this is bbc news. i'm rebecca jones. the headlines at 5pm — as students across england, wales and northern ireland receive their a—level and vocational results, anger and upset as thousands have their grades lowered. i haven't gotten into uni because of it, and i was supposed to be going to durham. and now i can't. so, i've got to look over options, i've got to appeal, go through clearing, resit my exams and we haven't been learning since march. around 40% of teacher assessements were downgraded. some headteachers are angry, describing the results as unfathomable and unfair. i've got kids in tears. i've never... in all the years i've been in teaching, 22 years, i've never seen so many unhappy students on a results day. israel and the united arab emirates agree to establish diplomatic relations in a us—brokered deal.

this deal is a significant step towards building a more peaceful, secure towards building a more peaceful, secure and prosperous middle east. almost 300 people have tested positive for covid—i9 following an outbreak at a factory in northampton which makes m&s sandwiches. the train driver and conductor killed in the derailment in aberdeenshire have been named. they were brett mccullough and donald dinnie. thunderstorms and heavy rain sweep across parts of the uk, and there's more to come following the record—breaking hot weather. good afternoon, and welcome to bbc news. hundreds of thousands of students in england,

wales and northern ireland have received a—level and btec grades after the huge uncertainty caused by coronavirus. they didn't sit exams because of lockdown, so marks have been awarded using teacher estimates, standardised by exam boards. headteachers say the results show "a great deal of volatility". in england, more than a third of a—level results were one grade lower than teachers had submitted, and 3% of results were down by two grades. overall, the number of a to c a—level grades rose by 2.6% compared to last year. in a moment, we'll get reaction from northern ireland and wales, but our first report comes from our education correspondent danjohnson in hull. you got an a! well done. a for achievement against the odds. these students had it all stacked against them in a year of school lockdowns and cancelled exams.

but these estimated, standardised grades have delivered serious disappointment, too. i'm not happy with my results because they've been downgraded at least a grade from the assessments, what i've been working at, and my mock results. olivia had moral support from her mum this morning, but she didn't get what she wanted. ijust feel disappointed to be honest, but i'm glad that we've got an appeal system, but a lot of people here today are really upset and disappointed with what they've been given. and it's politicians being blamed. they've had some months to get this right, and i think they should have had more trust in the teachers and the schools for their honesty, really, for their integrity, and that's the frustrating part for me, i think. leila's been downgraded but should still get a place at university because of the flexibility in this year's admissions, but after all her school years, these grades are about more than that. after uni, when you're getting

a job, you might be up against someone from a previous year or next year who has sat the exam and got their true grade, whereas i've been given one by the government that my teachers didn't even put in for. it's like the board hasn't listened to the teachers. a last—minute tweak to the appeal options followed a u—turn in scotland allowing teachers' grades to stand. the word is these results are as fair as possible in a year of disruption. we've got a system where there are checks and balances that make sure there's a consistency of approach across all schools right across the country, and it is always going to be a situation where, when you do have moderated grades, some of them do change. the government needs to rethink this, they shouldn't rule anything out, including the approach that was forced on the scottish government to go back to the assessments last week, but they need an answer, individual appeals, waive the appeal fee, but this has been a disaster. it's potentially disastrous for abbie.

i've never failed anything actually. i'm not used to not getting into places, i think that's why it hit me so hard this morning when i opened it. she couldn't believe her results, couldn't speak to us at first, now the impact is starting to sink in. now i can't. i've got to look over options, i've got to appeal, go through clearing, resit my exams and we haven't been learning since march. in 22 years of teaching, i've never seen so many unhappy students on a results day. there are angry headteachers and college leaders across the country, preparing to appeal and wanting a wider rethink. teachers do this job day in, day out, they know the students and i can't see how you can move that many grades in the wrong direction. it does not make sense to me.

we're not happy at all. if teachers' estimates had been accepted without question, today's results in england would be up i2%. standardisation has flattened that to a 2% rise, but who's up and who's down, where is the worst impact being felt? that detail is the key to working out if this system is truly fair. for those who've missed out, all is not lost. clearing's busier than ever, with lots up for grabs, and today's results may still not represent the final assessment for the class of 2020, the covid generation. danjohnson, bbc news, in hull. hundreds of thousands of students have received their btec grades today. the department for education says early indications show vocational results are broadly in line with previous years. but as the students look towards the workplace, they face an uncertain jobs markets. nina warhurst reports. after two years studying level three btec in health and social care, holly and lucy are all set for university and a future in midwifery and primary education.

we're always going to need midwives. i mean, i'm obviously worried for the retail side of things like that. i do think it's going to have a massive impact on that, but i feel confident in what i'm going to do. i'll be fine, yeah. you know, more young people like abbie will receive vocational qualifications this summer than a—levels, and because they face regular assessment as part of their training, that means their final grades are less likely to be amended. but finding work in a rapidly contracting job market will not be easy for everyone. there are some concerns about the short—term. certainly in the north east, we're hearing some challenging messages in, for example, engineering, manufacturing in the short term, but what is really important here is to think about longer term workforce strategy and how employers can start to plan that workforce strategy. taking students from btec qualifications to help solve those workforce challenges.

