this is bbc news. the headlines. a major government u—turn in england as the exams regulator says all gcse and a—level results in england will now be based on assessments by teachers. i would like to say sorry for that, and we are now taking steps to put that right. the education secretary apologised saying students had been affected by "significa nt inconsistencies" with the grading process. over the weekend it became clearer to me that there were a level of the number of students who were getting grades that frankly they should not have been getting and should have been doing a lot better. the move comes after the welsh government announced

it would do the same, and northern ireland promised teacher assessment for gcses there. chanting anger on the streets of belarus with a new wave of strikes to try to force president alexander lukashenko to step down. millions of self—employed workers in the uk can apply for a second coronavirus support grant — but for many it's too late. a break with convention for the democrats. no razzmatazz asjoe biden and kamala harris launch their golden ticket in the midst of a pandemic. in a major u—turn, the government has said a—level and gcse students in england will be given the grades assessed by their teachers —

or their moderated grade if it was higher. it follows uproar after about 40% of a—level results were downgraded by exams regulator quual, which used a formula based on schools' prior grades, and resulted in some students losing university places. education secretary gavin williamson has apologised for the "distress" caused. the chair of the exam regulator quual, rogertaylor, explained the decision to back down. teacher assessed grades, centre assessed grades, the grades that schools and colleges set as being the grade they thought students would achieve in exam should be awarded for gcses and a—levels and as's. btecs are not affected by this decision. this decision was made almost a week after scotland reached the same conclusion,

what has changed? what changed was seeing the experience of young people receiving grades and being distressed at the need to then have to go and appeal grades where they felt they were wrong, this was causing anxiety for young people, it was putting an administrative burden on teachers at a time they need to be preparing for the new school term, and seeing this, we realised that we had taken the wrong road here and we needed to change course. these are unprecedented circumstances, the task we attempted to do was set exam grades with no exams taking place, we developed an approach that has been used in other countries as well, but it is clear that while it may have technical merits in some ways,

it simply has not been an acceptable experience for young people and therefore we decided we should change course and allow the centre assessed grades to be awarded. isn't this really your opportunity to say sorry unequivocally to students and their families who have had five agonising stressful days? yes. i would like to say sorry. we have recognised the difficulty young people have faced coping with the receipt of grades they were unable to understand the basis on which they have been awarded. and i would like to say sorry for that. and we are now taking steps to put that right. with me now is our political correspondent helen catt. helen, we heard there from the chair of quual explaining the change. i

would be interested to know why you think this change has been made and why now? it is a significant u-turn, let's be clear about that from the start. we had from until the weekend the secretary of education gavin williams and sandy by the standardisation system saying that to return to grades would devalue grades for this year, so this is a big and remarkable change the argument you heard there from quual that it became apparent in recent days about the distress it was causing students having to go through an appeal process, i think they're going to be a lot of questions asked about that and why that wasn't a bit more obvious that it was going to be stressful for stu d e nts to it was going to be stressful for students to get exams and grades that they didn't think they deserve and having to go through that appeal process and put the university places on hold and questions will be asked of ministers to see why they did not think the political thought of this particular what happened in scotla nd of this particular what happened in scotland just a weak area that they had time to see what happened there,

why do we then see a repeat of that and ingrid and why did they dig in for so long before reversing this decision? now the education cemetery gavin williamson said it had resulted in more inconsistencies than could be resolved through an appeals process so i think there are going to be more questions asked about that. -- education secretary. how much pressure as he under? there has been rising pressure from his conservative colleagues to make this u—turn over the last few days and to explain why it got to this position. i think certainly he is going to have to do quite a lot of explaining but whether that will lead to anything further to in terms of him losing his position in cabin and i think we will have to wait and see, we are in a certain era times and looking to get schools back next month. whether boris johnson looking to get schools back next month. whether borisjohnson would wa nt to month. whether borisjohnson would want to make a change in his top tea m want to make a change in his top team at that point, i think that would be unlikely but this is

politics, we will have to wait and see what happens with that. haven't stay where you are because we are going to hearing from the education secretary gavin williamson. he was askedif secretary gavin williamson. he was asked if he was going to apologise to the a—level students affected. asked if he was going to apologise to the a—level students affectedlj have to the a—level students affected.” have of course incredible story to all the students who have been through this. when we came up with the system which was broadly supported across the spectrum of calculated grades, what we were doing was to ensure that we have the first possible system make sure we look after the interest of all students. but when it became that there were unfairness within the system, it was the right thing to act. when did that become apparent? over the week and it became clearer to me that there were a level of the numberof to me that there were a level of the number of students who were getting grades that frankly they shouldn't have been getting and should have been doing a lot better. the evidence both from quual and other

