the be out next week. the government says overall the system has been fairand says overall the system has been fair and there has been an increase in the number of top grades awarded to students. this year's result has been a backlash across the whole of the uk and there have been calls for a u—turn, which we saw in scotland this week, with the government apologising and thousands of results upgraded to teachers' predictions. that no such policies promises but they say they will refund schools who successfully appealed. it is expected a high number of appeals at almost 40% of a—level grades were moderated down. examples have said they will be ready to process these appeals by monday. we will leave that to bear. elaine dunkley in sa lfo rd. 00:00:43,252 --> 2147483051:37:06,341 that to bear. elaine dunkley in 2147483051:37:06,341 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 salford. that

this is bbc news, the headlines at 6: the exams regulator sets out the criteria for appeals against downgraded a levels in england after nearly 40% were marked lower than predictions. minimumi minimum i needed a aa, a, b. i only actually needed three seas to get into the foundation course for the veterinary foundation, which was my back—up, but on thursday i discovered that i had just been awarded three ds. prince charles leads commemorations to mark the 75th anniversary of vj day — the day world war 2 ended with victory over japan. we salute all those who remain among us and offer our most heartfelt and undying gratitude for those who are gone before.

music: the last post the prince of wales and veterans, lay wreaths at the national memorial arboretum — as part of a service of remembrance. music: the last post we'll have the latest from events in the uk and around the world — as we remember the day as we remember the day world war 2 ended. also thousands of holidaymakers have arrived back in the uk after a last—minute dash to avoid a mandatory two—week quarantine. and the world snooker championship final is under way in sheffield — it's being played in front of spectators — as part of the easing of lockdown restrictions.

good evening and welcome to bbc news. the exams regulator quual has set out the criteria for how appeals of gcse, a.s. and a levels in england has can be made on the basis of mock assessment results. because of mock assessment results. because of coronavirus no exams took place this year and grades are being awarded using a controversial modelling system. schools and colleges will now be able to appeal on behalf of students from monday. i have been getting more details from oui’ have been getting more details from our political correspondent, jonathan blake. our political correspondent, jonathan blake. those who have their a—level grades and are awaiting their gcse results in the coming week in england have been told that mock exam results could be used as the basis for an appeal in some cases, but what constituted a valid mock exam was uncertain because schools do them in different ways and there is no set criteria, so now

we have some guidance from quual on what will be able to be taken into account for students appealing against their grades. they say overruled this route is open to those students whose mock grade is higher than their calculated grade. they are also allowing non—assessment mock exams, mock work to be used to that wasn't necessarily taken as part of an exam and it does apply to gcse, a.s. and a—level exams. broadly speaking there are eight criteria, ranging from everything, according to assessment conditions, which means that appropriate in the adulation was taking place and that students didn't have access for materials they didn't they wouldn't be able to look at in the exam. assessment used was either passed paper from a releva nt exa m was either passed paper from a relevant exam board or something developed by teachers which was in line with the standards and then marking, it says that marx, work

should have been marked using a scheme provided by the relevant exam board or aligned with an exam board's mark schemes, so it seems to be fairly broad and fairly open ended. that seems to be the feeling just looking at some initial reaction to this guidance, which is only just been published, reaction to this guidance, which is onlyjust been published, so students, teachers and i'm sure the teaching unions as well will be having a close look at this to see if it is going to help students who decide and their schools have to appeal on their behalf, remember, that they do have grounds for an appeal, based on the grade they are awarded. politically quite damaging? it depends on how it is received, really. a lot is riding on this appeals process because given the fa ct appeals process because given the fact that so many students, around 280,000 a—level students in england, had their grades resized down from the predicted grades by their teachers to the one received out their standardisation model is applied, a lot of people may well wa nt to applied, a lot of people may well want to go down this route of appealing against it, but criticism has come this way, particularly from