hairdressing, hospitality, tourism, these are industries deeply scarred by covid. melissa won a national student hairdresser competition in february. now she's worried about work long—term. yes, i think it's still quite worrying because i feel like, even in years to come, the social distancing is still going to be in place. have you noticed customers behaving differently, feeling less confident? yes, definitely. i feel like people don't want to book in as much as they did before, as you can't social distance in a salon as much. and practical experience matters. rob's manufacturing business makes dashboards for nissan, a big local employer with dozens of local apprentices. he worries in a struggling economy vocational training will be neglected. i think that's the worry is that businesses panic and don't take on apprentices. so, i think we need to look long—term and look at where the business is going and make sure that we still fill those gaps, because we still have an ageing workforce who are getting

to retirement age, so, for me, it's that we need to look longer term and invest in young people. these are our midwives, our engineers, our builders and chefs, and they are ready to hit the ground running. and they hope that the economy can help them to thrive as the recession begins to bite. nina warhurst, bbc news, sunderland. in wales and northern ireland, more than a third of grades were lowered from those predicted by teachers. pupils in wales are being told they can use their as—level result from last year if they're disappointed. 0ur wales correspondent tomos morgan gave us an update from bridgend. a higher proportion in wales have received between a* and an a grade, the top grades for a—level, but that is significantly less than what the teachers assessed and estimated that they should have. they estimated that around 40% of pupils should be receiving that top grade. now, the watchdog here said

that was too generous, so they revised that number, which meant there are around 43% of pupils would get a lower grade than were predicted by their teachers. so, following the outcries in scotland and england, the welsh education minister, kirsty williams, late yesterday made a pledge to all the pupils in wales and said because as—level which is the exam taken in year 12, were taken earlier in the year and were a reliable source of predicting grades here in wales, she said no pupil in wales would get a grade lower than what they got in their as grades. so, anyone in wales that has a grade lower than the as grade would get it upgraded in due course. of course, this situation has affected thousands of people across the country, and i think the concern for many teachers in wales and scotland and england and northern ireland is will this be a balanced playing field? now that the devolved governments are doing slightly different things

when it comes to the estimated grades of a—level, considering they haven't had a chance to wait for and take those final exams. well, there are similar frustrations among some students in northern ireland. earlier, our correspondent emma vardy said more than a third of results had been downgraded. well, some 28,000 students here in northern ireland were receiving their results today, and similar to elsewhere, they were based on those predicted grades from teachers then moderated and standardised by northern ireland's exam body. here, too, there has been widespread dismay and disappointment for some schools as more than a third of results, 37%, were lowered from the grades that were predicted by teachers. now, northern ireland's exam body has explained this to some degree saying it believes teachers can be overconfident sometimes and that if they had taken those predicted grades from teachers, there would have been a significant jump in results this year, which they don't think would have

been a fair reflection, but this has led to some strong criticism from schools, schools saying they don't think the system worked, that it was erratic, it wasn't consistent. 0ne headteacher told the bbc they believe some pupils' dreams and ambitions have been dashed by the use of this algorithm. but an unanswered question here is why things aren't the same across different schools? different schools have had different results through the system. here at ashfield boys high school in east belfast, they said broadly speaking the results they have had back from the exams board they feel is pretty fair and a fair reflection of the predicted grades from teachers. it'sjust not clear at the moment why some schools fared better than others through the system, and there will be a lot of focus on the appeals process and what that reveals in the weeks to come. we can speak now to phil rumsey, who's the principal at scarborough sixth form college. pupils there, despite the disruption caused by coronavirus, had a 99% pass rate. the results mean that

the overwhelming majority of students holding university offers achieved their first choice, including 0xford and cambridge universities. congratulations and cambridge universities. first of all. to you and congratulations first of all. to you and to indeed your students. now you have seen the results, i will be insta nt to have seen the results, i will be instant to know what you make of the system. i think to sum it up, a numberof system. i think to sum it up, a number of students today have got mixed emotions. they are happy they have achieved their first choice university destination but they are gutted that their grades are not a reflection of what they feel they could have achieved. referring back to the previous report about why thatis to the previous report about why that is is at the start of this process we spent weeks moderating out process we spent weeks moderating our grades to make sure there will be put into the exam board was exaggerated as possible. only to find out now that all the cohorts of 15 or more students have been derived by a computer algorithm and completely ignored the teachers

grades. the flip side of that is that the courses for those students and independent schools have been the ones that were submitted by the teachers. the weather system looked at the start to be a fair one, it has resulted in an unfortunate bias i'iow has resulted in an unfortunate bias now towards students that attend independent schools and therefore the more affluent students have benefited to a certain extent from this. this is backed up with data that has come out from off calm today which as an independent schools, the high grades are up 4.7% but in six form colleges, only 0.3%. that is a huge difference in the a * great. it means that students like arthur suffered as a result. can i clarify what you mean when you use the word cohort? you talking about smaller classes? if you think about an independent school you might have an independent school you might have a latina an independent school you might have a latin a level or a classics a level with one class of students and their grades would've stood. but