external bodies was apparent that action need to be taken. the first course would be to always make sure we had the most robust and broad ranging appeals process and that's what we had work to ensure that was put in place. but as we looked in greater detail over saturday and sunday it became evident that further action needed to be taken. is this not something you should have been speaking to quual before considering you only saw these discrepancies over the weekend? all the way through this process when quual did their very extensive consultation with over 12,000 people taking part, and allthe consultation with over 12,000 people taking part, and all the way in and to the exam serious, we have consta ntly to the exam serious, we have constantly asked for reassurance about the fairness of the system. fairness to make sure that children from the most distant vantage backgrounds didn't suffer, make sure that children from ethnic minority backgrounds and not in a situation where they were unfairly downgraded. and as we got the results, we always

understandably asked for that reassurance and that confirmation. this has been done fairly and in the best interest of students. but over the weekend is more evidence came m, the weekend is more evidence came in, it was clear that we need to act, that is what we have done and thatis act, that is what we have done and that is why we are going to be moving to the process of centre assessed grades making sure equally that those children who got a higher grade of which are a considerable numberof grade of which are a considerable number of children got a higher grade than the centre assessed grade that actually there is a situation where none of them will have that great markdown. the education secretary there gavin williamson. with me now is our political correspondent helen catt. you're listening to that along with me, would that be enough to silence his critics? there are so going to be questions asked about the timing and whack of political foresight if you like about how it got to this stage where they're having to make a

visible u—turn several days after those results. —— lack of political foresight. so questions around some conservative mps asking about be texts, they know that they have done this about a level but what happens with btec. it's notjust in england that this is happened, the welsh government has done exacted the same today and the northern irish executive of all decided to backtrack on that standardisation for eight levels and for gcses when they come out later this week and they come out later this week and they will go at that teacher assessed grades instead. but there will be more questions as well because this causes issues for universities now. you have already enough given out offers in places i know having to potentially find space for more students. the government has lifted the cap we understand on the number of students that can go to try and help that but certainly it has caused more problems down the line. i don't think this by any means draws a line under it and i think there will be more questions as well about the

politics of this coming from conservative backbenchers about how they got to this situation where you had young high achieving kids being left in a situation of great distress for several days was at that ascent when any government wa nts to that ascent when any government wants to do. helen at westminster, thank you. i can now speak to emily king who was downgraded from a c to a u in one of her a—level subjects. emily it is good to see you again, i know you and i spoke last week. i wa nted know you and i spoke last week. i wanted to start with the apology from gavin williamson the education secretary, he says, "i am sorry for the distress this is because young people and their parents but hope this announcement will not provide the certainty and reassurance they deserve." does that apply to you? well, i'm still not 100% sure if i'm going to get into university at the minute. i think it has cause unnecessary minute. i think it has cause

u nnecessa ry stress minute. i think it has cause unnecessary stress that i didn't need right now. what you're hoping to do, what you predicted grades were, and as i say one of them downgraded to a u, a failed?” were, and as i say one of them downgraded to a u, a failed? i think it is just crazy how someone can go from a c to it is just crazy how someone can go from a cto a it is just crazy how someone can go fromactoau it is just crazy how someone can go froma ctoa uand it is just crazy how someone can go from a c to a u and that is the people who don't turn up for the exam. what were you hoping to do? have you got a place in university? i had have you got a place in university? ihada have you got a place in university? i had a place and i do still have it kind of but it is at university of lincoln to do midwifery. and when you say you still got it kind of, tell me more about that. what have they sent to you? they said that i need to send over my teacher assessment grades and then they will review that and see if i can get in but they are currently keeping my place open. that's good news, for how long do you know that?”

place open. that's good news, for how long do you know that? i think it should be until the 7th of december if i'm right? therefore at the moments are you feeling more confident that you look at your place at your first choice university of lincoln to study midwifery as you want to? i'm not 100% sure that... i'm more hopeful thanit 100% sure that... i'm more hopeful than it was when i had to appeal my grade. and why are you not 100% sure? grade. and why are you not 10096 sure? because i still don't have a place at university at the minute. so it is on this chicken and an egg, isn't it? i can see this has been unbelievably stressful for you. can you give us a unbelievably stressful for you. can you give us a sense unbelievably stressful for you. can you give us a sense of what the last five days have been like? i've been extremely stressed. i've just been thinking about it nonstop all the time waiting to see what and how to appeal my grade. and whether i'm

actually going to be attending university in october.” actually going to be attending university in october. i hope you're getting plenty of support and good luck, emily. fingers crossed. thank you. thank you. the announcement on a—levels in england followed an earlier one from the welsh government, which confirmed it will use teacher assessments to mark a—level and gcses. let's get more from our wales correspondent tomos morgan who's in cardiff. how much of a surprise was this announcement in wales?” how much of a surprise was this announcement in wales? i think the pressure that has been happening over the last 72 hours i think it was inevitable really. there has been protest positions over the weekend, pressure from opposition parties here in wales and from teachers and following the northern irish decision i think it was inevitable. last week, up to 42% of

