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, where a historic test match is under way. for the first time in this country it'll be a day/night encounter, with play between england

and the west indies continuing well into the evening. and how many carrots in this diamond ring? the woman who waited 13 years to find her lost engagement ring, in a very strange place. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. 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. 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 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. it is good to make her proud.

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 as 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 with 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 are 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 reports from the admissions service's headquarters in cheltenham. for tens of thousands of teenagers, 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. what is your name? although it is expensive, going to university 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. this is a brilliant, life transforming thing. 40% of the

student body and mature students, so it is never too late. not everyone agrees. today there are more options available to those put off by the cost of higher education. more people are choosing to do apprenticeships because it appeals to them to make money. a lot of people think it is quite costly. you have to put the cost of university in context. stu d e nts students bear a portion. it is right there is a 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. with me is geoff barton, general secretary of the association of school and college leaders union. good to have you with us. you were saying a second ago it has been a year of change in the education system. what do you make of the results 7 system. what do you make of the results? in a sense it has been another year of change because we are used to endless chains. next week we will talk about gcses, which have changed a lot. the fact we have seen all those young people doing so well, in a—levels, and in vocational qualifications, is attributed to the youngsters and the teachers. at a time when it seems everything is changing they have managed to make sure those students with a new

qualification have been taught well. improvement overall is great news. you have improvement overall is great news. you have concerns improvement overall is great news. you have concerns about how you think this change is leading to a squeezing of some subjects, and that the curriculum is narrowing? there isa the curriculum is narrowing? there is a history to this. there was a feeling 20 years ago that what you had with a—levels was a curriculum which was more narrow than you would get in other countries. we were looking at how we could broaden that. that led to the initiate —— the introduction of vas qualification. you had an additional subject you could study. —— nas qualification. that is gone. we think there is a problem there in the two ways. one it means the arts have been squeezed out. modern languages have been squeezed out. that is at a time when we need to celebrate creativity and have young people ready to compete globally. i think what that did was it gave a qualification at the end of the first year, which for some students,

those from a not very bookish background, give them a chance to see how they had achieved, gave them a qualification and kept them in the system through to the end of year 13, so they could go to university. in terms of how universities are going to handle this changing system, you are only getting the data this year and in the next few yea rs. data this year and in the next few years. what difference do you think it will make as young people apply for college courses and university courses? that is what we will find interesting in the next few years. we know that the old system, the way in which students were assessed by moving into year 13, that was valued by universities, employers, parents, teachers. we didn't ask for any that to change. the government talks a lot about social justice but they will rue the day when some of those youngsters leave at the end of year 12 because they don't want to progress, and they have no qualification. there will be some

youngsters who have decided they will not stay till the sixth form and will have nothing at the end of it. that squeeze, is that purely down to politically driven changes in the exam system, or is it also down to budgetary problems as well that we have reported on many times? many schools reporting that because of financial pressures they can't offer the subjects they would like to. absolutely. a good friend of mine runsa to. absolutely. a good friend of mine runs a school in the north—east. he had to find a budget saving of £175,000 this year. the only way you would do that is by putting courses. therefore, in the sixth form, if a i subjects are not being valued any more, it is likely the smaller ones are likely to be cut. the big problem about that is that they will continue in the independent sector but be lost from the state sector. all of us will deeply regret that. thank you. 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. —— undertrained. someone else complained of no support or communication. others were more positive. learndirect ltd didn't want to appear on camera. but they did send us 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. the brother of lukasz herba, who is accused of masterminding an alleged plot to kidnap british model chloe ayling, is to fight extradition to italy. michael herba appeared

in westminster magistrates‘ court today. chloe ayling told police she was drugged, gagged, bound and stuffed into a suticase when she arrived at a a milan studio for a photo shoot. andy moore is at westminster magistrates‘ court. andy moore is at westminster magistrates' court. this was a brief extradition hearing that lasted about ten minutes. michael herba was in the dock. he was wearing a t—shirt and jeans. he was listening to proceedings through an interpreter. he is from poland originally. we heard the details of the allegations against him on the european arrest warrant executed yesterday when he was arrested in the west midlands. he is accused of a joint enterprise with his brother, that they kidnapped a british model, chloe ayling, in milan, they held her hostage between the 11th ofjuly and the 17th ofjuly, they drugged her and took her away and demanded a