government back conservative backbenchers, is not necessarily been that they should revert to the predicted grades, but this appeals pi’ocess predicted grades, but this appeals process really does need to be robust and fair if the situation is a rule is going to have beenjudged to have done a good job, so yes a lot of people taking a close look at this now. that was jonathan blake there. the prince of wales has led commemorations for the 75th anniversary of vj day, when japan's surrender, ended the second world war. he joined veterans and military personnel for a service at the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire. prince charles paid tribute to the courage of those who fought in the far east, saying their service and sacrifice, would, "echo through the ages," and he remembered all those, whose lives were blighted by the conflict. here's nicholas witchell. a lone piper at dawn, aboard hms belfast, marking the fact that 75 years ago this morning, the world awoke, finally, to peace. in the open spaces of the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire,

a carefully choreographed commemoration attended by a0 veterans who fought in the fourteenth — sometimes forgotten — army against a voracious army against a ferocious enemy in some of the most challenging of conditions. many tens of thousands of allied troops from many different nations lost their lives in the jungles of southeast asia and tens of thousands more died injapanese prisoner of war camps. they shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. after the sounding of the last post by a royal marine bugler, a two—minute silence

was led by the prince of wales. and in remembrance of lives lost from so many nations, from british, pre—partition indian and other allied armies, wreaths were placed at memorials here and in many of the nations that were involved in the conflict. today, in this hallowed place, and in the presence of all those gathered here or in their homes, or wherever they may be, let us affirm that they and the surviving veterans are not forgotten.

rather, you are respected, thanked, and cherished with all our hearts and for all time. 75 years on, the forgotten army was remembered and its last survivors cherished. nicholas witchell, bbc news. let's speak to the daughter of —— let's speak to artist sally daughter grumbridge, the daughter of george edward milner porter — who was a far east prisoner of war from 1942 until japan's surrender in 1945. thank you forjoining us, we had problems earlier, butjust tell us your father's story. he was a bombardier in the 45th royal artillery. the regiment left the shores of the uk and travelled to

singapore, arriving in january 1942. they fought on the mainland melayu and then defended singapore and of course became captive on the 15th of february, 1942. he was then a prisonerfor february, 1942. he was then a prisoner for 3.5 february, 1942. he was then a prisonerfor 3.5 years, first february, 1942. he was then a prisoner for 3.5 years, first in singapore, then in thailand on the thai burma railway and at the base campfor thai burma railway and at the base camp for the bridge on the river quai, and finally moving to other provinces at the end of the war. how much did you... very well researched, but did your father tell you all of this or was this a story that you have had to learn down the yea rs ? that you have had to learn down the years? i pieced together the date, so years? i pieced together the date, so they were all written in a journal that he had which i only discovered about 20 years ago, so he had marked the dates and i always knew he was a prisoner of war. he

used to talk to my sister and me about just amusing stories. used to talk to my sister and me aboutjust amusing stories. he a lwa ys aboutjust amusing stories. he always masked the stories in a light—hearted way, but as we were growing up we certainly knew he was a pow, we heard some of the stories about how he stole eggs, how they had to count into ten injapanese for roll call, little things like that, but it was only really the detail that i discovered after his death. you have travelled to the far east. tell us why you did that and what you found. it was following the discovery of the memorabilia from wartime that i felt a need to find out more about his story. my daughter was travelling and in 2004 i met daughter was travelling and in 2004 imet up daughter was travelling and in 2004 i met up with her in bangkok and we went to where he was and saw the bridge on the river quai and travelled up the railway to hellfire pass. it was an amazing journey, not

only from the historical search, but just being in the place that they had been and experiencing the climate and the landscape and everything. it was amazing. what did you find in terms of the locals? in these places? how did they live with their past history, or what had taken place their past history, or what had ta ken place there? their past history, or what had taken place there? i think... i think thailand in particular was quite an unusual country, in that it was... it didn't really... it was in a funny place compared to some of the countries that had been colonised by the japanese. i did meet one amazing woman, who had lived in this place during the war and shown me the gunshot wounds and