pupils in wales had their a—levels results downgraded. and the night before a levels results were due to before a levels results were due to be received, the education minister here kirsty williams made a pledge to stu d e nts here kirsty williams made a pledge to students saying that no pupil would receive a grade being less than what they would have received last year in their as great. and that was chained by the welsh government and more critical than more areas in the uk because it was based on actual exam results unlike orany of based on actual exam results unlike or any of the other devolved nations. but this pressure cause them to do this. chrissy we have said they had to do this to maintain confidence in the system because teachers we spoke to was their concern that welsh students would be in an unfairand concern that welsh students would be in an unfair and be unfairly disadvantage compared to students in other areas of the uk. there is now parity for students in wales and

across the whole of the uk but very thought of course for those students that may have already missed out on their first choice university position. i wanted to ask you about that because you are saying that 42% of pupils in wales had their grades downgraded, i think that is just slightly higher than in england. they will now have higher grades. will there be a place for them at university? some of them would have had to call to ask if they could get another place in a university so they may have voted except a university in another university. of course they would have been in a position where scottish students up until today would have been in a better position because they would've been assessed in scotland on the teachers predicted grades. but as i mentioned 42% of students here would be in a worse position just like in england and in northern ireland. it's a difficult position here now for students in wales and wales and england and in northern ireland because there will be several thousand students you would

have thought that would have now may be accepted a position in another university or may have still not had a university position because they didn't get the grades they were predicted and what they believed they were going to get. this story in wales and across the uk is far from over. tomos morgan in wales. thank you. a—level and as—level students in northern ireland will be awarded the highest grade either predicted by their teacher or awarded officially last week. over now to belfast and our ireland correspondent chris page. chris this is hugely significant for students, isn't it? it is a significant most of all for students and also of course for teachers and the families of the pupils who have been having such a stressful time particularly over the last few days. the education minister in the devolved government here in belfast was the first to make an announcement of a change to the exam system this morning at half past

seven, he announced that gcses which the results for which will be issued on thursday will be based solely on teachers predictions. so no rule at all for the exam board in standardising or putting any results through an algorithm or anything like that. that then pick the question which he was asked on morning radio programmes and that is will you make a similar decision for a—levels and he said if sag said he was not going to because he said there was a big a —— a big difference he said 90% of the gcses we re difference he said 90% of the gcses were set and provided by the local exams part of which he has authority but when you look at a—levels, about 20% of a couple papers set by stu d e nts 20% of a couple papers set by students here actually set by exam boards and ingrid so he could make a decision here in isolation from westminster. it was arisa present whenever that westminster government announced its decision on a levels

is evident that at exactly the same time, mrweirgavea is evident that at exactly the same time, mrweir gave a news is evident that at exactly the same time, mr weir gave a news conference at stormont and said something similar was going to happen in northern ireland. i've today instructed ccea that all of their as and a—level qualifications will now be awarded the higher of the greatest submitted by their centre or the great calculated by ccea. —— the grade submitted. ccea is working to release the revised results to candidates as quickly as possible. in the interim, students will be able to access details of their centre assessed grade from their school or college. concerns do remain over the impact of the changes to the qualifications system throughout the united kingdom, and any potential solution has its flaws. however, any other considerations are secondary to my prime concern to ensure that the young people of northern ireland are in no way disadvantaged in comparison to their peers elsewhere. portability and comparability of qualifications is critical for students, particularly those

from northern ireland. while standardisation is normally an important feature of awarding qualifications, these are truly unique circumstances. in this approach is now being adopted across all of the uk. that is why i have made this decision today. mrweir mr weir listen to concerns from the exa m mr weir listen to concerns from the exam support in belfast and talking about teachers and from students themselves and decided this was the best decision to be made. he rejected criticism that he acted too slowly but the questions are going to keep coming for him, the stormont assembly will be recalled from recess tomorrow and mr mcafee will be questioned by politicians about the whole situation. chris, we will talk to you tomorrow. thank you.

what's here now from the labour leader keir starmer. this should've been thought through from the surface of this problem has been there for months and the government has not sorted it out. came to the wrong decision last week, refuse to change his mind until today and now there's a huge motive unraveling that must be done. but do not underestimate the stress and anger at this has caused thousands of young people who have seen their futures all over the place over the last few days. let's hear from the mayor of greater manchester — andy burnham — who was former education secretary for labour and was considering mounting a legal challenge to the situation. thanks so much forjoining us here on bbc news. what is your reaction to the news we have heard and the last hour or so about this change?” was once the shadow education secretary, better not to over promote my! we promoted yourself there! it is relief that we finally got justice there! it is relief that we finally gotjustice for there! it is relief that we finally got justice for hundreds there! it is relief that we finally gotjustice for hundreds of thousands of young people across the

country and i am pleased for them. they made their voice heard and well done to them all for doing that. what i would say to them tonight is never ever let anybody tell you that these aren't the right grades are that these grades should not have been given to you. they are the grades you deserve and that a micro because i know of the efforts or teachers have made to give these assessments, i am pleased that they can now plan for their future but my god this never ever should have come to this. the government confronted with the injustice on thursday evening should've acted immediately. ask to record instead they dug and had to be threatened with wheel action before making the change, it is not good enough at all. you can gradually teachers there and this will mean that more children will not get top grades. is there any possibility in your view that in some cases, teachers may have been too optimistic in predicting grades orare too optimistic in predicting grades or are we had a point now that actually that doesn't matter?”