because of the sheer size of a level colleges, talking about a year groups of over 500 anything up to 1500 students. so you may have even in smaller subjects like a modern foreign language, you will have cohorts over 15. you touched on this that at your school had attempted to match teachers assessments grades with what had happened in previous yea rs, with what had happened in previous years, which is what was required of you. is there not a need though for some sort of external moderation because there have been reports that some teachers awarded inflated grades, reports that some schools are given all their students really optimistic grades and then they can say let's let the adjustments take the blame? i think that is questioning the integrity of the profession and i think actually have a smoke into a high number of colleagues, teachers were very honest in the situation. however it was obvious to anybody and to often

that result would be an inflation of grace because we have a student that might be on the borderline of a bee or se, you would give them b but that will get an overall inflation. but i think the bigger picture is what we have now is students whose education ended abruptly in march and had been out of education for six months. we know that teenage mental health is a massive issue in the country and any system that is derived will have winners and losers. we have found today is that within our college we have some winners but we have got some losers and perhaps as a one off we ought to say great inflation is not a good thing on a big scale but for a one off of this year, the one they have been so badly affected, would it hurt so much if we said let us have fio hurt so much if we said let us have no losers and except some great inflation. and i think have a not of this disparity today that shows it favours independent schools over big institutions like six form colleges you might be more happy to accept the moving down to the grace but i think we are in a position now will be more happy to accept the moving down of the grades but i think we

are ina down of the grades but i think we are in a position now where we owe it to the students in the six form coueges it to the students in the six form colleges anywhere else were they had been downgraded that they really ought to get a fair crack and we need to go back and look at this again andl need to go back and look at this again and i think the only answer it really is for the secretary of state to allow the grace we put back in place. we must leave it there. good to hear your thoughts, thank you. thank you. we'll be coming back to this story at 5:30pm, where we'll be interviewing the conservative mp damian hinds. so, do stay with us for that. let's bring you more on that news of a historic middle east peace deal between israel and the united arab emirates. they've agreed to normalise relations under a us—brokered deal. white house officials say that as part of the agreement, israel has agreed to suspend applying sovereignty to parts of the occupied west bank that it had considered annexing. president trump made the announcement from the oval office a short while ago. let's have a listen to what he said. after 49 years, israel and the united arab emirates

will fully normalise their diplomatic relations. they will exchange embassies and ambassadors and begin cooperation across the board and on a broad range of areas, including tourism, education, health care, trade and security. this is a truly historic moment. not since the israel—jordan peace treaty was signed more than 25 years ago has so much progress been made towards peace in the middle east. by uniting two of america's closest and most capable partners in the region, something which said could not be done, this deal is a significant step towards building a more peaceful, secure and prosperous middle east. our state department correspondent, barbara plett usher, is in washington for us. shejoins us now. this announcement seems to have come somewhat out of

the blue. how significant is it? seems to have come somewhat out of the blue. how significant is mm is significant in that it is only the third is really— era peace agreement publicly proclaimed and there is going to be full of different —— diplomatic relations between israel and the uae. it only has such a deal between jordan and egypt and all the other arab nations have been making this to see the palestinian and israeli conflict resolver stop so the framework is the palestinian and it's really complicated to be resolved and that would then open the door for normalisation with arab states. but in this case the uae is going forward on its own. they have been improving relations with israel and other gulf states over the past years because largely they see iran asa years because largely they see iran as a mutual enemy and so there have been ties being established. under the table, not really in public.

this is really going above the radar and saying we will do this peace deal and make it formal. now the way that they have trade—off has been the israel has agreed to stop plans to unilaterally annex parts of the occupied west bank. it the announcement that is planning to do that had thrown a wrench into relations with the uae. two month ago, the us ambassador here for the uae made a very unusual direct appeal to israelis in writing and a video saying you cannot annex palestinian land and expect to have normal relations with arab states. that will not work. so the trade—off is being that the israeli government has suspended plans for now anyway to annex land in exchange to have this deal with the uae.” to annex land in exchange to have this deal with the uae. i suppose the big question is could this lead to the palestinians and the israelis returning to the negotiating table? that is how the uae is framing it. because it is aware of the history

and the context of course. so it is saying we have stopped annexation with this deal. that means we have saved the chance of a peace deal that would create a palestinian and israeli state side by side. and we will use our new normalised relations to push for that. i think the chances of that are very slim because the palestinians have advocated —— abdicated from any peace negotiations brokered by the donald trump administration in the re ce nt donald trump administration in the recent years because i felt the american plan was as if wealthy is released wanted and did not really them any kind of solution to their current situation, which is basically living in autonomous enclaves. disconnected while the israelis have had settlements that had divided out the land the palestinians want for estate. it seems that if that can be addressed, then they will possibly sit at the table but on the face of a disagreement between the uae and israel does not put forward a