she talked about it through an interpreter, but most of the people we met were younger and really were just involved in the tourism that has developed in that part of the world now, as a result of the railway. , while the side of your history has been transformed into an art, ican history has been transformed into an art, i can see. why art? well, i am an artist, so my it is my means of communicating. and i was sober and away by the landscape of kanchanabur and the beauty of thailand and later on when i was in singapore that i wa nted on when i was in singapore that i wanted to put into paint some of... try and translate the feelings that i had with the landscape and also use items of the memorabilia to make a series that told my father's story

ina a series that told my father's story in a different way to all the amazing books that had been written and the memoirs, so it wasjust my way of making a mark, really, for him. you will know this, this is known as the forgotten war. they we re known as the forgotten war. they were the forgotten army. why is today important to you? and the story of what took place in burma? why is it important that it keeps being told? it is an integral part of the second world war. the war in europe was horrendous, as was the war in the far east. obviously i have a personal connection, so telling my father's story enables me also to tell the story of and keep the memory alive of all those tens of thousands of prisoners and

civilian captives and the other... notjust civilian captives and the other... not just the westerners, civilian captives and the other... notjust the westerners, but civilian captives and the other... not just the westerners, but also the people who suffered in the far east as a result of conflict. yeah. sally, obviously you were a child when he came home, when george edward milner porter came home. he passed away in 1979. but in terms of the relationship with your mother, we hear a lot about what used to be turned shellshock, which we now know as ptsd. a very serious condition. did your mother ever talk about what it did to their relationship? returning from war? well, our case is slightly different in that he was single and he met my mother after the war and single and he met my mother after the warandi single and he met my mother after the war and i was born after the war, in 1952. but he was definitely a damaged man. he had been a very

gregarious, outgoing person and although he still maintained a lot of his former character, we all knew that he was having nightmares, we all knew that he had terrible neurological problems and illnesses and... he drank very heavily and i think he was very damaged and my mother outlived my father by 30 odd yea rs, mother outlived my father by 30 odd years, but i know that it was a difficult marriage, even though they met and fell in love after he came back. an absolute tribute to what he has contributed to this country, what you're telling us and how you are expressing it through your art. so sally grumbridge, thank you very much indeed. thank you very much. you're watching bbc news. let's remind you of the headlines now.

the exams regulator has set out appeals rules for downgraded aes and a—levels and soon gcses in england after nearly 40% of a—levels we re were much lower than predictions. prince charles has marked the commemorations to commemorate the 70th anniversary of vj day. the day world war ii ended with a victory injapan. holiday—makers have arrived back in the uk after a last—minute dash from france to avoid a mandatory two week quarantine. more on that story because those thousands of british holiday—makers have arrived back in the uk. there was a bit of a last—minute dash from them too and avoid those new quarantine rules. travellers from france, benevolence and for other countries would have been subject to 14 days of self isolation after concerns over rising covid—19 cases abroad. andy moore has more. there were long queues at calais

early this morning as people scrambled to get back to the uk ahead of the 4am deadline. at passport control to get this far, they told us we should be fine to get back to the uk for the 4am deadline. on one of the last ferries out of france, from dieppe, some exhausted travellers. i've been told that the ferry people know that we need to get to the uk before four o'clock. so we'll see you later. the ship docked in newhavenjust before the deadline. 3:58am in the uk. we are on land. fantastic. one group of edinburgh—based musicians who had been performing in normandy hired their own fishing boat to get back in time. after an eight hour crossing, they landed at hayling island in hampshire ten minutes before the deadline. the airports were also busy

with flights to the uk. and the queue just keeps going and going and going. this was nice last night. we've just boarded the plane, at about ten o'clock. been a really long, hard day. so many people at the airport. flying out on flights. at gatwick airport this morning, some of the first passengers arriving back from france, who will have to go into quarantine. we were five hours too late for the quarantine, so now we all have to quarantine. my husband is losing money, for two weeks. it's ridiculous. the passengers arriving here from france are going into a very strict form of self isolation for two weeks. they won't be able to go out for exercise, they won't be able to walk the dog, any shopping will have to be brought to them. and the penalty for breaching those rules starts at £1,000. andy moore, bbc news, gatwick airport.

