university tuition fees in england should be cut to £7,500 a year, says a long—awaited review. the cut in fees would be balanced out by extending student loan repayments from 30 to a0 years, but poorer students would get more help. the number of young people from working—class families who apply to and take up places at universities is still a long way from reflecting the country in which we live. today's report also called for much better support for students on vocational courses. we'll be getting reaction. also tonight: a six—year—old boy is flown to hospital after falling from a roller—coaster at lighterwater valley in yorkshire. somehow he'd got out of the actual restraint and was hanging out backwards from the carriage, his head kind of backwards over this way. a few seconds after that,

he actually flew out of the carriage and landed on the floor. a tax on all unhealthy food — that's what the chief medical officer is considering as child obesity levels proof hard to budge. thousands of disabled children and their families take to the streets to protest about funding for special needs. again on the sweep, is it going to go over his head? no way! and a spectacular catch from ben stokes helps england beat south africa in the opening match of the cricket world cup. and coming up on bbc news... kyle edmund's french open is ended by injury — a knee problem forces the british number one to quit during his second—round match in paris.

good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. university tuition fees in england should be cut and maintenance grants for students from poorer backgrounds should be reinstated. that's the verdict of a long—awaited review commissioned by the government. but the cut in fees would be balanced out by making students pay back the loans over 40, not 30 years. tutition fees would drop from a maximum of £9250 a year to £7500. but repayments should start sooner — when earnings hit £23,000. the report also called for better support for students in vocational education. 0ur education editor, branwen jeffreys, has been getting reaction from students in warwickshire. their working life in front of them — one an apprentice, the others off to university, so are these college students impressed by lower tuition fees? when you're accruing so much debt, an extra 6000 reduction doesn't seem like a lot,

it really doesn't. i was thinking, i'll be paying this back until i am, like, way in my 605, and ijust think, like, you're not really benefiting at all. even though it's lower, there is also the added ten years. but a lifelong learning loan is more popular. that that opportunity is there, i think, will really encourage a lot of people to sort of do more with their life, try out different careers and things like that. i definitely feel like university feels, like, quite fatalistic at first, really. you do it once and that's it. but with a better financial backing, that wouldn't be the case. for those heading to university, this report suggests tuition fees of £7,500 from 2021, those loans to be repaid over a0 years while working — that's ten years longer than now. £3000 grants for living costs for the poorest students.

for vocational routes, it calls for a lifelong learning loan for higher qualifications to the same value as the cost of a degree. but it could be dipped into throughout your life. and for the first time, £3000 living grants for low—income college students. this would give some college learning the same status as university. we welcome that kind of levelling between universities and colleges, and the recognition that one isn't better than the other, they are, in fact, both of equal value, and both brilliant opportunities. for years, there's been a real push to get more and more young people to go to university. today's report is something of a turning point, because it suggests that could have gone too far — not all graduates go on to earn a lot of money, and some might be better off coming to a college like this. from the prime minister,

a call for her successor to act. nobody should feel they have to go to university, and that applies to children from middle—class backgrounds just as much as anyone. but nor should anybody feel that because of who they are or where they're from, the world of he is one that is not open to them because it will cost too much. universities like warwick say fees have been invested — they argue a cut would damage students unless the government tops up with public money. scotland with no fees and wales with recently raised fees will be watching closely as political parties in england battle over no fees versus lower fees. branwenjeffreys, bbc news, warwick. 0ur deputy political editor, john pienaar, is at westminster. and the prime minister gave her backing to this review, but how much does that mean, given that she is about to go? today we saw a prime

minister who is more than halfway through the exit door of number ten, trying to invest what is left of her political capital in a project, in a cause to which she said she devoted herself to on the day she became prime minister, trying to tilt the balance of opportunity back towards the least privilege. now, the numbers in education, higher education, are up, that is argued gci’oss education, are up, that is argued across government, including among poorer students, but it is the psychological burden of debt that mrs may feel she is trying to address with all of this. the prospect of paying debt back for longer may take the gloss off for many, labour has promised to abolish tuition fees, that might win the argument in the end, and it is up to the next prime minister to take the decision. the treasury believes the cost of this would be many times more than has been suggested today, and they are also worried there that the leadership contest of the tory party, to choose our next prime minister, could lead to a kind of bidding war amongst candidates which