solution to get around the map that the trip administration has agreed to in the palestinians have rejected. —— this agreement. fascinating. barbara, thank you so much, good to talk to you. the head of network rail has accepted that his organisation failed to prevent yesterday's train crash in which three people died. andrew haines said, "we weren't good enough," and promised to implement any safety recommendations arising from the derailment. but he denied that network rail had failed to act on a report which warned about the impact of extreme weather. meanwhile, the names of two of the three people who died in the derailment have been released. driver brett mccullough and conductor donald dinnie died, along with a passenger. i'm joined now by mark phillips, the chief executive of rail industry safety organisation the rssb. and i suppose i should pick up first on those comments from the head of

network rail, we were not good enough. what is your reaction?|j think enough. what is your reaction?” think first we are all very saddened and pass on our condolences to the friends and family of those that sadly lost their lives and those who we re sadly lost their lives and those who were injured in the incident. and some of the moment it is very much a question of gathering the evidence around the site, the rail investigation board are doing that at the moment assisted by the british transport police and collea g u es british transport police and colleagues from the office of brenham road and from that they will then assess what is the true underlying causes and the associated causes of that. and i think that will then enable the industry and outside parties to properly reflect on what is the true cause and whether there are lessons that need to be applied elsewhere. it is too early to say i think at this stage around the specific causes and how that might be rectified. speaking

more broadly, though, we are seeing more broadly, though, we are seeing more extreme weather conditions, more extreme weather conditions, more localised extreme weather conditions. from us at the point of view on the railways, how concerned are you? we are most definitely seeing the impact of climate and heavy extreme weather events on all systems. not just heavy extreme weather events on all systems. notjust related to rail. another of unger utilities are affected by the impact of weather and all industry sectors are starting to look about how they need to adjust their investment to accommodate those changes in weather patterns. and certainly that is a key feature of some of the work that we at the board have been doing. looking at the impact of climate adaptation on the industry and making recommendations as to the top of things we need to do to prepare the industry for the changes that are expected in future. so

especially around rising sea levels, heavy rain effects, temperatures probably of greater extremes that we have been traditionally used two and therefore the infrastructure needs to be prepared and ready for those changes. that is a sort of thing that going for the industry work on. so in practical terms, what would that involve? in many cases it may mean raising some of our sealing system controls so they are out of the impact of rising water in the event of flooding. it can mean strengthening some of the assets, especially those that may have to do with large quantities of water. it may mean adjusting the overhead power system so that they can take better a cramp of changes in temperature because these are the things that do affect train performance when you have these big weather effects. they sound sensible but also sound expensive. some of

them will be. that is the impact that climate change is having on the rail system. and obviously there is a case for which you have to identify the likelihood of those events happening and where you best focus the money that is available. so that is again part of the work of the industry carrying out over the 4th the industry carrying out over the ltth of may period to identify those assets it needs to adjust in the immediate term to cope with those changes in climate. you must leave it there. the chief executive of the rail industry safety organisation, mark phillips, we are grateful for yourtime, mark phillips, we are grateful for your time, thank you. the uk's largest tour operator, tui, has reported a loss of almost £1 billion in the three months to the end ofjune, when much the industry was brought to a halt because of the coronavirus lockdown. however, the travel firm said bookings for next summer had risen sharply, up by 145%, as customers made early plans for 2021.

i'm joined now by glenn fogel, the ceo of booking.com. good to talk to you. thank you for joining us. tell us about the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on your business. thank you for having me. look the travel industry has just been decimated by the covid crisis. we announced our earnings last week and lost over a third of a billion us dollarsjust last week and lost over a third of a billion us dollars just on this basis and that is a horrific number to show. the first and we had a negative number since 2001 so it is been hard. we heard about the tour operator tui there saying things beginning to pick up. are you seeing a similar picture? i think everyone is seeing there is a pick—up because people in may were so horrific and nobody was travelling at all in april. we have all seen things to me

back up and yes we have seen gradual improvement but here is the thing, it is all dependent on the virus. if the virus comes back i'm of the people stop looking and we have seen u nfortu nately people stop looking and we have seen unfortunately some flare—ups in different parts of the world that gradual improvement has stopped and evenin gradual improvement has stopped and even in some places turned downward. so what we all hope is a vaccine that will help solve this problem. in the meantime, where are people taking the risk to go? everybody wa nts to taking the risk to go? everybody wants to stay local for the most part. that long—haul travel people used to do where you would get on a flight and go for many hours, that is not happening. of course there are government restrictions that are preventing that from happening and people started out and theyjust wa nted people started out and theyjust wanted to stay local. people are still doing that. more of a short trip and they like to travel by car. so they don't have to worry about getting into a plane and concerned about what happens on a plane for some people are still doing that. even more interesting if people are not going to places that are hotels.

