as anger grows among pupils and teachers — pressure mounts on the government over england's exam results fiasco. calls on the prime minister to take control — with fears similar chaos could surround gcse results in just a few days‘ time. here we are the monday after a—level results, worrying that there is no proper appeals process in place, and now worrying that there is not enough confidence in the system about gcses and that, frankly, is simply unacceptable. we'll be getting the latest from westminster — where from westminster — mps are expecting some kind change where mps are expecting some kind of change announced as early as today. also this lunchtime: millions of self—employed workers in the uk can apply for a second coronavirus support grant — but for many it's too late. when i found out i wasn't entitled i felt shocked, very, very anxious and worried. heartbroken, really. a break with convention

for the democrats — no razzmatazz, asjoe biden and kamala harris launch their golden ticket in the midst of a pandemic. chanting anger on the streets of belarus — as pressure mounts on president lukashenko over his disputed re—election. united in grief — the mothers who lost sons in two high—profile killings just days apart — now getting support — from one another. and coming up on bbc news: the frustration continues for england's cricketers — with bad weather again stopping the start of play against pakistan, on the final day of the second test. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one.

borisjohnson is under mounting pressure to intervene to end the a—level chaos — as anger grows among pupils and teachers over unfair results. as mps are expecting some kind of a change to come on exam results as early as today — exam regulator quual is facing criticism over the statistical model it used to decide the grades. now ministers are being urged to delay the publication of gcse results — due on thursday — until the problems with a—levels have been sorted. northern ireland has announced that there will be no use of algorithms to adjust grades — instead they will abide by the grades awarded by teachers. our political correspondent iain watson reports. protests at westminster this weekend highlighted the anger and disappointment of school students who didn't get the a—level grades they expected. legal challenges are also likely. using an algorithm, quual, the exams regulator in england, downgraded

0fqual, the exams regulator in england, downgraded 280,000 a—level results from teachers' assessments, almost 40% of the total. results from teachers' assessments, almost 40% of the totallj results from teachers' assessments, almost 4096 of the total. i received almost 4096 of the total. i received ab,c,dinmya almost 4096 of the total. i received a b, c, d in mya levels, lowerthan my son to assist great and mock results. this meant i didn't get my first and insurance universities. the grades my teachers submitted this year for me were a star and led a letter i had i got bs i would have met my offer and got into cambridge, however, after standardisation i got a, a, however, after standardisation i got a,a,b however, after standardisation i got a, a, b meant i was rejected. guidance was withdrawn at the weekend and revised advice is expected soon, but it's notjust the stu d e nts expected soon, but it's notjust the students growing restless. so too area students growing restless. so too are a growing number of conservative mps. people knew this day available results and they knew the day of gcse results months ago and find ourselves now where here we are on the monday after a—level results worrying that there isn't a proper appeals process in place and now worrying that there is not enough

confidence in the system about gcses, frankie, is simply unacceptable. in a tweet a government minister penny mordaunt made it clear she wanted more to be done for bright, capable students to go to university or further education this year. and head teachers at english grammar schools have joined the chorus of criticism. in a statement, they say a great injustice has been done and the way results were assessed has led to utterly baffling outcomes for many students. this week, gcse results are due to be published in england, wales and northern ireland. this morning education ministers in northern ireland said these results would be based on teachers' assessments alone, putting more pressure on the government to follow suit in england. under pressure, the scottish government has already announced that exam results there will be based on the rates predicted by teachers and labour so a—level results in england should now be decided in a similar way. the government should use teacher assessed grades in respect of a—level students, underpin that with

an appeals system in case a student feels their teacher assessed grade isn't correct. but now, of course, we don't know what sort of appeal system students are going to be relying on. the department for education says hundreds of thousands of school students in england already have the grades they need to continue with their education or seek employment. but some mps are privately confident that the government will make more substantial changes and that's because the perception that bright kids from poorer backgrounds could be losing out is politically toxic. but some believe confidence in the system has already been badly dented. the public is losing confidence in the system and it is up confidence in the system and it is up to 0fqual, which i know it's working very hard, it is up to 0fqual and especially the government to try to put in place something that will claw back some of that public confidence. i'm afraid it will not be able to claw back all of

