in england has heaped pressure onto the country's universities — as tens of thousands of students who've had their grades re—set scramble for places. many of those places had already been given to students before the government's u—turn — and there's uncertainty about whether the universities can take every student who now wants a place. the education secretary gavin williamson has said he is "incredibly sorry for the distress" caused by the row — but has sidestepped calls for him to resign. wales and northern ireland also reversed their position on a—level grades yesterday. our education editor, branwenjeffreys, has the latest. natasha is still looking for a place to study medicine. her hopes had been in tatters and now results downgraded by computer have been replaced by top grades from her teachers. i'm very pleased about the u—turn the government has made because i feel more secure in my future but it has been a stressful couple

of days because i thought i had not got into university. good afternoon, you are through to clearing. calls to clearing today, students checking their place is secure. the courses have been filling up but this university is honouring every offer. the legal situation i do not think is entirely clear but my understanding is that if you were made an offer and you've met that offer then universities would be obliged to adhere to it. that is what we're doing at manchester met. i think it is more challenging if you have not had an offer but want to apply to clearing on the basis of the teacher sat grades, i think that situation is less certain. he says that students need to weigh up their options. talk to a school or college, talk to the universities but do we really want students to put their life on hold? they've been through a lot in the last few months. today, a promise from

the universities minister. students that have taken a different course from the one they are now eligible for be that their primary offer or insurance, are eligible to change their mind and reverse their decision. however i think the first port of call must be talk to your institutional university and think about what is right for you. since results day a lot has happened and some students have already compromised. a warning today to universities in england, students from poorer areas must not be the losers. this is a serious risk and i think all of us are determined to try to prevent these unprecedented circumstances from having the most impact on students who can least afford to navigate their way through it and the least able to navigate their way through it. campuses are not deserted now but universities have to manage numbers like never before.

making them as covid safe as possible. we can speak now to dr greg walker, who's the chief executive of million—plus, the association for modern universities. are you any clearer about how you can honour your original offer is now? good evening. no, universities will be doing their utmost to ensure that prospective students start next week we met might potentially get there offer is delivered by being able to go to university. that is everybody highest priority and we are working 90 days to that all the stu d e nts are working 90 days to that all the students who have offers from universities get an offer for the september or if the course is jam—packed this year, an offer of deferral. —— working night and day. just on that, there will be many would—be students who cannot afford to ta ke would—be students who cannot afford to take a year off especially with a job situation at the moment because of the pandemic. what happens to

those students whose grades were downgraded whose courses they wanted to do have now been filled? so what we are doing is to work with the government and work with the national health service when it comes to health care courses to try and get to expand the capacity is much is possible for those highly demanded courses that there may be issues about their total capacity. so we are hoping to be able to expand the ability did take students toa expand the ability did take students to a better facility, expand the ability did take students to a betterfacility, more simulation equipment for health care courses two and you can find that?” haven't heard any government minister saying. that they will be providing money for that. we need support for health care courses and medicine and nursing and so on where they are really strict limits and we are quite close in many institutions to coming close to the maximum amount allocation of students students. it would be fantastic and really important for the government to come up with resource to be able

to come up with resource to be able to expand those facilities and expand the equipment. have you applied for that and received any positive response? we are smuggled to the government today about this as have other organisations. asking that the department of health and education do their utmost to make that available. —— we have spoken to the government today. it will be tough. the timescale is now, determine starting in a few weeks' time left for on some institutions. we will need to move very quickly. that should be term you're starting. there will be so many students, they will want to know this. you put in the request, was the response positive? in whitehall, there is a mind about that and people are really interested in what we can do to expand this academic year. it will be as flexible as possible so will be as flexible as possible so will try to take as many other stu d e nts will try to take as many other students as possible. we want to honour the offers. your line is

breaking up, doctor. i will try a couple more questions. it sounds that you're saying you're try your very ha rd est that you're saying you're try your very hardest and working around the clock but it sounds as if quite a few stu d e nts clock but it sounds as if quite a few students will be disappointed this year. we will do our best to try and fit as many students as safely and with a high quality education that we would want every student to have. but obviously there will be discussions between universities and applicants. if there are limits to there we will have to be realistic about that in there will be discussions deferrals for some students, no doubt about that. the best of luck for what will bea that. the best of luck for what will be a pretty busy few weeks. you, doctor. i ——, thank you. marks and spencer is planning to cut seven thousand staff by the end of the year, after a slump in sales during the coronavirus pandemic. the cuts — on top of 950 already announced — amount to about a tenth of the overall work force. the company is the latest to announce major losses, as our business correspondent