ransom of 300,000 euros briefly, that was the allegation. he was askedif that was the allegation. he was asked if he consented to the extradition through the interpreter. he said no. then we heard from his solicitor who said on his behalf that michael herba denied any involvement in this alleged crime, and that he would be fighting extradition on the grounds of the moment that the case in italy was at a very early stage and there wasn‘t enough evidence at the moment. there was no application for bail but it was no application for bail but it was refused anyway in view of the seriousness of the alleged crime. there will be a brief procedural hearing in august. the full extradition hearing won‘t be until september. andy moore. 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 a big rise in the number of migrants crossing from morocco to spain — nearly three times as many people are now attempting the journey. in sport, the first day night test match in britain is underway. the pink ball is already causing a unique talents. debutant mark stoneman went for eight. england are 110w stoneman went for eight. england are now 67—2 against the west indies in their first now 67—2 against the west indies in theirfirst innings at now 67—2 against the west indies in their first innings at edgbaston. england‘s women have taken a big step towards the semifinals of the rugby world cup. they lead the united states 33—7 at half—time in dublin. and double olympic medallist and former world champion becky james has announced her retirement from cycling at the age of 25. she intends to establish a baking business. i will be back with more

after half—past. president trump says american history is being ripped apart by the removal of statues that commemorates labrie. it follows criticism of the president following the nationalist violence that broke out at a rally in cha rlottesville violence that broke out at a rally in charlottesville at the weekend. the rally was in protest at the removal of a statue of robert e lee, who fought for the proslavery confederacy during the us civil war. the president tweeted earlier today... let‘s talk to gary o‘donoghue in

washington. i guess there are those who will take issue with donald trump comparing robert e lee and washington in the same breath. he is not leaving this alone. he is continuing to tweet even though it isa continuing to tweet even though it is a subject of huge controversy and he has been criticised severely? yeah, this is a doubling down in many ways. he reaffirmed his view on tuesday that the charlottesville difficulties were caused by both sides. also in that he mentioned the whole difficulty from his point of view of monuments, and told then about george washington and thomas jefferson. here we have effectively saying, look, i don‘t think these monuments to those sutherland

generals, those generals who fought in defence of slavery, i don‘t think they should be pulled down. that put him firmly on one side of an argument. notjust him firmly on one side of an argument. not just an him firmly on one side of an argument. notjust an argument that is going on across america. but it puts him in many people‘s eyes in sympathy with those on the far right who often use those arguments about monuments as proxies for other things. so despite his insistence that he draws no moral equivalence between the two sides of those rioters on saturday, many will believe he is telling us where his real sympathies lie. it is no surprise that key figures in business and industry in the united states are falling away from the president, leaving the committees that he had brought the monsoon, because they don‘t want to be associated with this controversy? they are running a mile from donald

trump. he has disbanded two key advisory bodies on manufacturing and on strategic policy. they were absolutely on strategic policy. they were a bsolutely stuffed on strategic policy. they were absolutely stuffed full of chief executive officers from america‘s big businesses, people like general electric, people like walmart, people like campbell soup, johnson & johnson, the real big names of american industry and manufacturing. the people donald trump needed to fulfil his promise to bring jobs and manufacturing back to the united states. they have now decided, a whole swathe of them have now decided, that he is too toxic to have anything to do with. so they are off. what of steve bannon? some people thought he might be off after the controversy over the weekend. the death, of course, of a woman who was pro—posting against these white supremacists. but he is still at the

white house, still part of the illustration and coming out swinging? yeah, much like some of the medieval courts, everyone‘s places pretty precarious in this white house from one week to the next. steve bannon, thought to be the sort of ideological backbone for donald trump, very much what he would call an economic nationalist, in favour of this whole idea of america first in terms of trade deals etc. but also, for many years associated with anti—semitism, associated with anti—semitism, associated with anti—semitism, associated with the far right, having established a pretty far—right news organisation, breitbart. steve far—right news organisation, breitba rt. steve bannon, far—right news organisation, breitbart. steve bannon, in this article, describing those neo—nazis in cha rlottesville article, describing those neo—nazis in charlottesville as losers and clowns, which i think again many people will take is you with because