don't believe that teachers will have put in grades that were unrealistic because i know they went through a very rigorous prior process was up i met all the greater manchester colleges and they told me the link they had gone through difficult decisions and disappointing some of their own decision and micro students to make this decisions was up and educationists are kinda making state m e nts educationists are kinda making statements about employers not accepting teacher access and grades. i think frankie that says ministers have no trust in their own profession that they're responsible for. ——i profession that they're responsible for. —— i think frankly. what kind of statement is that? tonight teachers deserve an apology, young people deserve an apology, and the secretary of state and his minister need to do a lot of looking in the mirror. they have a lot of trust to rebuild. it is interesting though. you say students deserve an apology andindeed you say students deserve an apology and indeed gavin williamson the education secretary has apologised this evening but a lot of the

stu d e nts this evening but a lot of the students we've been talking to, while stressed by the whole thing, have actually said they welcome the fa ct have actually said they welcome the fact that the government appears to have listened. do they get any credit for that? well, finally. but i don't think they were listening to be honest rebecca. they were digging in over the weekend. they said that there would be no u—turn. if there had not been pressure from hundreds of thousands of students and parents across the country i don't think they would have you turned in. i suppose like anybody once you finally do the right thing, you deserve some credit. but i'm not letting go with my front of legal action until i hearfrom ministers that btec students are protected by this u—turn. and that is the most forgotten students at all. i will be waiting to hear back before celebrate what should've been done all along. what will your legal

action involve? welcome in my view what the government did was discriminatory against young people in greater manchester. why? because the system was applied more harshly to six form colleges and fe colleges and the vast majority of great britons go to those institutions so iam waiting britons go to those institutions so i am waiting and we have gotjustice for about a—level students and btec stu d e nts for about a—level students and btec students and i was going to challenge the government on grounds under the equality act because in my feud they were discriminating against young people who went to six form coaches or fe colleges was up what this was as what we always see in the education system. casual determination against kids from a working—class background and i wasn't having it, many other people weren't having it, and actually until we see it for a—level and btec students, i want to be removing the threat of legal action. a lot of anger as you say and clearly you share it. where does the buck stop in your view? is a gavin williamson?

is it of call, or is it indeed deep prime minister and what should happen now? i think all of them. this get made. wrong policy decisions get made, we saw it in scotla nd decisions get made, we saw it in scotland book and how the scottish government dealt with that compared to the uk government. as i say, they tried to dig in, they try to defend the indefensible and indefensible was this, that working—class kids and those from game communities, they were going to our them to be discriminated against for some —— from bame communities they also in my few left an impression that they don't touch the teaching profession. they all them all on apology but they also need to set out how they are going to rebuild trust amongst teachers, parents and of course students. andy burnham, we must leave it there. former shadow education secretary for labour and mayor of manchester. lovely to talk to you, thanks. let's get some more put a correction to the government

pots i change in policy from the liberal democrats spokesperson for education, leila moran and thank you for joining education, leila moran and thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. what do you make of this change, was it inevitable? what a mess they have created! yes it was inevitable, it was always the right thing to do. as soon as we worked out that in essence this algorithm sanctioned by gavin williamson and borisjohnson was essentially grading our children by postcode, they were creating a system that was inherently unfair to the most disadvantaged and as soon ask scotland recognise that this was ask scotland recognise that this was a problem, they had time to change this before they've hit this mess. so i'm glad that common sense at some point seems to have entered the equation but it is already too late for some who are being told that the places that they wanted to go to at university are no longer available, universities are now scrambling to work out how they're going to solve this problem. and the point is this

government is utterly incompetent. gavin williamson must go and i don't understand why boris johnson gavin williamson must go and i don't understand why borisjohnson has not offered a heartfelt personal apology to all the students, parents, and teachers, and universities out there for the mess that his government has created. i put the same point to you that i put two anti—burnham layla moran that we have spoken to a lot of stu d e nts moran that we have spoken to a lot of students whose results were downgraded so they are not benefited from this change. —— i put two anti—burnham. they have also been very stressed by what has happened. they're also stressing relief and gratitude for the fact that the government listened. does it deserve any respect for that? of course they feel that finally someone has listened. but when someone listens, being dragged kicking and screaming to this position, this isn't a government that saw the issues coming, reacted quickly, or indeed reacted in advance to mitigating the