emma simpson reports. you do not see this often, a new storejust opening after lockdown. it is close to nottingham and pulling in the shoppers. it helps being out of town. is a different in many city centres. it's a different in many city centres. this is oxford street in london and much quieter than it should be. not good if you rely on footfall for sales. this was the first floor at marble arch this lunchtime, one of the key london stores for marks & spencer and today the company said there had been a material shift in trade and it had to act. these new figures show the challenge. the two months since reopening, clothing and home sales at its stores down 40% compared to last year but online sales up 39%. this pandemic has driven a rapid change in shopping habits. with more people buying online fewer workers are needed in stores.

marks & spencers was already making big changes before the pandemic and they have been speeding up those changes now. 7000 jobs to go today, the biggest cuts this retailer has ever made. awful news for the people involved but i'm afraid rather inevitable as shops like this are expensive to run, the cost does not go down if fewer people turn up to shop and that is what is happening. sooner or later you have to align your cost with revenue and that is what m&s is doing today. they're not the only ones? they're not and we will see i'm afraid a lot more. just look at the last seven days, 2500 morejob losses at debenhams, a business on the brink. 350 to go at river island and new look trying to cut rent to survive. jigsaw could be cutting stores as well. now m&s is taking drastic action to cut costs, most of the job losses will be in its stores and it helps

in its stores and it hopes many will be through voluntary redundancy or early retirement. there will also be newjobs as it invests in online, a retailer that wants to recover from this pandemic with a leaner and more sustainable business. emma simpson, bbc news. nail bars, outdoor pools, and beauty salons in leicester can reopen from tomorrow. the partial relaxation of the local lockdown was confirmed by the health secretary matt hancock following a drop in coronavirus cases there. current restrictions on gatherings will remain in place. the latest government figures show there were 1,089 new confirmed coronavirus cases across the uk, in the latest 2a hour period. that means the average number of new cases per day in the last week is 1,071. the deaths of 12 people were also reported in the latest 2a hour period — that's those who've died within 28 days of a positive covid—i9 test. that takes the total number reported

across the uk to 41,381. meanwhile, the government's announced that it's setting up a new health agency to focus on infectious diseases. the national institute for health protection will take over the role from public health england — which has been criticised for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. 0ur health editor hugh pym reports. protecting the public from health emergencies and helping people live healthier lifestyles, that was the role of public health england but now it is being carved up. it was involved in the official response to covid—19 and things did not all go according to plan and now a chunk of its work will be combined with the test and trace network to form a new group to tackle the virus. we will have a new national

institute for health protection whose sole mission is to respond to the pandemic and spot for future risks and future pandemics and bring all that together under one roof. phe was involved in a controversial move to suspend virus testing. on march the 11th nhs england with phe announced plans to boost testing from 2000 per day to 10,000 but the next day the government said that community testing and chasing was to be halted with capacity focused on hospitals. on march 26th, the deputy chief medical officer said that community testing was not an appropriate mechanism as we go forward. but in early april the government set a higher new target of 100,000 tests per day. failing to have enough labs and virus testing facilities ready at the start of the crisis has been laid partly at the door of phe, although supporters say it was never meant to have that role and is now being made a scapegoat. 0ne health analyst was sceptical about the new policy. i think the announcement today from the secretary of state

is frankly astonishing, i think we are in the middle of a pandemic and what is being proposed is a structural reorganisation of the public health system. i think now is not the time to do that. public health england has also been responsible for promoting good health including measures to tackle obesity. that will carry on for a short time but it is not clear where the work will eventually be moved to. we are very concerned it has been left hanging at this critical junction, couple of weeks ago the government unveiled their obesity strategy and we know there are so many public health challenges and really it is not good enough that prevention has been left as the poor relation, the cinderella, to health protection. all this is relevant to everyday lives with responsibilities for preventing ill—health needing to be worked out in the new agency starting from scratch with a brief to protect the population from a second surge in covid—19. hugh pym, bbc news.