those losers and clowns did enter up killing a 32—year—old woman. they area killing a 32—year—old woman. they are a little bit more dangerous than losers and clowns. they will also ta ke losers and clowns. they will also take issue with his attempt to distance himself from those views, because while he protests that he is certainly not a neo—nazi aura white nationalist in that sense, many people believe he is. gary hutch de leeuw, thank you. jeremy corbyn has said the ethnicity of abusers isn‘t a factor, after labour frontbencher sarah champion quit having claimed the country had a problem with "british pakistani men raping white girls". she apologised for what she said was an "extremely poor choice of words". with me now is our political correspondent, emma va rdy. tell us more about whatjeremy corbyn has been saying in response to this? that is right. this comes after sara h to this? that is right. this comes after sarah champion was on the end of quite a lot of criticism for the comments she wrote in the sun

newspaper on friday. that led to her stepping down last night. today, jeremy corbyn has been particularly pressed on how he viewed sarah champion‘s words and what he has very much done is put the emphasis on to the crime itself, saying this isa on to the crime itself, saying this is a crime against women, no matter who the perpetrators are, and saying he believed it was wrong to single out an entire community. i don't think you can label a whole community. i think what you have to do is labelled those that perpetrate disgusting and disgraceful crimes against people. and they can be from any community. they can be quite, there can be black, they can be any community, but they have to be dealt with as the crime of what it is. sajid javid has been tweeting to say that corbin was wrong to sack sarah champion. we need an open debate. a lot of people, leaving aside

whichever party, they support, share that view. they are worried that this is closing down the space in which people can talk freely about this without being worried about being labelled as racist? that is right. a number of people have criticised jeremy corbyn. they say it is wrong for sarah champion to be forced out of her role for simply telling the truth about an issue, which is the way some people see it. jeremy corbyn was asked if she was sacked. he said no. but nonetheless, people feel it was wrong that sarah champion felt that her position became untenable. that is, of course, because we have seen a succession of cases coming through the courts in which gangs of mostly south asian men have been convicted of grooming and exploiting young girls. that has led to questions of why it seems that the disproportionate number of asian men are being convicted of this crime. it is something that a number of people have tried to tackle. it is a

very difficult issue as to whether races playing a part in this, and as to whether ethnicity and fear of being called racist is a barrier to police getting to the truth of what in some cases is happening and has been happening in many towns and cities across the country, as these convictions are approved. however, forjeremy corbyn, sarah champion‘s comments were wrong. he has accepted her resignation. he said it was wrong to single out an entire community. thank u. the high court has dismissed two challenges on the northern ireland‘s ban on same—sex marriages. let‘s cross to chris buchler, who joins us from belfast. we know there is no assembly to decide on social policy at the moment. take a us through

what was said in court? these were two separate cases taken in the high court today. one was by a gay man. he married his husband in london. however, here in northern ireland, is same—sex marriage is known only asa is same—sex marriage is known only as a civil partnership. he was challenging that. the judge dismissed that and another case taken by dismissed that and another case ta ken by people dismissed that and another case taken by people who have been involved in civil partnerships, who wa nted involved in civil partnerships, who wanted them to be able to be recognised as same—sex marriages and for people to be able to get married. to men, two women. however, thejudge said that married. to men, two women. however, the judge said that wasn‘t his role to decide. he said it was not the role of the courts but the role of the assembly. there is no assembly currently in northern ireland because of a dispute between the dup and sinn fein. one of those dispute is over same—sex marriage. gavin boydis is over same—sex marriage. gavin boyd is from the rainbow project. you have fought long and hard for same—sex marriage in northern