it. in order to learn we need a u—turn! it. in order to learn we need a u-turn! the students believe the government so far has failed the fairness test. pressure for a revision of the system is increasing. iain watson, bbc news. and we can speak to iain now from westminster. is something about to give?|j is something about to give? i think there certainly is going to be some movement later today, the pressure has been growing. it was interesting that boris johnson has been growing. it was interesting that borisjohnson who is currently on holiday made time to speak to the education secretary this morning and to senior officials at the department for education. what i can tell you already is that calls for delays in publishing the gcse results later this week on thursday in england, wales and northern ireland have been rejected. you will remember the former conservative education secretary lord baker was amongst those calling for that delay until the a—level problems were sorted out but those results will go ahead. the key question is on what basis? would it be based on teachers' assessments alone, will it use this revised version of the

controversial algorithm from the exams regulator 0fqual? at a lobby briefing for politicaljournalists to date the prime minister's spokesman was repeatedly asked if there would be a u—turn. the only a nswer there would be a u—turn. the only answer is forthcoming was that this was a answer is forthcoming was that this wasafair answer is forthcoming was that this was a fair system that was being sought and children have had a very difficult year. so it sounds as though there is likely to be more movement and certainly from conversations i have had from conservative mps there is an expectation that there would be further changes from the government. 0ne further changes from the government. one of them said to me he thought it was inevitable that the scottish system, the teacher assessments, would have to be adopted in england too. it had been a very difficult yearfor too. it had been a very difficult year for children too. it had been a very difficult yearfor children and too. it had been a very difficult year for children and also a very difficult political problem for the government because boris johnson difficult political problem for the government because borisjohnson was elected last year taking seats historically represented by labour on an agenda where he said he would level of the country, and yet the criticism consistently over the past few days is that some of the most disadvantaged pupils are those losing out on the chance of going to university. so i do feel that something is going to give. iain,

thank you very much. well, let's get more on the situation in northern ireland and wales with our correspondents chris page — who is in belfast and tomos morgan who is in cardiff. chris, action there is already being taken. yes. hugely significant decision, simon, most of all four gcse students but also their families and teachers as well. the education minister in the devolved government at stormont peter weir has announced that gcse results here in northern ireland on thursday will be determined by predicted grades given by teachers and by that alone, so really, a big change. he says he has made this decision in order to reassure pupils and their relatives and also to ease anxieties. last week when a—level and as—level results were given here, more than a third of the predicted grades given by teachers were lowered by the local exams body, so that lead to, of course, strong criticism by principals and also by teenagers who

we re principals and also by teenagers who were going to have to sit the exams, we re were going to have to sit the exams, were it not for the coronavirus pandemic. whenever peter weir made the announcement this morning he was asked what he follow suit and revert a—level results to teachers' predictions? he said as things stood at the moment he wasn't planning on doing that. why? the vast majority of gcses in northern ireland, 97%, are set by the northern ireland exams board over which the devolved government has authority but it is different with a—levels. 0f government has authority but it is different with a—levels. of all the a—level is taken in northern ireland every year about one in five is actually set by an english exam board. so if there is a change announced in england as regards a—level and as—level results, that could affect out of attitude the stormont executive takes as regards its next steps in this issue. chris, thank you very much. tomos morgan, what is the situation in wales this morning? there is mounting pressure on kirsty williams, the welsh education minister, here after what

happened in northern ireland. what happened in northern ireland. what happened on thursday last week. the situation in wales last week was that pupils were going to get their predicted grades but then qualifications wales, wales' equivalent of 0fqual in wales, said the teachers had been overly generous, so the teachers had been overly generous, so they downgraded 42% of pupils' exam results. however, very late in the day on wednesday evening, kirsty williams then said that no pupil in wales would get a result in a—levels that would be less than what they achieved in the same paper in their as—level result, theirexam same paper in their as—level result, their exam results in year 12. since then there has been concerns from teachers and there has been protests yesterday in wales of people saying, why didn't they trust the teachers, saying pupils have been left in a difficult position and a different position, and when you look around the rest of the uk all the pupils are in different positions because the devolved governments have been given different advice on different guidance, on the exam results, they

say. very difficult position for the welsh education minister today and they could be an announcement later today. tomos morgan and chris page, thank you both. self—employed workers — who are eligible for government support during the covid crisis — can apply for a second, final, round of grants from today. more than 3 million people are eligible but many self—employed people are concerned that they will be left out again. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. meet amy storey, a self—employed actor and entertainer, who has fallen between the gaps of the government's support schemes. i qualify for absolutely no financial help. this is because my normaljob is as a self—employed person, working for the nhs, but, to make ends meet, i took on a paye part—timejob, singing in a department store to children. that took me slightly above my self—employed income. so the percentages they employed,