the widow of pc andrew harper, who died when he was dragged behind a car while investigating a robbery, has told the bbc she doesn't feel the family has received justice. the teenagers responsible for his death were all acquitted of murder, and jailed for manslaughter. lissie harper said she was campaigning for mandatory life sentences for those who kill emergency workers. daniela relph has the story. this was the last photograph lissie harper had taken with her husband. they were guests at a friend's wedding. andrew harper was killed four days later. in her first television interview, lissie spoke about their relationship and heranguish at losing him. i think before andrew's death it would have been impossible for me to do any kind of public speaking. i have never been great at that sort of thing. but i do rememberfeeling,

in the lead up to andrew's funeral, just a determination to speak and just to tell everyone about him. you know, we were constantly laughing and joking and just kind of best friends, to be honest. just the normal things in life, we loved. we weren't materialistic. you know, we didn't crave lots of money, we just liked being together and yeah, my life is different in every single way that it could be. new photos released by lissie plot the couple's years together. here, just 17, on a trip to the river. they both shared a love of adventure. this was a skydiving trip. in their early 20s, they took time out to travel around the world. each picture an intimate and happy image. all are a reminder of her loss

but also of her frustration at the legal process and the behaviour in court of the teenagers who went on trial. it was just a battle getting there every day and sitting through it. and so to see them sort ofjoking around as if they could have been anywhere, really, was unbearable. we were just heartbroken. and all i could think of was how andrew hadn't got the justice that he needed and they had taken his life. henry long, with friends albert bowers and jesse cole, were convicted of the manslaughter of andrew harper but they were acquitted of his murder. andrew was taken from us on that horrendous night... the family is now campaigning for change. harper's law, supported by the police federation, would see those found guilty of killing emergency workers given life sentences. if somebody‘s life is taken because somebody has committed a crime then why should they be able to spend the rest of their lives free?

lissie harper has been contacted by both the prime minister and home secretary in recent weeks. she knows that changing the law will be an enormous challenge but feels it is one worth taking on in memory of her husband. daniela relph, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... as students scramble to secure university places after the exam fiasco in england — the education secretary has again apologised for the distress caused, but has sidestepped calls for him to resign. 7,000 jobs are to go at marks & spencer — as part of a further shake—up of its stores and management after the coronavirus crisis. to the coronavirus crisis

let's stay with that decision. we can speak now to professor azeem majid, who's the head of primary care & public health at university college london. was this the right decision or has public health england been a scapegoat do you think?” public health england been a scapegoat do you think? i think on the ballot is the right thing to do but public outing that has made many m ista kes but public outing that has made many mistakes over the last few months during this pandemic. —— public health angle. creating a body that is focused on outbreak and control and infectious diseases is i think the correct way forward. public health angle has got many other priorities such as smoking, alcohol, mental health, but i think in the current crisis need a body that is focused very much on one issue. the current covid—19 pandemic. —— public health england. matt hancock said the new national institute for health protection will report directly to ministers. but i thought public health england did that? that is the case. php reports to ministers. in the case of this new

body, it will bring together many aspects that are currently fragmented across various bodies of communities such as sage, phd, various other community. it will bring them together i think and create better accountability and allow better planning as we move forward and try to control this pandemic that we face. does it matter that the person leading this new institution does not have a background in health? baroness harding, ithink background in health? baroness harding, i think supermarkets also talk where she was in charge when there was an £80 million pack or cyber attack and a champion national hunt jockey. yes. a good question. in the long term the body needs to be led by an experienced public health specialist with expertise in controlling epidemics. in the short term, we could have somebody like baroness harding in charge. but in

longer—term, it does need somebody with a very strong background in outbreak control and epidemic control. i think the budget for phe, £287 million. does that need to be boosted? i £287 million. does that need to be boosted ? i know £287 million. does that need to be boosted? i know it will be merged but do we know what the overall budget will be? the budget of testing traces very large because it is now the biggest testing and tracing, it will have a large budget, probably near billions. because of the very high cost of testing and tracing across the country. the budget for this new body will dwarf that the four public health england. at least until the pandemic is brought under control. a much larger body which much more funding then phe i had every figures. are you concerned as indeed some are that i the remit of public health england, smoking, heart disease and things like that, those cannot be neglected that we are seeing there is this backlog of