will, in the end, have to be waded through, in some cases discarded, in other cases paid for, and there is a worry about all of that. in the end, it will be down to the government spending review, covering three yea rs spending review, covering three years ahead, which is coming in the autumn, but it isjust years ahead, which is coming in the autumn, but it is just possible that mrs may, adding her voice to the argument so publicly in a way that she has today, ijust have increased the chances of these proposals surviving and becoming policy at the end of the day. john, thank you. a six—year—old boy has fallen from a roller—coaster at lightwater valley theme park in north yorkshire this afternoon. he was flown to hospital by air ambulance, but the boy's condition is not believed to be life—threatening. judith moritz is at the theme park. yes, and it has emptied out for the evening now, but it has been a busy day here for half term and the start of the summer season, and after the young boy fell out of the twister roller—coaster this morning, that ride was closed, but the rest of the park has remained open for the day.

now, the park operators say they ta ke now, the park operators say they take their health and safety of visitors very seriously, they are cooperating now with the emergency services and the health and safety executive, who are investigating, and they say they are providing support to the little boy's family. lying below the tracks of the twister roller—coaster, this photo was taken moments after a small boy fell from the ride. park visitors watched it all happen. we just looked up to the carriages, it was about 15 foot off the floor, and the lad was hanging backwards outside of the actual carriage. somehow he'd got out of the actual restraint and was hanging out backwards from the carriage, his head kind of backwards over this way. a few seconds after that he actually flew out of the carriage and landed on the floor. everybody started shouting, trying to get the attention of the actual guy running the machine, but he didn't actually see what happened. the yorkshire air ambulance landed as families looked on, police and paramedics racing to help the little boy. the six—year—old was treated at the scene and then flown to hospital in leeds.

his condition is not said to be life—threatening. this footage was filmed of the twister roller—coaster last weekend. it is advertised as a spinning waltzer which takes you through the tree tops. there are height restrictions for passengers. in 2001, 20—year—old gemma savage died after two cars collided on the same ride. the theme park's owner, the manufacturers of the ride and an electrician were all later fined for health and safety breaches. today, although the twister was closed, the rest of the park remained open. the health and safety executive is investigating. judith moritz, bbc news, ripon. a tax on all unhealthy food, including things like ice cream and chicken nuggets. that's what england's chief medical 0fficer, dame sally davis, is considering in a bid to reduce the levels of childhood obesity. more than 20% of children in england were classed as obese when they left primary school last year. for more than a decade now, levels of childhood obesity have stayed broadly level in the least

deprived areas, but they have increased year on year in the most deprived communities. the aim is to halve those levels by 2030, but is it possible? 0ur health editor, hugh pym, reports. how do you give children every chance of leading a healthy life? that's what policymakers are grappling with as they search for new measures. encouraging exercise is one thing but what are billed as bold proposals on diet are now being considered. these include a new tax on high—calorie, high—sugar food, with england's chief medical officer telling me she would look seriously with experts at how it might work. if you provide a healthy product on supermarket shelves, that will come in cheap. if it's unhealthy, there is a levy put on top of it, which is equivalent to tax, so parents are then nudged by the healthy version because it's cheaper and they can see it's healthy. if adopted, the levy would take in what are known as ultra—processed foods,

products with multiple ingredients which have been through industrial processing. and today two studies highlighted again the health risks of eating them, including heart disease. a top tip for reducing the amount of ultra—processed foods in your diet and making it more healthy for your cardiovascular system is to eat more fruit and vegetables, so swap out some of your packaged snacks you might have during the day and have an apple, banana, an orange. ministers say the levy on sugary soft drinks has been a success, but plans in england to crack down on tv advertising on supermarket promotions of junk food were delayed in 2016, then finally published last year, but still not implemented. i should have chivvied harder in order to get us there faster. but this is a political system and a democracy, and so we have to move at the pace at the politicians and the democratic process of consulting allows. i, as an independent adviser,

