then you can make that the most important thing, not necessarily looking back three or four years. just tell us the helpline number of again, in case anyone wants it? yes, it's 08081008000. we are here for the next fortnight. it's for anyone, if you have done worse or better than expected, or you are feeling unsure, give us a call to offer help and advice. you have been incredibly knowledgeable, thank you for your time today. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first, the headlines on bbc news. thousands of students have been getting their a—level results and the number getting the top

grades has gone up slightly, for the first time in six years. the government is to withdraw funding from learn direct, one of the largest private training companies in the uk after a damning report by ofsted. 400 workers have been moved to safety from a fruit market in glasgow after being engulfed by fire. let's get an update on the business news. asda has booked positive like—for—like sales for the first time in three years. the supermarket group — a walmart subsidiary — saw comparable sales climb 1.8% in the three months to 31 july, excluding petrol. this was partly due to it having one of its most successful easter trading periods on record, with sales up 16%. retail sales growth slowed down injuly, as shoppers cut back on purchases of most things other than food. sales were up 1.3% compared

to the same time last year, compared to a rise of 2.8% injune. clothing sales saw their biggest fall since december. the boss of apple tim cook has criticised donald trump over his response to the white nationalist rallies in virginia. he didn't agree there was a moral equivalence between white supremacists and those who oppose them. mr trump was forced to scrap two business groups after the resignations in protest. more on that last story. "we're at economic war with china." those comments come from president trump's chief white house strategist, steve bannon. speaking to prospect magazine in a wide—ranging interview, mr bannon said there's was no reason to go soft on china as the country is crushing the us in an economic war. samira hussainjoins

samira hussain joins me samira hussainjoins me live now from the new york stock exchange. explosive language, what exactly has steve bannon been saying? he even went further in that interview, suggesting that within a few decades, we are going to see china absolutely dominate, as long as the united states doesn't do anything about it. one of the things he suggested was to really get tough on china with regards to steel and aluminium. the president has spoken about this as well, last week authorising an investigation into china and exactly what is happening with how much steel they are producing and putting onto the global market. but the language that steve bannon was using in this interview with china was a very strong and elicited a response from the chinese foreign ministry which tried to put a bit of a water on the

fire created. saying that a good trade relationship between the united states and china is mutually beneficial, important for everyone and that's really what they want to try and maintain. but this tough language over china not enough to distract the media over this ongoing fallout over trump's reaction to charts will. tim cook is the latest to criticise his response over the white nationalist rallies in virginia? —— reaction to charlottesville. he has, over the last 24 hours, we have seen quite a response from corporate america. normally they wouldn't want to turn their back on the president of the united states, particularly one who has campaigned on being able is this man and understanding how the world works. but that may have, we have seen the absolute collapse of two of the white house economic councils,

many us businesses have been speaking publicly in rebuke of the president and his response to what happened in charlottesville. what's really most interesting, looking at the way us markets are trading, it doesn't seem to have been really rattled that much about what's happening with the president. when you look at businesses, they are really starting to believe that the president isn't going to come through on a lot of his business promises and corporate america is going to have to go at it alone. interesting, we're going to have to leave it there, on the floor of the new york stock exchange. here's a look at some other stories we're following today. two top executives at topshop and topman have lost theirjobs as parent company arcadia continues to refresh its business. topshop's creative director kate phelan, who has been with the business since 2011, and gordon richardson, who was topman's head creative for the past 17 years, were given the push. revenue at kingfisher fell 1.9%

in the three months to 31 july as the firm's b&q division struggled in the uk. like for like sales in france also slipped, although sales at diy group screwfix jumped 11%, driven by "new and extended specialist ranges and new outlets". and korean carmaker hyundai is wading further into the electric vehicle market, promising a car that can go 500km, 311 miles, on each charge. hyundai already has an electric model on the market, but its range lags behind its competitors' models. along with its affiliate kia, hyundai is planning 31 eco—friendly models by 2020. that's all the business news. looking at the markets, the

blue—chip index has dropped, heading for its first down date this week. following the lead of other european indices, all edging back after cautious information from the us federal reserve, indicating weak inflation data. financials are down. kingfisher the largest fall today. backin kingfisher the largest fall today. back in an hour. a canadian woman has been reunited with her diamond ring, 13 years after she lost it while weeding in her garden. mary grams' daughter—in—law picked a carrot out of the vegetable patch and found its growth had been restricted by the ring. mrs grams, who's 84, had been too embarrassed to tell her husband she'd lost it, and had bought a cheap replacement. that is what you call carrots on a carrot! somebody must have thought of that joke already. carrot! somebody must have thought of thatjoke already. moving to the

weather forecast. looking at in improving picture for the weather today, also a cloudy and great start to the day in cambridgeshire with the rain coming down here with the rain band clearing to the north sea followed by sunnier skies. in northumberland, this is a glorious scene with 20 of sunshine. —— plenty of sunshine. there will be some showers, the most likely to catch it across west scotla nd likely to catch it across west scotland and northern ireland but elsewhere fairly few and far between. some heavy ones working across lincolnshire for the next hour. in the sunshine, feeling warmer in northern ireland and scotla nd warmer in northern ireland and scotland and in the south—east, temperatures could hit 25 in the best of the sunshine. through the night, we will see heavier showers working in across northern ireland, scotla nd working in across northern ireland, scotland and northern england with ump hailand thunder scotland and northern england with ump hail and thunder mixed in and it will be cooler competitor last night. —— cooler than last night.

tomorrow, a blustery day with westerly winds feeding in as the day goes by knocking the temperature down. strong winds going through northern ireland, particularly southern counties. top gusts could reach around 50 miles an hour in exposed coasts. there could be localised destruction and heavy rain across the north east scotland which could bring localised surface water flooding. the weekend, another day of showers with some bigger gaps between them which means more will enjoy drier weather, still feeling cool in the blustery winds particularly across the north. in the second half of the weekend, looking at the atlantic, this, a category two hurricane at the moment and to the north of gert, there is a pressure, these two systems battling

and tending to combine and becoming and tending to combine and becoming a mixed system, the hurricane dying away and left with this band of rain pushing to the west of the british isles on sunday. it contains the tropical remnants of gert possibly leading to heavy rain for some and causing possible localised surface water loving. —— flooding. this is bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines at 3. thousands of students have been getting their a—level results — and the number getting the top grades has gone up slightly, for the first time in six years. it's all about working hard, starting from day one and being dedicated — and believing in yourself. it made me feel really good. it's better than what i was predicted and expected, so it was good. the government is to withdraw funding from learn direct, one of the largest private training companies in the uk, after a damning report by ofsted. a big rise in the number of migrants crossing from morocco to spain — nearly three times as many people are now attempting the journey. most of the historic world war two

aircraft making up the battle of britain memorial flight, have been grounded — hurricanes, spitfires and a lancaster bomber are all affected. also in the next hour we'll be at edgbaston,