ireland. it is the only part of the uk and ireland where it doesn‘t exist. this hasn‘t taken new any closer, let‘s be honest? exist. this hasn‘t taken new any closer, let's be honest?” exist. this hasn‘t taken new any closer, let's be honest? i think it has. this issue is not going away. the judge recognised this issue is not going away. and when assembly is reconstituted, he expects this to be debated and he hopes hisjudgment is taken into account. but of course, we are heartbroken today. people in northern ireland have been waiting to get married for as long as people across the water have. what will be surprising is for people in the rest of britain to hear that... they should contact their mps about. they should contact their mps about. they should contact the prime minister about. this is the responsibility of the northern ireland assembly but we don't have an assembly. it is the responsibility of the prime minister to ensure that all citizens have equality of opportunity. this judgment makes clear there is no

consensus across europe about same—sex marriage. you have been fighting this battle yet you genuinely work quite emotional after this verdict was handed down?|j don't think it is surprisingly the we we re don't think it is surprisingly the we were here with the two couples today and we have our clients in another case as well, and this is something i have been working on for five years. it is disappointing to have this setback. but we are confident, marriage equality is an inevitability in northern ireland. it will come. they can do leo us all they like but it will eventually come. our victory will be all the more sweeter because we had to work harder for it. you do have the support of the irish prime minister. you don‘t have the support of the democratic unionist party. they block votes on same—sex marriage in the assembly in the past. there is a question of whether westminster could take over control of affairs in northern ireland. if that does happen, do you think the

conservatives would be prepared to introduce same—sex marriage? conservatives would be prepared to introduce same-sex marriage? that is an issue for the conservatives and theresa may. i know she has her difficulties being in hock to the dup to maintain a majority. but she has made it clear that she has changed her opinion on these issues over the years. she is no longer opposed to our community as she was in the past. this is an opportunity to prove it. this is an opportunity to prove it. this is an opportunity to prove it. this is an opportunity to prove she will stand up for marginalised communities in the uk. where do you go from here? you have had court cases. you have had the political lobbying. where do you go from here? we will study the judgment closely and discuss it with our legal team and clients, and we will make a decision on an appeal at some stage. this issue isn't going away. if the assembly gets back up and running, sinn fein made it very clear this is on their high list of priorities. if it doesn't, we will

make it clear it is going to westminster and needs to be solved there. in his summing up today, the judge said it would inevitably be raised again in the northern ireland assembly. he said he wanted those who carry the responsibility to read the papers from this case and the consultation process. you get the impression this battle is not going away. thank you. a cyclist accused of killing a woman by crashing into her in a london street has told the old bailey he wasn‘t aware it was a legal requirement to have a brake on the bike he was riding. charlie alliston, who was 18 at the time, was allegedly going 18 miles per hour when he knocked down 44—year—old kim briggs. she died a week later in hospital. mr alliston denies manslaughter. firefighters are dealing with a

blaze at a glasgow fruit market. hundreds of traders work at the market. 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 vans. 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 was 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. temperatures that heathrow have

reached 25 degrees, a couple of degrees away from the highest temperature we have seen this august. that tells you how rubbish this august has been, the coolest in 30 years for south—east england. some of the showers have been quite heavy across lincolnshire. thunderstorms were reported as well. this evening and overnight heavy downpours working across northern ireland, scotland and northern england with hail and blunder a possibility. cooler than last night. tomorrow it is sunshine and showers but with differences. the showers come together across the north—east of scotla nd

come together across the north—east of scotland to bring heavy rain. surface water flooding is a possibility in parts of aberdeenshire. blustery winds just about everywhere. a few tree branches could come down. temperature wise you can knock four degrees off of today. it will be quite a bit cooler. 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. 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. england won the toss and captain joe root chose to bat in the first day—night test on home soil. they‘re taking on west indies at edgbaston but how have they coped with the challenges of the pink ball? our sport correspondentjoe wilson is in birmingham for us. so far, it‘s what you‘d expect form an august test match? that is the biggest compliment you can play it. it has been a traditional battle between ball and bat you were told to get early in a test match. another opening partner gone. tom wesley gone as well.