do wish we could do things faster. the scottish government is also planning restrictions on the marketing of unhealthy food in supermarkets and close to schools. tackling obesity is a tough challenge, that's why bold and brave measures to shift people towards healthier diets have been called for today. hugh pym, bbc news. seven people have died and 21 people are still missing after a tour boat capsized in the hungarian capital, budapest, last night. new cctv footage released by police appears to show the moment that the mermaid collided with a much larger vessel. dozens of south korean tourists were on board. rescuers say there is little chance of finding any more survivors. the proportion of workers on low pay in britain has fallen to its lowest levels since 1980, according to a new report. 17% of the workforce was on low pay last year. the chancellor philip hammond says

he wants to end low pay altogether and is "naturally attracted" to setting the main minimum wage at two—thirds of average earnings. here's our personal finance correspondent simon gompertz. at the moment, i've £13 in the bank... this is minimum wage britain — craig in lancashire works unpredictable hours in a supermarket. even with the national living wage, the minimum for over—255, he struggles to pay his bills. i'm averaging maybe £90—100 a week. my universal credit is making it up to about 560 a month. 0bviously, with rent, my rent is 350, um... it doesn't leave much at the end of the month to be paying bills off. a little extra would help, and that's the prospect the chancellor presented today to the low—paid. the point of today's presentation is around where we go next with the national living wage.

we will have reached 60% of median earnings by next year. that puts us pretty much at the top of the leaderboard internationally, and the question is, can we push the national living wage rate further, possibly as far as eliminating low pay altogether? the national living wage is being pushed up in stages to that 60% of average earnings. it's got to £8.21 an hour, with two million getting this or the lower rates for under—255. the new target could be 66% of average earnings — that would be around £9.50 an hour, most likely phased in over several years, expanding to 4.7 million day numbers helped by minimum wages. big hikes in minimum wages will benefit millions, more than doubling the number of people who are at the minimum, and probably pushing up other people's wages as well. but businesses are concerned that they'll have to pick up the bill.

like the busy bees kindergarten in essex, where the owners say they could hardly afford the last increase. our weekly rates went up by about £500 a week for wages, and that was with that quite small increase, so with the amount they are predicting, it would probably triple that. but with labour saying they'd bring in a £10 minimum wage, it looks like employers will have to brace themselves to pay more. simon gompertz, bbc news. 0ur our top story this evening... university tuition fees in england should be cut to £7100 a year, says a long—awaited review. coming up: we speak to liverpool defender virgil van dijk ahead of this weekend's champions league final. coming up on sportsday on bbc news... we'll let you know how england got on in the opening match of the 2019 cricket world cup

against south africa — we'll be live at the 0val. thousands of disabled children and theirfamilies have been protesting across england calling for the government to end what they call a national crisis in special needs funding. the organisers say the rallies in 28 towns and cities are part of a national action to highlight how funding is failing to keep pace with demand. but the government says extra money has been provided. here's our education correspondent frankie mccamley. need to make sure it all stands out, don't we? get our message across. harry's mental age is like a three—year—old. has to know what's happening, and if things change then harry has meltdowns and can get very violent and aggressive. jane says she's had to fight for transport to get harry to school. but next year the fight begins again.

his respite care that he goes to, that stops when he is 18, so then i've got to find somewhere else for him to go to, because there's just nothing there, there's not enough funding available for anything. i just don't know what i'm going to do. i'm desperate to get things set up for what he needs for the future. no ifs! no buts! no special needs cuts! alongside other families, they are demanding action on what is being described as a national crisis in special needs funding. no more cuts! families here in leeds say they are becoming increasingly desperate for help. part of the reason for this is, since 2014, councils have had to take on extra support for young people up to the age of 25 on special needs plans. but what local authorities are saying is funding for this has simply not kept up. in westminster, campaigners delivered their petition to ministers, who say they are investing record amounts to support children, with £350 million in extra funding in england. but one union found funding had

failed to keep up with demand to the tune of £1.2 billion since 2015. 0fsted has described the lack of provision as a "national scandal" — reflected by a march through london and protests across the country. i'm marching for every child in the country. every child with special educational needs deserves an education. i am marching for every child to make sure that they don't go through what i went through. i am marching for both my children who are autistic, and ijust want to give them their educational rights. i won't be marching today because, unfortunately, my son won't leave the house — he is highly anxious and hasn't been in the school for 18 months, with no support. other parents are taking their fight even further, to the high court — challenging cuts to services they say their children desperately need. frankie mccamley, bbc news, leeds. the uk's first 5g mobile network is up and running.