problem. they have been forced into this position and what it speaks to at its heart is borisjohnson not speaking up for the very people that he claims that he cares about. this algorithm of grading by postcode meant people that went to school like his that did not have been downgrading. and it was kids who came from schools in other parts of the country like the northwest and northeast who are most disproportionately affected, black and minority ethnic students, it is the poorest students coming from the poorest families. these are the same stu d e nts by poorest families. these are the same students by the way who are entering a job market in a one and 300 year recession who if anything was needed it was a approach that needed to give in the leg up they needed. this is not something that they should be given a pat on the back for. boris johnson should be apologising to these young people for the future is that are potentially he and his this fiasco has ended up snatching away from them. i think it is worth

saying that i know that the headmaster at eton, the school that borisjohnson attended, has also written a letter saying that many of his students have been adversely affected by the algorithm. and although you were saying it was a postcode algorithm, all sorts of different students have been affected and of course the government would say that it was designed to ensure that there wasn't a huge inflation of top grades and what we are now going to see is a doubling of top grades from 7% to i3%. doubling of top grades from 7% to 13%. how could that be a good thing? it's a good thing because this is a special cohort. we are in the middle ofa special cohort. we are in the middle of a global pandemic. the last time something like this happened like this across the world was 100 years ago. it is absolutely right that we put the individual achievement of these students above mathematical standardisation. and it's worth saying that quual itself and the

five front page document that they have released on a level stay showed that they knew that a quarter of these grades were always going to be wrong. they had tested the auger them and then tested it against actual work they had seen and realise that there was a problem. —— tested the auger rhythm. they knew there would be problems coming down there would be problems coming down the line. i am very worried in particular for those who maybe were predicted a c and ended up with a d oruin predicted a c and ended up with a d or u in fact. and these are the kinds of things that have to stop because unless you have fairness built into the system that puts the individual first built into the system that puts the individualfirst and built into the system that puts the individual first and not a mathematical problem, then what is the point on the students having gone to school in the first place with mick and the other thing i will say is the government now has to support universities through this. there is may be chaos, regulative causes like medicine and other science that will have to find more places or they will then turn on a

lot of those students who miss out away. universities are going to be left to pick up the pieces come at the government needs to say unequivocally they are going to allow universities to remove the cap on the number of students that are allowed to go and that they are going to foot the bill for any of the financial costs that universities are going to bear because of the botched job that this government has made it this process. as you said, we are in a global pandemic and the government would say it has done the best it could in those circumstances. when this issue has been rumbling on for months, when did you first raise the alarm bells that there was going to be a problem? having not been involved in the creation of the algorithm, and in fact, when they were told by the royal statistical society and others that they needed help, and they were offered help, they then asked them to signa

offered help, they then asked them to sign a nondisclosure agreement because they didn't want the transparency to be in the system. so it wasn't until we started to have those documents that were released after the great had been issued that we could begin to understand the implications of this algorithm, and my background is as a maths and physics teacher. when you ever predict one great, that happens. as a teacher, you want to give a predictive grade that the student will get on their best day, because who are you to say that they wouldn't have their best day? what should have been automatically included as an automatic appeal process where they go back to the school and say, prove that this student that you say is a capital late is not a c. none of that was built in and it is clear that they did not robustly change the defects that they saw in it that they have admitted that they knew were there,

and that is why we are in this mess. there was ample opportunity for gavin williamson and borisjohnson to have instructed off call to sort this out. that is not what has happened and that is why we are in the mess we are now. the liberal democrats' spokesperson for education. more now on the u—turn by the government over exam grades in england. universities uk says the late change raises challenges for universities at a late stage in the admissions process. david seaton is the assistant director of admissions at the university of bedfordshire. hejoins me now. i wonder whether you are welcome this announcement. good afternoon. i think i speak on behalf of the higher education sector when i say that we fully support the

announcement this afternoon, as the algorithm method that students were previously awarded on obviously caused a lot of distress and a real sense of injustice among school leavers. at the end of the day, you are going to be faced with a lot of stu d e nts are going to be faced with a lot of students who have got higher grades. are there enough university places for them all? absolutely. from the very start of the pandemic, universities were operating in a very flexible manner in terms of the admissions procedures we implemented. even today, we are still looking at our numbers of available places and allocating a certain number to ensure that all stu d e nts certain number to ensure that all students have the opportunity to attend university if they wish. we are planning for this and have been for some time. what about those stu d e nts for some time. what about those students who were turned down by their first choice university and

have now accepted a place at their second choice university and gone through clearing quiz night we were speaking to an expert on earlier who suggested that might be as many as 55,000 students. what choice is open to them if they really still want to go to theirfirst to them if they really still want to go to their first choice university? my go to their first choice university? my main piece of advice to those applicants is that universities will very much welcome a conversation. my advice would be to contact at university, find out what their options are, because given the announcement today, it is expected that those universities should reconsider that reject decision based on the new grades that we will be receiving fairly soon. what about if there are a considerable number of appeals, and you've got significant numbers of people going back to universities saying, i now have the grades? i think there are about 80,000 students at the moment holding offers. that's correct. if a