generally england seemed to be able to see the ball and hit it for four. the loss of two wickets. the captain joe root leading the recovery with alastair cook. england will hope they are still at the police for much of the day. it will be interesting when the floodlights come on, the twilight zone in the final session. from england‘s point of view when they trained under lights they noticed the paintball behaving differently at that stage of the day. it will be interesting to see if we get a flurry of supporters coming in when they finish work for the final session. certainly a few hundred, maybe a few thousand, empty seats. ticket sales generally up on what they might expect for the first day of the test match. england have a foot in the final

four of the women‘s rugby world cup. they currently lead the united states very comfortably. 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 5:15pm but neither they nor their opponents can go through. also bidding to get there are the hosts ireland. they have made six changes for their match 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.

£115 million signing gylfi sigurdsson won‘t be fit enough to make his everton debut tonight in the europa league play—off first leg against hajduk split. although with or without the icelandic international, manager ronald koeman has done his research on their croatian opponents. we know a lot. my brother watched the game away and you have the deal. they do not have secrets for us and we will not have secrets for them. and eight time olympic gold medallist usain bolt he‘ll be out for three months after sustaining a hamstring tear in the men‘s 4x100 metres final at the world championships last weekend. the jamaican world record holder has had further scans on the injury, which show the damage to be

worse than anticipated. it means he won‘t appear for manchester united legends at old trafford at the start of september. mixed martial arts champion conor mcgregor believes he‘ll beat floyd mayweather inside two rounds, thanks to the use of lighter weight gloves when the pair meet. the eight ounce gloves have been approved as a one off for the contest in las vegas next weekend. the lighter gloves have less padding over the knuckles and are believed to favour the heavier puncher, who is though to be mcgregor. we are prepared for every possible outcome. i do not believe he will make it out of the second round. i do not see him at absorbing the blows in the first two rounds. we are ready for every scenario. i am ready to go to war for the full 12 rounds and i am ready to put him away in the first 12 seconds. let‘s get more now on our main story with this year‘s a level results

and grades for the top marks have increased for the first time in six years. but results in england were down slightly and many students will now be looking to get a place at university through the clearing process. but there are other options available to people who didn‘t quite make the grade. with me is lisa newland who got an apprenticeship at the accountancy firm grant thornton uk after getting disappointing a—level results and felt university wasn‘t for her. yours is a really encouraging story from anyone out there this afternoon looking at results that perhaps will not get them to where they want to go in not get them to where they want to goina not get them to where they want to go in a university course and your message is that there are other alternatives. yes. when i got my a—level results i was initially quite disappointed. i had done well at gcses and was expected to get

some good grades at a—level and it did not happen for me on the day. there will be people out there opening results than thinking what doido opening results than thinking what do i do now? is there options? the a nswer do i do now? is there options? the answer is yes. i took a position at another small accountancy firm and then sort of realised that i was just as capable of up training a professional qualification is anyone else that had gone to university or had obtained better grades than myself at a—level and found myself playing for grant thornton as the requirements were reduced. you thought you did not have the grades to get into university or to get directly into some sort of apprenticeship scheme. yes. how were you able to apply? you mentioned grant thornton had changed their requirements. yes. i had worked for

some time at a different accountancy firm andi some time at a different accountancy firm and i was not doing my exams there. ireland is thy had had time to reflect and think about what i wa nted to reflect and think about what i wanted and that was to obtain the qualifications so i started looking for other firms and it happened that grant thornton, who ie had previously led to apply for, had reduced their requirements, along with quite a few other professional firms who have also done the same because talent comes from different places and notjust for good academic a—level grades. places and notjust for good academic a-level grades. you obviously do your exams while working for them. will you qualify faster than someone who has gone to university quest yes. those who go to university are likely to do a three year degree and a three year touring programme whereas those who potentially now they want to be in an accounting environment if they