number of new coronavirus cases in the uk has risen by 1012 from the previous day. there's been an increase in the number of confirmed new cases recently, as this graph shows the uk has averaged just over 1000 new cases per day over the past week, although this comes in the context of increased testing. meanwhile, the trend in the number of daily left in the uk has actually slowed down. in the same 24—hour period, a further three people with the virus were recorded as dying, taking the total number of deaths 241,361. these figures were counted using the government's new methodology to covid—19 deaths. debenhams has asked an advisory firm that specialises in store closures to draw up plans for possible liquidation, but the struggling retailer insists that the move is just a contingency plan and would be

a last resort. our business correspondent told me more about what debenhams have said on the matter. debenhams have said this is just a really kind of procedural matter. yes, they have appointed this firm a possible liquidator, but they say that is just a last resort and is very unlikely that is it 124 stores would close and it will go into liquidation. they say once you go into administration, which debenhams did earlier this year it is just debenhams did earlier this year it isjust parfor the debenhams did earlier this year it is just par for the course for the administrator to look at the possible future outcomes for the company. they look at where next for debenhams because we know it is in trouble. one of the options for business cannot be sold is that it could go into liquidation, but debenhams says that is very unlikely. the company has been in trouble for a while now, hasn't it? it has been on a slide downwards for quite a few years now, as we have seen quite a few years now, as we have seen all department stores in trouble. debenhams have said

recently that things were turning around, but just a recently that things were turning around, butjust a few recently that things were turning around, but just a few weeks recently that things were turning around, butjust a few weeks ago as we went into lockdown debenhams obviously had to close all of its stores, like other retailers did, but during that lockdown a number stores were closed permanently, so 20 stores haven't opened and won't be reopening. crucially it may 6500 people lost their jobs from debenhams and that is in total how many people we have seen lose their jobs from debenhams anyway since then. appointing hilco capital could raise some flags. this is a company thatis raise some flags. this is a company that is known for assisting stores in trouble when they need to close their business, but as i say debenhams insist this isjust their business, but as i say debenhams insist this is just a normal procedure stock that is just a last resort and it's pretty unlikely we'll get to that. that was vivian there. more than 100 pilots are to be made redundant after... the cause by the pandemic. the

airline union described the decision by jet2 airline union described the decision byjet2 as a kick in the teeth, especially after what happened last year. it to two men have been convicted of these people's murders in a thai court in 2015 will now serve life faces instead of serving the death penalty, following the royal decree. massive crowds have rallied in the belarus capital of minsk two to commemorate a man who died on monday at one of the protests against the contested re—election of president alexander lu kashenko. protests contested re—election of president alexander lukashenko. protests had gathered pace following a brutal

police crackdown. the prime ministers of the three baltic countries of latvia, estonia and lithuania have called on belarus to rerun the election. our correspondent reports now from minsk. he has been replaced by angen minsk. he has been replaced by anger. thousands of people in belarus continued coming out onto the street to voice their protests against president lukashenko. people are gathering at the site where alexander look ski, who died wannabe protesters who died at a protest here in minsk. they are chanting, we will never forget, we will never forgive! some such kinds of things we re forgive! some such kinds of things were unimaginable in belarusjust a week ago. we are sure everything will change. we believe in our victory. that is why we will come in the street every day, every single day. i was calling my friends and telling them, you should go to the

city centre when people out there with their flowers. because you can go full freedom for the first time in all of your life. hundreds of people gathered to attend the funeral of the dead people sank their anthem and bade to the man who has been a