don't add up, for me, to get help. like a lot of people, i've used up any scrap of savings that i have. that's nearly all gone now. there are nearly 3 million self—employed workers, like amy, still hoping for government help. the chancellor has already acknowledged that these schemes will not be able to help everybody, but that can be easy to say, but very hard for those individuals concerned. there is a broad package of support available, looking at things like mortgage holidays, looking at loans. from today, self—employed workers, if they are eligible, can claim for more support. 2.7 million people applied for the first grant. the claims came to £7.8 billion. it gave workers 87% of their average monthly profits. capped at £7,500. this second and final grant is worth 70% of average monthly profits. this time, the payment is capped at £6,500. but some think all this support from the treasury may still not be enough.

this second tranche of support only goes to october. it is grim times. even those who have been eligible for the support, and that's only two thirds of the self—employed. of the self—employed, will totally see a devastating run—up to christmas and into the new year. but this grant will make a difference to millions of self—employed workers, and the funds should come through quick. emma simpson, bbc news. tonight the democratic national convention gets under way in the us — four days of events leading up to the main moment: crowning the presidential nominee, joe biden and his vice—presidential pick kamala harris. traditionally the event is loud and brash — but this year it will be a very different event. covid—i9 fears mean that the only people attending in—person at the convention centre in milwaukee will be those running the event. mr biden will be dialling in to deliver his speech from delaware on thursday. nada tawfik has more. tens of thousands of people should have been descending on milwaukee to mark the start of the democrats' general election campaign.

instead the party will be holding an unconventional convention because of health concerns surrounding the pandemic. this is what it should look like but the normallyjam packed arenas will be replaced by two hours of virtual programming each night. over the four days speakers will include party heavyweights such as the 0bamas and clintons and a mix of moderates to progressive stars such as bernie sanders and alexandria 0casio—cortez. heading into the convention, this pollster says the biden—harris ticket is in a good position leading by a comfortable margin. conventions really don't play a large role in the election anyway so it's not going to really matter. in fact, it could just help him further. and what we have seen is him staying in place, staying in the shadows, letting president trump fall over his own rhetoric and his own handling of the pandemic and the protests and the economy, that has worked for biden really well in the last couple of months and we see that in the polls.

his low profile campaign, dubbed invisible by republicans, has certainly helped him control his image, avoiding the rigours of the campaign trail and grabbing attention at key moments. there's nothing ordinary about this election season. the typical issues that preoccupy campaigns have been overshadowed by the unprecedented challenges facing the economic and social well—being of americans. and that means, inevitably, the incumbent, president trump, will ultimately face more scrutiny than his challengerjoe biden. what do we want? justice! democrats are hoping to attract a broad coalition that will turn out on election day. you know, just give the youth more than opportunity. whilejoe biden doesn't excite the progressive left wing voters who preferred his primary challenger bernie sanders, he hasn't alienated all of them either. i will vote forjoe biden because, again, as bernie sanders stated our end goal is to defeat donald trump and to not, you know, give him more ammo to split any votes, or to even have a low voter turnout. we cannot afford to let that happen

because i do not know where we will be in the next four years from now but i pray that it is not with the occupant in the office that we currently have. we have to remember who we are. joe biden will officially accept the party's presidential nomination without the usual fanfare and balloon drop. no doubt the democratic national convention will look and feel very different. like everything else this year. nada tawfik, bbc news, new york. jane 0'brienjoins jane 0'brien joins me jane 0'brienjoins me now from washington. a big moment in washington. a big moment in washington and a big moment for kamala harris. indeed, she made history being selected as the first african—american and indian american woman on a major party ticket asjoe biden's running mate. so we'll be hearing from her, but that is about setting the tone of the campaign. michelle 0bama is one of the headline speakers. if you remember in 2016 she memorably said, when

they go lower, we go high, so you can expect more of that tonight. the theme is, we, the people, and it is about bringing together that extraordinary diversity we have seen on the campaign trail, when there was one during primary season, again, a historically diverse line—up of potential candidates, and at the end of the day they decided thatjoe biden was the safer bet, the 77—year—old white man, but significantly, with kamala harris as his running mate, so a real attempt to bring in a broad coalition of voters, which of course, they will need to win this election, which, at the moment, is still going ahead on november the 3rd. thank you, jane 0'brien. and this evening on bbc news. we'll bring you the latest from the first day of the democrat convention in delaware — that's from 9 o'clock on the bbc news channel with christian fraser and katty kay.