if you are a customer of the mobile operator ee in london, cardiff, belfast, edinburgh, birmingham and manchester, you can now get faster download speeds but you will need a new handset. vodafone says it plans to switch on the 5g service in the next few weeks. our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones looks at what it difference it could make. the centre of birmingham, one of the very few places accelerating away into the 5g future in the first day of its communications revolution. so, let's put it through its paces. three, two, one, download. we are downloading an hour—long programme. 0n 5g, it's there injust 16 seconds. 0n 4g, we are waiting for more than two minutes. the truth is that these kind of download speeds are only available in a very small number of places to a tiny number of people who have actually got a 5g handset, but the vision of 5g is that eventually millions of things as well as people will be connected to the mobile internet

and that will make our cities a lot smarter. how will 5g help us get round a city... birmingham lobbied to have early access to 5g, believing a faster network would make all sorts of new services possible. endless opportunities, you know? we're talking about advances in life sciences, we're talking about advances in manufacturing, autonomous vehicles. one example would be connected ambulances, so having paramedics receive real—time information from consultants to actually help patients on the ground. that's life—saving and life changing. but 5g is launching with a cloud over it called huawei. equipment from the controversial chinese firm is key to the ee network and there is concern about the threat to such vital infrastructure. if the 5g network went down, an entire neighbourhood or even city could go down. we're talking businesses, we're talking hospitals, we're talking public transport — all of it, down. meanwhile, less than 20 miles from birmingham, the village of meriden dreams not

to 5g but of getting even the most basic mobile connection. just can't get a signal inside the house. if some places can get 56, you'd at least expect 46 in every area now, wouldn't you? in this day and age. the 5g revolution has started, but it could take three years or more to reach beyond the cities to everyone. rory cellan—jones, bbc news, birmingham. thousands of liverpool and tottenham fans will be heading to spain this weekend as the two teams face each other for an all—england showdown in the champions league final. liverpool were runners up last year after they were beaten by real madrid. the liverpool defender virgil van dijk says the pain of losing then is driving on the reds now, as our sports editor dan roan reports. he's fast becoming a liverpool legend. virgil van dijk is the rolls—royce of a player who has driven his team to the brink of champions league glory. and, as one of the world's best defenders prepared for saturday's blockbuster final against spurs, the giant dutchman told me just how much he is relishing the challenge.

i am full of excitement. that is the only way to describe it, really, ithink. i'm looking forward to it, like everyone else in the team, like everyone else in the city. it's a fantastic event. it's a massive opportunity for us to hopefully get the sixth european cup. liverpool almost did that last year but were beaten by real madrid, and now van dijk wants to use the disappointment as motivation. we don't want to experience it again. losing a final is painful. it still hurts you now, thinking about it? not really, no, not really, not at all. it made me better, i think. i took a lot of experience from it. and, yeah, hopefully i can use that. both finalists made it to madrid after unforgettable semifinals — liverpool staging a miraculous comeback against the mighty barcelona... and then spurs stunning ajax the following night. how dangerous can

they be, do you think? they are a very good team. i think throughout the whole team they have a lot of strength. and up front they have players that can make a difference as well. so, yeah, we have to be ready. but i know that they will definitely think the same about us. we are not a nice team to face. having cost liverpool £75 million, a record for a defender, van dijk has proven his worth — recently crowned player of the year. but he says he'd give up such accolades for glory this weekend. if i could swap all of these personal trophies for the champions league, i would do it in no time. but hopefully i won't have to. hopefully we are going to do it. for all the progress made under managerjurgen klopp, liverpool are yet to win any silverware under him, falling agonisingly short in the league byjust one point. we're going to work for it,