they are using what we call alternative accommodations or a home and we are seeing a big increase in that. we saw 40% of our new bookings in the second quarter were these alternate accommodations which is a big kick —— big pick—up from a year ago because people want to stay away from other people and be safe. and out of interest, what are they spending? are they spending more or less tha n spending? are they spending more or less than before? i've not looked at the numbers exactly like that but i will tell you if somebody is going ona will tell you if somebody is going on a long—haul trip for two weeks from the uk to say thailand, that is generally more expensive than taking a drive trip up the road to a cottage. so generally i think we are seeing cheaper and certainly seeing the average price of a hotel for example in many places dropping substantially because there is just not as much demand. simple supply and demand for the big hotels. makes sense, thank you for talking to us. thank you.

now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello there. we've seen some thundery downpours again today, bringing some flooding into some places. not quite as hot as it has been, but still making 28—29 degrees towards the south east of england. cooler for northern and eastern scotland and the north east of england, where the low cloud and misty weather lingers. and that will tend to push its way back inland again this evening and overnight, bringing some drizzle and some mist and some fog. further south across england and wales, still this continued threat of some further heavy and thundery downpours threatening some further flooding as well. quite a warm night, of course. and again in the south, temperatures could be no lower than 18—19 degrees. tomorrow, misty, murky start for many. that low cloud will burn back towards the coasts of north east england and continue to affect northern and eastern scotland. sunshine developing in many areas, but there's still the potential for some further downpours breaking out across wales, the midlands, east anglia and southern england. the heatwave comes to an end tomorrow. our highest average temperature — 25. quite warm in north west england, northern ireland and western scotland in the sunshine.

hello, this is bbc news. i'm rebecca jones. the headlines... as students across england, wales, and northern ireland receive their a level and vocational results, anger and upset as thousands have their grades lowered. israel and the united arab emirates agree to establish diplomatic relations in a us—brokered deal. almost 300 people have tested positive for covid—i9 following an outbreak at a factory in northampton which makes m&s sandwiches. the train driver and conductor killed in the derailment in aberdeenshire have been named. they were brett mccullough and donald dinnie. thunderstorms and heavy rain sweep across parts of the uk — and there's more to come following the recent hot weather.

sport now, and for a full round up from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin ra mjaun. has the rain got in the way of the cricket today? the weather has halted england's bowlers on day one of the second test against pakistan in southampton with the players currently off the field because of rain. jimmy anderson took his second wicket of the day after lunch, dismissing captain azhar ali. abid ali kept the pakistan innings going though, making a half century, tough going for englands bowlers. that was until sam curran finally got the breakthrough, abid eventually dismissed for 60, caught at slip by rory burns. stuart broad then took the wicket of assad shafiq. chris woakes also got a wicket before the rain started again, pakistan currently 126 for five. the world number one novak djokovic has confirmed that he will play at the us open, which starts in new york at the end of this month.

it's a boost for the organisers after some high profile pull outs — including rafael nadal and women's world number one ash barty, with concerns among a number of players about travelling to america because of the coronavirus pandemic. there will be no fa cup replays next season, in an attempt to ease pressure on the football calendar. the competition will start with the extra preliminary round on 1 september, and the final is due to be played on 15 may next year. meanwhile, the efl cup semi—finals will be reduced to one leg. mark selby has turned round his semifinal against ronnie o'sullivan at the world snooker championships. resuming the match at 5—3 down, selby put in a gritty performance at the crucible. he won six out of eight frames in the afternoon session, crucially taking the last one to lead 9—7. it's also tight in the other semi between kyren wilson and qualifier anthony mcgill. they're level at eight frames all with wilson winning six of this morning's eight frames. it's been another challenging day

for chris froome and team ineos at the criterium du dauphine. the race is an important warm up for this month's tour de france. primoz roglic won today's second stage to take the leader's yellow jersey. froome lost more time to team mate egan bernal who has slipped to fourth overall. chris room got a pep talk from eagle burn all. the chapin says he wants the briton alongside him for cycling's biggest race. the colombian is just 23 years old and granted enough to realise the experience of others can help his experience. his immediate one is to win the criteria rounded off in a. it's billed as the hardest of the race, and with less than five miles ago, indios took the lead in a familiarfashion. but ago, indios took the lead in a familiar fashion. but once again, froome couldn't keep up, sliding back before his team—mate slipped up. gareth thomas was next to slip

up, leaving byrne all exposed. whilst they were running on empty, primus. .. whilst they were running on empty, primus... the whilst they were running on empty, primus. .. the slovenian whilst they were running on empty, primus... the slovenian broke three to look like a comfortable win. the challenge has been laid down, and rising to it will be far from easy for him at indios. england rugby league head coach shaun wane has extended his contract to 2022, taking him beyond next year's world cup. the former wigan coach took over from wayne bennett following the great britain lions tour in 2019, but has yet to take charge of a match due to england's schedule for this year being postponed. harlequins and england player shaunagh brown says it's important for athletes from all sports to be role models in order to increase diversity. she's been speaking about her experiences as part of the bbc‘s elite british sportswomen's survey, which found one in five sportswomen say they've seen or experienced racism within their sport. so it's up to us as minorities to