the time is almost 1.15pm our top story this lunchtime: as anger grows among pupils and teachers — pressure mounts on the government over england's exam results fiasco. and still to come — the young talent failing to break through — could it leave a once—favoured game snookered? coming up in sport on bbc news: ronnie 0'sullivan reflects after a sixth world snooker championship victory — and says he wants more success at the crucible. the foreign secretary dominic raab says the british government does not accept the result of what he described as a fraudulent presidential election in belarus. it comes as more protests have been taking place demanding that president alexander lukashenko — who has been in powerfor a quarter of a century — steps down. sarah rainsford reports. chanting alexander lukashenko is used to being greeted by crowds,

but never one like this. they are factory workers, once loyal, now demanding he should go. so, mr lukashenko flew in today, and inside the factory was no better. booing as he tried to speak, the workers shouted "leave". notjust not just the tribune notjust the tribune but not just the tribune but the presidency. their ruler of 26 years publicly humiliated. "now i've finished, you can shout", he eventually tells them. pressure has been building fast. sunday saw the biggest political rally ever in belarus. central minsk turned red and white as a crowd poured out to demand fresh elections. and today the woman many voted for sent a new message of support from lithuania where she fled to safety last week.

svetla na ti kha novs kaya svetla na tikhanovskaya said svetlana tikhanovskaya said she's ready to act as a transitional leader to release all of the political prisoners and to hold a fair political prisoners and to hold a fa i r vote political prisoners and to hold a fair vote that can be recognised by all the world. that statement will not be shown by state media, where these people work. so, they are now on strike demanding an end to censorship. there action took one morning show off air. but there was no sign of trouble on the news channel, just the latest on the harvest. this is one of several presenters who has resigned. she told me she had to leave for ukraine because she was threatened for speaking out. the show wasn't even political. she cooked, helping children, but she said she could not smile for the screen any more after seeing the police brutally beating protesters. translation: they try to frighten people, but people got angry instead

and now it is impossible to stop things. no one will ever forget what they did. it is a point of no return. they will never forgive this. there has been the odd scene like this but it is the exception. the security forces that mr lukashenko relies the security forces that mr lu kashenko relies on the security forces that mr lukashenko relies on are still loyal, and he is adamant he is in charge, but a protest wave against him is going now, every day. sarah raynsford, bbc news, moscow. —— protest wave is growing. for people living in abusive relationships — lockdown made it notjust harder for them to leave but also, for many, it meant the violence got worse. that's according to the first in—depth research about the impact of lockdown on the scale and nature of domestic abuse, carried out by the charity women's aid exclusively for the bbc‘s panorama programme. in the first weeks of lockdown, someone called the police about domestic abuse every 30 seconds. victoria derbyshire reports.

this isjess. for years her husband had been abusive to her. but when lockdown was announced things got worse. that stay—at—home message, what did that mean to you? seriously? yeah. the charity women's aid have been working on the first in—depth research about the impact of lockdown on domestic abuse, for panorama. of the people they spoke to, almost two—thirds of those living with an abuser said the violence had got worse. more than three—quarters of women said lockdown had made it harder for them to escape.

jess got out and to a place of safety. but finding a room in a refuge was harder than ever during lockdown. there were 1,100 fewer available beds. that's a drop of 42% compared to the same time last year. is it likely she is going to be accepted? marie williamson manages this refuge in london. marie's desperately trying to find a woman and her children a bed in an alternative refuge, after their whereabouts were mistakenly revealed by a third party. i've had five refuges of the seven refuges that were available and they've all declined. i'm going to ring up one other and then after that i've got no other options. 19 days after lockdown began at the government announced it would give an additional £2 million to domestic abuse helplines. the timing was dreadful. it should not have taken 19 days to mobilise any sort of action, and what it highlights is, it wasn't a priority for the government. it is a poor effort.