student were to look at the appeal system, again, i come back to this point about flexibility — universities have been encouraged this year to offer very flexible admissions, so a lot of universities are still holding places on courses. we do encourage students to appeal, but still consider university places at the same time. a lot of universities will also have a january and february start as well, so that could be another option if anybody finds themselves in that position. the chair of quual has justified in part the reason for this decision being the administrative pressure that was being placed on schools. isn't the truth that really now that administrative pressure has been passed on to universities? there is an element of that. however, universities are there to serve

students, they are to facilitate high level education. we will adapt to this new environment we are working to, and although there will be pressures on universities, i'm very confident that the higher education sector will rise and we will maintain our high level of service to our applicants. but you've still got to have the space. this is happening during a global pandemic, when universities are having to introduce social distancing measures, so i appreciate you are being very upbeat and positive, but there are challenges ahead, aren't they are? absolutely there are, and i think every university in the uk will be looking at this very carefully. universities will adapt their teaching style for at least the first semester. at the university are bedfordshire, we are looking at a blended teaching style.

universities are being creative in the ways we will be able to accommodate the 2020 cohort coming through, and as i say, we will be very much offering that flexibility to our applicants and students when they arrive. a final thought. this has perhaps been confusing at best, a bit ofa has perhaps been confusing at best, a bit of a shambles at worst — what is your take, a bit of a shambles at worst — what is yourtake, and a bit of a shambles at worst — what is your take, and how did we get to this point? i think that the big issue that i personally find is the limited information coming out, so even now, the announcement has been made, but there has been very little information behind that announcement. so, we are constantly trying to apply pressure to obtain the up—to—date information regarding the up—to—date information regarding the ongoing situation, so that would be my own personal issue with the current situation, and i know that is shared here at the university as well. david seaton, assistant

director of admissions at the university of bedfordshire, really good to hear your thoughts. thank you forjoining us. one a—level student, nina bunting mitcham, said she was glad that students' voices had been listened to, and hoped mistakes would not be repeated. i'm so happy for my future, my peers in my college, everybody else affected, everybody else has been heard finally. and the fact that i was given a prediction of a, b, b, means i will have those great and be able to become a vet eventually. honestly, i couldn't be happier, i really couldn't. that is tremendous news, so you are basically saying that your predicted grades were higher than the grades that you receive when you open that envelope on thursday? yes, i was predicted a,

b, b, and i received d, d, d, so quite a drop in grades. in the meantime, that was five days ago. what did you do when you received those three ds was my presumably you contact at the college you were supposed to be going too. what did they said, go through the appeals process , we they said, go through the appeals process, we will keep your place until the 31st of august. if you don't get the grades you need by then, we will still keep your place for 2021 term. either way, then, we will still keep your place for2021 term. eitherway, i then, we will still keep your place for 2021 term. either way, i was still prepared to fight, take exams or whatever it took for another year if that had to happen. brilliant, so it has worked out for you. i do want to know what you make of the whole system, because i can imagine it must have been very difficult.” think they have really embarrassed themselves, actually. but i think they have been able to turn it round at the moment and shown that they do

have a heart, and they do have some form of realisation of what they have done to people, and they have listened for once. so, i'm really glad for that. and maybe they might ta ke glad for that. and maybe they might take this experience further into other experiences and look back on this, so it might benefit further situations, i'm hoping. what might during the pandemic, the richest 20% of pupils were spending six hours a week more on educational activities compared to the poorest 20%. activities compared to the poorest 2096. 4500 families were surveyed and compared it to data from five years ago and there was no difference in learning time. one head teacher told

the bbc it will take nearly two yea rs the bbc it will take nearly two years to close the gap, as our special correspondent ed thomas reports. educating through coronavirus. the most deprived parts of the country, children with hope and ambition. my dreams are to become a dancer and a singer. i'm determined to do the best in high school that i can. the last day of term inside saint mary and saint thomas primary in saint helens, an outstanding school. almost half of the 220 pupils have a special need. ina the 220 pupils have a special need. in a deprived area, there is already a gap that we are always striving to close. what has coronavirus done to the education of those vulnerable here because market has stalled their education, and that gap will have grown hugely. they call 50 of the most vulnerable children and theirfamilies every the most vulnerable children and their families every week. more than

six out of ten pupils receive free school meals. how are you for food? on ourlist is school meals. how are you for food? on our list is domestic abuse, low employment in the area, drug misuse. even before lockdown, the school handed out at least 30 food parcels every month. hello, sweetheart, i got your bags. linda is in charge of the welfare of all pupils, including home visits. it is making sure we provide a safe, secure environment for them, that they feel ready to learn, that their worries are left at the door. a bag for kelly that i can drop off. these are for kelly, a single parent. rhea is eight years old and her mum's young carer. she's got two both legs on one hand, so it's hard for her cooking. —— two bad legs. just packing stuff and unpacking stuff is hard. and on top of all of this, you've got to learn.