get out and do some indifferent, evenif get out and do some indifferent, even if you don't seek that type of person in your sport, do it. why not be the next role model? but on the other side as well, it's getting companies and sports clubs to encourage people and learn how you can encourage a certain type of person. it's getting people out there and doing something different, but also making it accessible for these people who put themselves out there,. we'll have more for you from shaunagh brown in sportsday at 6.30pm. we look forward to it, thank you. let's return to our main story. hundreds of thousands of students in england, wales and northern ireland have received a—level and btec grades, after the huge uncertainty caused by coronavirus. they didn't sit exams because of lockdown, so marks have been awarded using teacher estimates, standardised by exam boards. let's hear from the let's hearfrom the prime let's hear from the prime minister. i want to congratulate all the stu d e nts i want to congratulate all the students who have worked so hard to get the grades that they have, and have done so well. if there is no

doubt about it, the exam results we got today are robust, they are good, dependable for employers will stop already, there is a record number of candidates, of students who are able to get theirfirst candidates, of students who are able to get their first choice course at the university of their choice. plus, there's a record number of stu d e nts plus, there's a record number of students and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds who now, asa disadvantaged backgrounds who now, as a result of these grades, will be able to go to university. is it not the case that this system for awarding a levels has actually downgraded some of the most vulnerable — do you actually have confidence in your secretary to resolve this? i think obviously it was going to be very difficult in the absence of formal proper exams this year, of the kind that we normally have because of the virus. we've had to put in the system that we have, i do think it is robust,

and asi we have, i do think it is robust, and as i say, a couple things are very important. first of all, more stu d e nts very important. first of all, more students than ever before were able to go to their university of choice to go to their university of choice to do the course of their choice. and on your point about pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds — more than ever before are now able to go to university or go into university this year as a result of the grades they've got today. do you trust kevin williamson to resolve this? of course i do. —— gavin williamson. it's a system that's dependable for employers. it is important for years to come that people should be able to come that people should be able to look at these grades and think they are robust. and obviously where pupils are disappointed, where they feel that they could've done better, whether they feel that an injustice has been done to them, there is the possibility of appeal. and they can

reset this autumn, as welljust re—sit. looking at the big picture, we've got a robust set of grades, plus we've got the situation in which most... more kids from does advantage backgrounds are going in. joining me now is the conservative mp damian hinds. good of you to join us. boris johnson they're saying the results are robust, but we've been talking all day to head teachers, some saying the results are unfair, unfathomable. how much confidence do you have in the system? can you hear me, damien heinz? can you hear me? i think you can hear see me but you can't hear me. we'll return to him when we can. more than 290 people linked to a food factory in northampton

have tested positive for covid—i9, according to public health officials. greencore uk employs 2,100 people and makes sandwiches for marks and spencer. the company told the bbc it has been proactively testing staff since rates started rising more generally in the town. it says there are no concerns about the food it produces as it uses the most stringent hygiene procedures. the covid—i9 infection rate in northampton is three times higher than the national average. let's hear now from lucy wightman, director of public health for the county. at the moment, there are 2,100 staff who usually are employed, so it is a significant employer locally, and it is significant operation across the three sites that they usually ran. in the last months, obviously they haven't had a full number of staff in to make sure that they‘ re covid—compliant and a covid—secure operation.

so this says at the moment, staff numbers out of 1,300 that have been employed recently. so it is a still significant proportion of those staff, and we've been working with greencore for around two weeks now to look at the steps they would've implemented. their covid—compliance is exemplary, and one of the things that seems to be the issue here, as it has been with other outbreaks, is that it isn't the management that's the issue or, in fact, the environment, but the behaviour of the staff potentially outside of the working environment. we've seen this in other settings as well — people leave their covid—secure messages at the door, and they then get in cars and car—sharing apps without social distancing, without face coverings. we see that they socialise outside, some of them perhaps live together. and it's the communication outside of the work environment that's really driving these numbers. weather warnings remain in many parts of the uk after the second

night of thunderstorms. caroline davis reports. another day of record temperatures, this. storm battered parts of south london, with wind, rain and hail. this was inside a supermarket in telford in shropshire, ceiling panels falling as the rain pours the roof. some parts of scotland saw almost seven hours of continuous rain. many areas saw flooding, including here in perth. while cars will stuck in floodwaters in aberdeen. in bristol, two people were rescued by the fire surfaces along the banks of the avon new cut after being stuck earlier in the evening. the met office have warned that the current hot weather creates ideal conditions for thunderstorms. that he is due to continue in some places with little drop off at night. and for a six day ina row, drop off at night. and for a six day in a row, temperatures in london had