were you too slow to act? i don't think we were because when we were talking to charities in the very, very earliest days we were very much responding — we said to them, what you need for us to help? can i tell you how many people were killed in alleged domestic abuse cases in the three weeks between lockdown and when that announcement was made for the 2 million for the helplines? it was 11 women and two children, and one man in those three weeks. charities, the police, we all work incredibly hard to keep victims and survivors. we must never take attention away from the fact that it is abusive people who committed those murders. victoria derbyshire, bbc news. and you can see more on that story tonight at 7:30pm on bbc one in panorama: escaping my abuser.

ronnie o'sullivan has won the world snooker championship — again. but despite his charisma and superstar status few younger players seem to picking up on his cue with fears enthusiasm for the game is being — well — snookered. nesta mcgregor reports. the 2020 betfred world snooker champion! snooker is a game of numbers for ronnie o'sullivan. these are the significant ones. a cheque for £500,000. the sport's biggest pay day. 28 years as one of the game's elite, and world title number six. to be here and have had all them victories, it's a dream but it's kind of becoming a bit of a reality as well so it's nice to be living a dream. like most sports, snooker has had to adapt to life during the covid outbreak. but last week its long—term future o'sullivan was worried about. if you look at the younger players coming through, they're not that good, really. they're so bad that a lot of them

you see now, you think, i've properly got to lose an arm and a leg to fall outside the top 50, do you know what i mean? those words probably provided no comfort to a sport keen to boost participation numbers. if we go back ten years, and junior events, junior events around the world were at an all—time low. what we have seen is a steady increase and actually in the last two years we have seen a huge increase. o'sullivan won his first major title in 1993, aged just 17, and while he doesn't know how many frames he has got left, he has been inspiring players for generations. ronnie is a different level, he is just so good at the game, and i aspire to be like him. 16—year—old jamie wilson from hampshire will play his first match as a professional in september. not bad, considering he only entered the cue school qualifying tournament to assess the strength of his game. in the first year i am just going to see how it is

and take the experience from it. maybe in the second year hopefully do well in some tournaments but i'm just going to go and have the experience sort of thing, see how it is. for most young players, the dream is to make it to the professional tour. but first it's a venue like this and plenty of practice hours. ronnie o'sullivan's comments could provide extra motivation for snooker‘s next generation, and who knows? one day they might be across the table from him and able to let to their cues do the talking. they were two killings — just days apart — which shocked the country. the deaths of pc andrew harper and harry dunn — in totally different circumstances — happened in the glare of the public eye. now, their mums have found support — from each other — and in discussing their grief they even discovered that their boys shared a birthday. graham satchell has been to talk to them. two mothers bound together by the loss of a son.

pc andrew harper's mother, debbie, and harry dunn's mother, charlotte, have formed a remarkable bond. you are very careful with how much you let others see but when you know that you've got somebody that's equally broken inside, its easier. charlotte's son, harry, died when the motorbike he was riding was hit head—on by anne sacoolas, who was allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road. ms sacoolas, the wife of an american intelligence officer, claimed diplomatic immunity and left the country. debbie's son andrew harper was killed in the line of duty. after attempting to make an arrest, he was dragged behind a car for almost a mile. you wake up and it's on your mind. before you've woken up it's already there. there's no waking up in the morning thinking, "ah..." and then, "oh. you know, there's nothing that breaks it. it's 24/7. you know, 24 hours a day. it's just the physical pain that you feel all day, every day. and it doesn't... it just doesn't go away.

both women have turned the pain of losing a son into campaigning. debbie is fighting for andrew's law — it would mean an automatic 20—year sentence for anyone convicted of killing a police officer. it charlotte wants anne sacoolas, who's been charged with causing death by dangerous driving, to go through the british justice system. to take on your government and the american government, you know, its larger than enormous — it's a monster. and she's just kept going. but as i know, you keep going for your boy. but i think what we're both hoping is ourcampaigns will be able to help us to learn to actually live again. but debbie and charlotte are still haunted by the horrific ways they lost their sons. obviously with andrew, he was 99% unconscious at the very first when he went down. but that 1% becomes enormous in the middle of the night when you're feeling so sad.

you feel their pain and you feel guilty that you weren't with them. and you'd do anything you could... as horrific as it may have been, to have just been there and held their hand and let them know that... even though they would have still died, that you were there to comfort them. and we both had that taken from us. that was robbed. debbie and charlotte will continue to support each other, continue to fight for their boys. graham satchell, bbc news. time for a look at the weather — here's susan powell. we have lost the dramatic hit of last week. we certainly haven't lost the dramatic weather. here are the skies across london recently. widespread thunderstorms currently

experience for