join an apprenticeship programme the chances are it can be done in four or five years, chances are it can be done in four orfive years, one chances are it can be done in four or five years, one of two years than —— quicker than people going to university. you are not accruing student debt although i do not know how easy it is to live on an apprentice‘s salary. how easy it is to live on an apprentice's salary. there are pros and cons. there are pros and cons. both of my brothers went to university and they have got good jobs. for me it was not the right decision for me. i do not regret not going to university or having those experiences. there are plenty of things to do in the city and in a work environment. what would you say to someone if they are very sure about what sort of path they want to go down? should they knock on the doors of firms in that area and ask them for advice and if there are any

other routes into getting the job they would like to do? of course. things are changing in terms of there are opportunities for people not necessarily getting the grades they were hoping to get or previously deemed as required for certain roles and it is ported that we try to break down those barriers and that students ask firms what they are looking for and whether they are looking for and whether they can do some work experience or whatever. i know you go out and visit schools and career fears and tell your story. it has been interesting to year. thank you. there‘s been a surge in illegal migrant crossings from morocco to spain. nearly 600 people were rescued yesterday on what coastguards described as their busiest day yet. some people have attempted the short journey in children‘s paddle boats. so far this year, there‘ve been almost 9,000 arrivals. that‘s three times as many as in the same period in 2016. gavin lee sent this report from spain.

in the mist of the mediterranean, a search is underway for a record number of migrant boats that set sail from morocco the early hours. one by one, the rescuers arrived. first with some moroccans exhausted and likely to be deported in days. then women and children, sub—sa ha ran africans making journeys in larger numbers now. one—year—old lena from cameroon is the youngest rescued. her mother, helen, says they were at sea for six hours waiting in the dark for help. "we were so scared and cold," she says. "water was rising on the boat. "we put our lives in god‘s hands." here is another rescue boat with another 120 migrants on board. we are told this is the fourth boat today. there is already 200 onshore. this is spain, back in the front line of the migration crisis and there are more boats coming. one hour later, six more migrant boats have called for help.

it‘s now the busiest day of the year for rescuers in what has been the busiest year since the start of the migration crisis. the aim for most here is to make it halfway, then float in spanish waters and alert the coastguard. translation: sometimes they call us and send us their position on whatsapp. we are constantly dealing with overcrowded boats, which makes it all the more dangerous. boats like this one, a children‘s toy craft, barely visible in the water. ben from ivory coast paid 20 euros to board a similar tiny boat. translation: this was a suicidal journey, 11 of us on a boat made forfour people.

we travelled for 1h hours, and i was so exhausted i couldn‘t move my feet. at the moment, authorities here say they are coping but spain is now receiving more migrants than greece, with no sign of the numbers dropping. gavin lee, bbc news, tarifa. 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. a big rise in the number of migrants crossing from morocco to spain, nearly three times as many people are now attempting the journey. 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 31st 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. thousands of low—paid workers are to receive more than £2 million in back pay as a result of tax investigations by the government. around 230 firms were found to have paid their workers less than the national minimum wage. retail, hairdressing and hospitality firms were among the worst offenders. trade confidence fell more than 2% last quarter but it‘s

still at its third highest ever level according to new figures from the british chambers of commerce. the figures show that the volume of exports was steady but companies are worried about the future. anastassia beliakova is head of trade policy at the british chambers of commerce. there are many factors that businesses need to take into account. one is skills shortages in the uk, another is inflation and sterling. despite this is the these are putting in a strong performance with a slight rise in export sales over the last quarter but as the trades survey shows there are many factors which could put pressure in coming quarters. businesses always wa nt coming quarters. businesses always want more certainty but if we focus on aspects not related to the eu negotiations the uk government must