at least 3a celsius for the first time since at least 311 celsius for the first time since 1961. so far this month, there have been four nights where somewhere in the uk stays at 20 celsius, so—called tropic nights with disastrous results. it's impossible to get a good night sleep at the moment, whether it's the humidity or thunder and lightning. but looking at this year so far, the wettest february on record followed by the sunniest spring on record, followed by these bursts of heat this summer. on their own, these extremes have often occurred throughout history and they will continue to occur. but with climate change, we are expecting more and more extremes to occur. yellow thunderstorm warnings have been issued for today for much of england and wales, parts of north ireland and wales, parts of north ireland and parts of southwestern scotland. caroline davis, bbc news. an nhs

worker has set up free online exercise classes for all the busy nhs staff who can't get to their normal ones. julie davis's workouts have been such a hit at her local hospital they are now being rolled out across the country, reaching 250,000 nhs staff. by day, julie davis works for the nhs in wolverhampton. in her spare time, she happens to be a champion power lifter. staying active is very important to julie, and lifter. staying active is very important tojulie, and she became worried her busy colleagues on the front line didn't have time to do the same. it's a fitness platform with videos for... so she came up with videos for... so she came up with the idea of doing our bit. with videos for... so she came up with the idea of doing our bitm lockdown we had a lot of nhs staff who were trying to stay active, but they were doing long shifts. it's a platform of dedicated fitness classes from some of the best instructors around that's completely free to nhs staff. and there's an extra personal touch.” free to nhs staff. and there's an extra personal touch. i am free to nhs staff. and there's an extra personaltouch. i am here to say thank you to you guys. all of

them start out with unique message thanking the nhs. mostly, thank you so thanking the nhs. mostly, thank you so much for making my dad's last week's comfortable. it's unique for nhs staff and exclusive, so you can only nhs staff and exclusive, so you can o nly a ccess nhs staff and exclusive, so you can only access it if you are working for the nhs. fitness experts like joe hancock have been queuing up to offer their services. over the last few months, we know how hard the nhs have been working. but regardless of that, for years and years, they have been so important and i imagine quite helpful around the uk. so this is my way to give back. and it's been catching on with nhs workers. workers like lauren, who is a nurse facilitator, alastair, a researcher, and violet, a clinical assistant.” needed something that was low intensity and give me that stretch.

and i think you should join it to. julie's ideas now being rolled out across the country. we've got 39 nhs organisations involved, we are reaching 250,000 staff. let's go, come on. it has taken off so much that the companies... now on bbc news, we've been taking your questions today on exam results. earlier, my colleaguejane hill put those questions to our education correspondent sean coughlan, and chief executive of ucas, clare marchant, in your questions answered. as you might imagine, we've had an awful lot of questions about exams. and here to answer them is sean coughlan, the bbc‘s education correspondent,

and also clare marchant, the chief executive of ucas, which operates the university application process. a warm welcome to both of you, and clare, thanks for being with us on a busy day for you by definition. let's start with the question from sarah. this might be a query for both of you. "a child i know was predicted three as and got them in his mocks. however today, he has been given a, b, b. that means he can't go on to do medicine at the university he'd chosen. his school seems reluctant to appeal. how do we use the mock exam results in this scenario?" sean, can i come to you first on that one? you can imagine this is something that could be facing so many students all over the country. what are your thoughts on this? you can feel the anxiety in life—changing moments like this. the tricky thing is in theory the appeal should allow someone to have their mart raised at least

as high as in the mocks. there is a question of how you define a mock. next week, quual will tell us how that works. i would say don't panic, hold fire, things might change for the better. the difficulty is it has to go through the school, the individual can't apply it themselves. so, the school has to apply for them. they have to pressure the school, say what the case is, and hopefully the universities will come to the rescue and consider this favourably. clare, the next question is very specifically your field, but this speaks to what a difficult time this is. very difficult and very complex

set of circumstances. i certainly think the school may be reluctant because they're awaiting further guidance, in terms of what constitutes a mock. hopefully this is helpful, clearing has some medicine places, so that is worth considering. they are competitive and there are a few of them but it is worth looking at that as an alternative. jazmine says, "i have received two sets of grades, but the university i am applying to is only accepting the first set, which is lower, and so has declined my application." she says, "the triple lock is not working where it's needed most. how do i get my ucas grades changed to the higher set?" clare, i'll come to you. yeah, so, obviously we're reacting to the government announcement as of 36 hours ago, and the understanding is that if those mock exams were higher, then that is about going

through that appeals process. in terms of those looking to enter university or college for higher education, those will be prioritised in terms of those appeals to allow students who go on to higher education as planned. the triple locks go through the appeal process if your mocks are higher. sean, your thoughts? i agree. the 36 hours is the key. it appeared at a very late date, and we don't quite know how it works. the key will be, what is the process that will determine it? what is a mock? it sounds like an abstract question, but it is a very real question. the head teachers have said in some schools, a mock exam might be something to boost everyone's confidence, and somewhere else they might

use it to scare them, because they say we'll mark you terribly, so you will work hard for the real exam. are those two things comparable? are they fair for deciding grades? it's difficult for universities, as well. i think the clarity will come with the regulations next week hopefully. you mentioned next week — this reminds us that today is by no means the end of it for a lot of students. there's still time to wait, and that is very stressful. angela says, "my daughter has one grade lower in all her subjects than she was predicted. we feel she has been disadvantaged because of the college she's been attending. her gcses were 7s, 8s and 9s. has there been any consideration of prior achievements?" would gcses ever be part of that equation? it's an excellent question. the prior achievement considered was mostly of the school