we're going to give everything that we've got, have no regrets after, and we will see if we are going to be on the right end this time. van dijk has already helped take liverpool to a different level. in madrid much could now depend on the dominant dutchman at the heart of their defense. dan roan, bbc news. the cricket world cup has got under way with england taking on south africa in the opening match at the oval in south london. england and wales are hosting the six—week competition which involves ten countries and some of the biggest stars in cricket. andy swiss has been watching today's action. for cricket fans, a day to say "i was there". long queues outside the oval, but then england supporters know all about waiting. after decades of world cup disappointment, hopes were high that this might finally be their year. but south africa's bowlers, well, they clearly had other plans. oh, yeah, i think he's got him! jonny bairstow, gone for nought. oh dear! england are the world number

ones for good reason, though, and they rebuilt in bruising fashion. 50s from jason roy, joe root and from captain eoin morgan offering the crowd a spot of catching practice. but, despite a late 89 from ben stokes, south africa pegged them back. 311 was still a decent total, but was it enough? south africa's batsmen were soon in trouble. hashim amla had to leave the field for concussion tests after being struck on the helmet. as england's new pace starjofra archer posed all sorts of problems, taking two early wickets. the moment of the day? just watch this. no way! ben stokes with one of the greatest catches you will ever see. a flash of quite breathtaking brilliance, and victory was in england's sight. and suitably it was stokes that rounded things off. a stunning day for him and an ultimately emphatic win for england. their world cup campaign

has started in style. after a ll after all of the hype and expectation, this was an impressive performance by england. yes, it is only the first match of a six week long tournament, but they can head to their next game against pakistan on monday with real confidence. sophie. andy, thank you. time for a look at the weather. here's darren bett. here comes summer? it is getting warmer over the next few days or so. today we had temperatures in the midlands for example as high as the low 20s, helped by some sunshine, but it wasn't the case everywhere. further north, in northern ireland and scotland, temperatures struggling into double figures in some places and still wet out there at the moment. a lot of the rain will tend to peter out in scotland and northern ireland, some dribs and

drabs heading into the north of england. some muggy, humid air so a mild night on the way everywhere. heading into tomorrow, most places will start dry but it is turning wetter again in northern ireland and the rain pushing more widely across scotla nd the rain pushing more widely across scotland and the far north of england. elsewhere across england and wales the sunshine will boost temperatures and are steadily south—westerly breeze bringing warm and humid air. 17 degrees if you are lucky through the central belt, but widely 21 across england and wales with a little bit of sunshine. but there is more sunshine on the way on saturday and it looks drier across northern areas, some cloud pushing northwards bringing showers, but allowing sunshine to arrive across the midlands, wales and southern england and that will boost the temperature very warm. not going to last there will be on saturday, for

most areas. still some warmth around but pressure is falling, pressure will bring this area of rain which is pushing eastwards. the last of the warmth towards the south—east of england and east anglia, temperatures could reach 23 degrees, but there is cooler air coming in from the west and a strong wind as well on sunday. darren, thank you. a reminder of our top story... a long—awaited review recommends cutting tuition fees to £7,500 per yearin cutting tuition fees to £7,500 per year in england. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me, and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are.

hello good evening, this is bbc news, the latest headlines. a major

review into university funding says tuition fees in england should be cut to £7,500 a year, with grants for poorer students reinstated. my view‘s very clear. removing maintenance grants from the least well—off students has not worked, andi well—off students has not worked, and i believe it is time to bring them back. a six-year-old boy is airlifted to hospital, afterfalling from a roller—coaster at a theme park in north yorkshire. a tax on all unhealthy food, what the chief medical officer is considering as child obesity levels prove hard to budge. ina in a moment it will be time for sportsday, but first a look at what else is coming up here this evening on bbc news. coming up on beyond 100 days, we'll have more on president trump launching a personal attack on the special counsel in the rush enquiry, robert mueller. then at 8pm, here on the new channel, will

be speaking