commit to giving more direct support to businesses and ensure that the future immigration system is responsive to economic needs and ta ke responsive to economic needs and take into consideration the fact we are take into consideration the fact we a re party take into consideration the fact we are party to trade agreements with a number of countries must south korea, south africa, mexico. we currently import from them at preferential rates. particularly for manufacturers the price of rom and cereals is a concern and they are considering increasing their prices. import costs are increasing due to as not being able to potentially make use of these preferential arrangements in the future is going to put a lot of pressure on business margins and been passed on to consumers ultimately. 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. arcadia, which also owns burton and miss selfridge, said ms phelan and mr richardson would be replaced by a "newly created position" of creative director across both brands. revenue at kingfisher fell 1.9% in the three months to 31stjuly 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. the ftse 100 blue chip index has fallen 0.52% today, heading for its first down day this week, following the lead of european indexes which have all edged back after a set of cautious minutes from the us federal reserve hinting at the prospect of slower interest rate hikes due to some weak inflation data. many of the major banks are among the biggest fallers, helping financials take 11 points off the index overall. but it‘s kingfisher, europe‘s largest home improvement retailer, that‘s the day‘s worst performing stock, after those worse than expected quarterly sales at b&q. but there are gains from gold miners randgold and fresnillo, the day‘s best performer, which has benefited from a weaker us dollar. that‘s all the business news. i will be back in the next hour. most of the historic world war two aircraft that make up the battle of britain memorial flight have been

grounded because of engine issues. the hurricanes, spitfires and a lancaster bomber are all affected and one display has already been cancelled with others under threat. the raf is unable to say when the planes will be back in the skies. the aircraft are more than 70 years old. dan o‘hagan is an aviation journalist and air—show commentator. he joins me on webcam from norwich. tell us more about what the problem seems to be. i believe they found a problem with one engine on one hurricane and they are so careful with how they maintain and look after these priceless aeroplanes that they have taken steps to ground all of the aircraft they have until they have found what the reason is. it is purely a precaution i believe. when you have aircraft of the significance of theirs you are on the side of caution. the raf not

saying when they think the planes might be back in the skies. do you have any idea how long it might take? how long is a piece of string? they will have to look at every engine they have, about 12 if you include the lancaster which has four. to find out the problem is. we do not know what the problem could be. they have the best engineers. they have full—time engineers on the flights. they are in the best hands. it will take as long as it takes. these aircraft are hugely significant so the whole country and our history. it will take as long as it takes. they are priceless. in terms of health and safety after sure absolute precautions have to be taken. yes. the show industry is under scrutiny but they have never been safer and that was a tragic accident but it was an accident. the

planes are flowing very cautiously, nobody maintains their aeroplanes better than they do. these priceless aeroplanes are in great hands. they will take all of the precautions to make sure that aeroplanes are safe again and flying before the summer is out. 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. now he knows, 13 years later. i have been dangling the carrot of

decent weather this afternoon. most of us will have seen good spells of sunshine. neal was out and about enjoying the sunshine. most places will have seen decent sunshine. we have seen a number of showers, the heaviest of bees across lincolnshire. a line of thunderstorms crossing lincolnshire. plenty of showers for scotland and northern ireland and a band developing across south—west england which will lock in showers across cornwall and devon but staying away from the beaches. this evening and overnight, heavy rain spreading into northern ireland, scotland and northern england with the risk of hailand northern england with the risk of hail and thunder with heavy downpours. a cooler night. temperatures 11 or 12 degrees in belfast and glasgow. chillier than last night. friday sunshine and

showers but with differences. lengthy spells of rain for north—east scotland with the risk of surface flooding. a blustery day driving the showers and with the strongest winds going close to northern ireland, northwest wales and north—west england. gusts of 50 mph around coastal areas, enough to bring down a few branches. there could be some local disruption. four degrees cooler than today. the cooler air is with us for the first pa rt cooler air is with us for the first part of the weekend. saturday sunshine and showers but the showers latest widespread so a better chance of dodging the downpours. in the sunshine still on the cool side. a little bit below par for the time of year. the second half of the weekend is dominated by hurricane hert with winds of 120 mph. this will combine

with this normal area of low pressure, these systems doing battle but the area of low pressure means we will have low pressure that contains some tropical moisture which means we will have heavy rain. at some point during the course of sunday. affecting western areas. uncertainty about where my behaviour screen will be bad because it contains tropical moisture it could bring localised flooding. we will keep a close eye on hurricane hert as we go through the next few days. this is bbc news. the headlines at 4:00: 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. president trump says american history and culture are being ripped apart by the removal of statues which commemorate those who fought to retain slavery. 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 ii aircraft making up the battle of britain memorial flight have been grounded —