yeah. hi, kelly, cani of all of this, you've got to learn. yeah. hi, kelly, can i come in? how are you, love? liking this new house. rhea's mum has cerebral palsy. is she your support? she is me everything, commonly world, me rock. the school and kelly want rhea to reach her full potential. i'd like her to to reach her full potential. i'd like herto go to reach her full potential. i'd like her to go to uni and go want to find a decent job like her to go to uni and go want to find a decentjob and be set for life, really, yeah. home learning for children like phoebe has been especially tough. i do struggle with maths, so i have been worried if i do go down. dad didn't know the long division and the short division. george is phoebe's dad. like many pa rents, george is phoebe's dad. like many parents, he struggled with his own education. i failed in maths.

parents, he struggled with his own education. ifailed in maths. school helped to get my english qualification. i can't help my child heal. a single parent with diabetes and anxiety. the school has supported him throughout. and anxiety. the school has supported him throughoutm and anxiety. the school has supported him throughout. it has been for the past eight years. they have been there all the way. this is a school, let's remember that. but we are a community and they are our family. every day during lockdown, poorer children were doing 75 minutes less learning than richer pupils according to the institute for fiscal studies. since march, andrea decided to keep her girls away from school. i was terrified. my away from school. i was terrified. my mum had corona. i didn't want to catch it because i thought, he was going to look after these? at saint mary and saint thomas, there were 130 childrenjust like mary and saint thomas, there were 130 children just like andrea, mary and saint thomas, there were 130 childrenjust like andrea, not from —— learning from packs sent

home. at st mary and st thomas, children just like angela's, not in school, learning from packs sent home. i'm trying to do schooling at home. wow, that's a whole new ball game. from the decision you've made, what don't you want to happen? i would like them to be able to pull it back and not a struggle. i don't want it to affect their education. a child could have been away for six months and not done any home learning. what has that made you think? it's a mountain to climb. this is going to take the next academic year and into the one after to really get those children back to where they need to be and if there was ever a time for us to step up, it's now. this pandemic is exposing inequalities and, in the classroom, the poorest are falling further down. ed thomas, bbc news, st helens. more now on our top story — that the government has said a—level and gcse students in england will be given the grades assessed by their teachers, or their moderated grade

if it was higher. we can speak to tim lawton. what has gone wrong and he was responsible? whoever was dealing with this problem, it was a massive problem to try and tackle, where you have to assess several hundred thousand stu d e nts assess several hundred thousand students on the basis of no exams, so it was never going to be easy. alas, the algorithm that third that came up with was deeply flawed, and because of that, we have had five days of grief to students who feared losing their university places, so i am pleased that the education secretary has reversed that decision today, but more importantly, i'm really relieved for the tens of thousands of students, including many in my constituency, who might now get the university places which a few days ago they thought they had lost. they come up with the algorithm because the department for education told them to ensure that

there weren't that many students who got top grades, didn't they? there was a whole load of considerations that have gone into this. how you cater for young people from that have gone into this. how you caterfor young people from less well—off backgrounds, how you take into account the record of schools in previous years, and how that might impact artificially if you got a particularly bright cohort going toa a particularly bright cohort going to a particular school. there are differences between schools that had smaller class sizes. there was no easy way of solving this, but i think frankly at the end of the day, the most reliable, imperfect though it is, was to go back to the teacher forecast for what the students whom they know best. i think it is the least worst solution out of what has been a bit of a mess and a very

stressful mess for many hundreds and thousands of students over the last few days. i take your point that there is no easy way to solve this. i think the problem is the perception is that no one seems to have been in charge. where in your view does the buck stop? ultimately, it stops with the department for education. i don't know what happened between the dfe, ministers and quual. i know ministers have been very concerned and there has been very concerned and there has been frenetic activity on what's up between conservative mps and ministers over the last few days, and certainly i and many colleagues have fed back some of the very real, tragic cases about our constituents, andi tragic cases about our constituents, and i think the weight of all that has made quual and ministers realise that actually we could end up realise that actually we could end up creating a worse solution, so we better go back to having this teacher led forecast. which is

probably the fairest in the circumstances. this is an exceptional year. this is not something we will revert to every year, but in these desperate circumstances that the pandemic is brought about, we need exceptional solutions, and i think this is probably the fairest solution they have come up with. and no one would envy them thejob have come up with. and no one would envy them the job of coming up with a solution to this. tim lawton, we must leave it there. let's hearfrom the education secretary, gavin williamson, who was asked if he was going to apologise to the a—level stu d e nts going to apologise to the a—level students affected. of course incredibly sorry to the stu d e nts of course incredibly sorry to the students affected by this. when we come up with a system that calculated grades, we were ensuring we had the fairest possible system, making sure we looked after the interest of all students. when it