and not the individual. so if, in this case, we're talking about angela and her daughter — angela's daughter's gcses would not have been directly linked to her outcomes. her schools or colleges might have done. that's the missing link, and perhaps some people have raised this. there are concerns that could adversely affect bright young people in schools that don't do very well because they fit outside the pattern, they're outliers. the government has addressed this very specific point and said they will allow appeals on this basis if you have high—achieving children who are in schools which historically have low results. and so, these predicted grades will be artificially low, and hopefully it will be sorted out in time for them to go to university in the autumn. if the government has specifically addressed that, you can imagine how many students may be in that scenario

and therefore the time—lag, how long it is going to take for this, and that poor pupil thinking, "i may get what i deserve in the end, but will all of the university places be gone by then?" 7 september is the deadline that has been set for resolving all of these appeals. but as you say, decisions could have been made. universities have been told to keep places open for appeals, but that is the place you have already applied and so in a sense, if you are already in the pipeline — if you say something has gone wrong, universities have been told not to give the place away yet. you can imagine families worrying about it. a lot of confusion over the weeks ahead. and clare, that is tricky, as well, from your perspective? certainly it's a worrying time for many. i think it's worth pointing to the majority who have got their first choice of university today and are progressing. but for those considering an appeal,

my one piece of strong advice would be if you are going to appeal through your school is to do it in parallel to either proceeding with your first choice, which is where the majority are, or are exploring a choice in clearing or talking to your university if you are dead set on that one, explaining you are going through appeal, and we will do everything we can to support you. it's a very anxious time not just for students, but their parents and teachers supporting them. and that is why we are doing so much through social media in unprecedented times and also last—minute changes at the moment. the majority have got what they wanted and what they applied for. is it too early in the day to know the stats on that? do we know how many have got that? yes, we know about 1.5% more people at this point this year, compared to this point last year, got their place at university

or college to go to higher education, and two thirds of people have their first choice. more people than ever from most disadvantaged backgrounds have got a place, so lots of people have reason to celebrate and to congratulate them today. but i accept there are people — and many people are saying, "i haven't got what i want and i want to look at an appeal process, i want to sit on autumn exam. "and that where that support, particularly in remote working, which we're all in at the moment, that digital support comes in when you cannot get that face—to—face time with perhaps teachers or friends. that's worth remembering — two thirds have got their first choice. fran talks about her son, who has done really well — a*, a, b. his ucas points score was 144, his offer at leeds was 144.

but he has been rejected for economics and offered physics instead. do you know what the logic is, clare? yes, it sounds to me like they have got a condition where they want an a in maths, and so they're looking specifically for that in terms of that economics course. they obviously want him at leeds university, which is great news. my advice would be to ring up the university and see if there's a possibility in terms of the b instead of the a, and talk about other options that may be available at the university, if that's where they want to go. it's not all bad news, ring them up, see where you get to, and then come back to us if you need further support.

hello, we've seen it rain letting down in some areas. generally it is going to be the southern half of the uk that sees most of the wet weather and it will feel warm and humid. this was the picture in essex. leaving localised flooding. further north some sunshine breaking through which may persist around eastern areas as we have seen in the scottish borders. the difference in the weather across the uk is because northern bringing an easterly breeze and further south low pressure and the clusters of cloud bringing thundery downpours. it has still been hot across many parts of england and wales but not as hot. cooler around north—eastern parts of england and northern and eastern scotland. that will push inland again bringing a few spots of drizzle and fog.

southern england most likely to catch further bursts of heavy rain threatening flash flooding. temperatures 18—19 degrees, 13—15 further north. low cloud retreating to north—eastern parts of england, north yorkshire, northern and eastern scotland. there will be this ever—present threat of thundery downpours across wales, the midlands, east anglia and the south of england. the heatwave coming to an end tomorrow. quite warm in the north west of england, northern ireland and western scotland with sunshine developing. over the weekend the high pressure is going to slip to the north with lowering pressure from the south and that will push the rain further north during the second half of the weekend. the second half of the weekend downpours which could be heavy and thundery threatening parts of scotland.

some sunshine away from eastern areas and sunshine in the south—east. some sunshine away from eastern areas and sunshine in the south—east. the top temperature on sunday 25 celsius.

hundreds of thousands of students get their a—level results, amid controversy over the allocation of grades because of coronavirus. joy for some as top marks increase overall, but disappointment too, as more than a third of results are downgraded. a, b, c! i have spoken to a lot of people who say their grades have been lowered. i think it's really random and unfair. some headteachers say the changes to grades don't make sense. also on the programme... a record 1.8 million people injune had to wait longer than the 18 week target for nhs treatment, because of the coronavirus pandemic. "we weren t good enough."