became apparent there was unfairness in the system, it was the right thing to act. when did you decide to do that? over the weekend, it became clearer to me that there were a number of students who were getting grades that frankly they shouldn't and should have been doing a lot better, and the evidence, both from quual and other external bodies, was apparent that action needed to be taken. we need to make sure we have the most robust and broad ranging appeals process, and that's what we had worked to ensure we put in place. but as we looked in greater detail over saturday and sunday it became evident that further action needed to be taken. is this not something you should have been speaking to quual before considering you only saw these discrepancies over the weekend? all the way through this process when quual did their very extensive consultation with over 12,000 people taking part, and all the way

in and to the exam series, we have constantly asked for reassurance about the fairness of the system. furnace to make sure the children of the most disadvantaged backgrounds didn't suffer and that children from ethnic think the narrative backgrounds were not unfairly downgraded, and as we got the results, we always understandably asked for that reassurance and confirmation that this is being done fairly and in the best interests of students. at the weekend, as more evidence came in, it was clear that we needed to act. that is what we have done and that is why we are going to move into the process of centre recessed grades, making sure equally that those children who got a higher grade, of which there are a considerable number who got a higher grade than the centre recessed great, that actually there was a situation where none of them will have that great markdown. you are saying third might give you reassurance that the system would

not disadvantage students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and you said over the weekend that would not be the case, so are you assured that you have been advised correctly? we have an assurance that the system, the algorithm was the right one to deliver a fair distribution of grades within schools right across england. when it became apparent that there were challenges with that, the right thing to do was to act. do you have confidence in quual if they have been giving you reassu ra nces quual if they have been giving you reassurances that you don't think they are no longer valid, do you still think they are a fit body? they have been working at every stage to ensure there is fairness in the system, and we will work with quual and the exam boards to ensure that the grades that youngsters have worked so hard towards are properly issued, both for gcse mike and a—levels and a.s. levels. it is

vital that youngsters get the grades that they have worked towards. last week, you said students being given the grades that they had been predicted would be unfair to other stu d e nts predicted would be unfair to other students — is that no longer the case? we are in a situation where we all recognised that the best form of assessment is always exams. exams are the best way of being able to test a young person as to how they have progressed in terms of their schoolwork. when you don't have exams, there is a general consensus, a broad consensus, and you are not just seeing it in england, you have seen it in northern ireland, wales and scotland, that moderated great was the best route forward. i have no doubt that if we hadn't seen the situation where there were a number of youngsters who were quite clearly not getting the grades that they deserved, well that would have been the route that we would have

preferred to have followed, but where there is quite obviously in justice, and we have seen that in the system, we have to act, and that is why we have had to make the decision that we have done. of course, our preferred option, understandably, was to ensure that there was moderated grades, but there was moderated grades, but there were on furnaces within the system and we cannot be in a situation where we tolerate unfairness. hello. we continue with the threat of intense but localised thunderstorms over the next 24 hours, producing scenes like these with clouds on the horizon and this beautiful rainbow. the thundery showers will migrate northward late afternoon into the evening before petering out, then we will see this area of more persistent rain pulling away from northern ireland, swirling across the irish sea to end the night. pretty muggy once again, lows of 14 degrees.

into tuesday, this swirl of rain will pull across northern wales into northern england through the morning before pushing northwards into scotland during the course of the day. looking at the map, it looks like it's petering out but we can still see intense rainfall working northwards across scotland. for england and wales, yes, some decent sunshine but still locally the risk of some intense thunderstorms. for the remainder of the week, we turn to the atlantic and areas of low pressure — two centres in fact in this circulation here, which will bring strong winds to all parts of the uk throughout the remainder of the week. wednesday, particularly i think for western areas. as we see this band of rain coming in, and this could be heavy enough again to cause localised flooding. with pretty soggy ground we could see winds reaching 40 mph bringing down the odd tree. scotland looking driest and brightest through the middle of the week. thursday, if we look closely at the weather chart, we will see a gap between the bands of rain, the isobars

opening up a touch. first thing on thursday not too bad for the uk but we have showery rain approaching from the west, and the winds will pick up through the course of the day again, particularly gusty towards the west with showers crowding in. in the east with some sunshine, a little warmer once again, up to 25 degrees. perhaps it's friday that's our greatest cause for concern. that looks like the day that will bring the peak winds. more rain pushing across the uk but the winds could reach 50 mph in exposure towards the west, strong enough potentially to cause damage and disruption. an unseasonably windy end in store to the week ahead.

a crashing u—turn on a—level and gcse results — pupils across the uk will now get the grade given them by their school or college. it follows uproar after tens of thousands of a—level teacher assessments were downgraded by the exams watchdog. it apologised, so did the government. where there is quite obviously injustices and we have seen that in this system, we have to act. and that's why we have had to make the decision this we have done. out of anyone in this, we should just be trusting the teachers. they're not going to send us off the uni courses that they know we can't do. they're not going to push us intojobs that they know we can't do. as universities now try to decide whether they can offer places to students who missed out, labour accuses the government of a fiasco.