cases and other illnesses which have been neglected because of the pandemic at the moment? again, and it isa pandemic at the moment? again, and it is a fair question. those issues are all very important. we cannot neglect those things like that. i would hope that by separating into two issues in controlling the pandemic and outbreaks, there are other issues we can focus better on rather than having one body trying to service both of too much. thank you, professor. the number of adults in the uk who are experiencing some level of depression, has doubled since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to office for national statistics. their survey, carried out over a 12 month period, found that one in five people appeared to have depressive symptoms. that compares to one in ten, before covid—19 hit. amongst those most likely to suffer have been women, people under the age of 40,

and those with a disability. we can speak to sophie corlett — from the mental health charity, mind. what struck me was the demographic of the people who have been expressing depression under the age of 36 when i was looking at the summary of 36 when i was looking at the summary and as you say, women. why is that the youth in? it is very interesting. we have been our own survey over the period i lockdown particularly and found exactly the same results, younger people, women, people who are poor, financially and people who are poor, financially and people from black, asian and minority ethnic rose have suffered much more, and really we have also come and matches up with everything that we know about the lockdown. those are the people who are suffering more. women are carrie morley the burden. people who are

financially and straighten circumstances are worried more about the future. more likely to be anxious about housing or a job. younger people who just need that social contact that much more than older people who may be in settled housing or set up relationships. presumably, it was more difficult for people during lockdown to seek professional help. has that exacerbated the problem ? professional help. has that exacerbated the problem? yes. we certainly found in our survey, we talked to over 16,000 people during the first five or six weeks of lockdown. we found that a lot of people had been seeking help and found it difficult to get it. now thatis found it difficult to get it. now that is normal for mental health. that people find it difficult to get support. that is particularly normal for young people shockingly. but during the pandemic, and the lockdown period, there really became

much worse. and one of the things that we admire from the government as we come out of and looking to the next phase of the pandemic is that we really need to see an investment and community services within mental health and particularly the younger people and particularly for black asian and minority ethnic groups for whom current services are often the very thin on the ground for those two groups. i noted also that some of the people who you interviewed had existing mental health problems. what was the proportion of the numbers there? for the work that we did, we did a survey, so it was the people who came to us, and we found that people who had existing mental health problems, their mental health actually deteriorated at a much faster rate than the general

population. so we found the general population. so we found the general population inevitably but there is no normal response to a pandemic. everybody‘s maternal well—being suffering to an extent. —— mental well—being. but people with health problems, their mental health got much worse and we are now finding that for the general population as well, some of those people for whom their mental well—being initially suffered have actually now gone that bit further actually into what we would diagnose of a mental health problem needing significant support. and the consequent is of that are all to come. thank you forjoining us. they're usually seen cruising through the mediterranean and the caribbean. but since the pandemic hit, and with staycations on the cards for many of us this summer, a growing number of luxury liners have moored off the south coast of england. the ships have themselves started to become an unlikely attraction. duncan kennedy is in weymouth

for us this evening. it is a spectacular but somewhat of a sad sight. spectacular because the ships are gleaming here in the sunshine of the evening, but sad because they are all laid up here because of covid—19 and are unlikely to be going anywhere for the rest of the year. but it hasn't stopped them becoming a major tourist attraction. weymouth bay has become a parking bay for britain's cruise industry. we counted ten ships today, giant, gleaming and empty vessels. they are here so they don't have to pay the birthing fees in ports, but these mega ships have now become major attractions. something else to come and see, isn't it? something different. they should be out cruising, but what can you do with this going on? it's a bit of a risk for the passengers. jon holland has been on 1a cruises in the past few years and cannot bear to see them idle.

most of them i have been on, most ones, it's a tragedy, isn't it? it really is. it will be about two or three years before we get back on them. the ships have become so popular special boat trips are taking people around them in what has become a kind of maritime museum. each vessel still has about 100 crew members on board to keep them maintained and stop them drifting in rough weather. but whatever the weather, these ships are currently going nowhere. british people usually take around 2 million cruises every year but because of covid—19, these vessels are stuck. to see ships bobbing around weymouth harbour is quite unprecedented, so the focus moves on to how we find solutions. the cruise industry is a £10 billion industry for the uk so it's vital it gets going.

this line of liners are currently the pride of britain's cruising fleet, but it's currently a fleet, and industry, of course. duncan kennedy, bbc news, weymouth. from empty ships to the creatures who often swim alongside them. meet the dolphins who really don't care about social distancing. this pod of dolphins came to play with jetski riders who were being rescued off the dorset coast at the weekend. the video of shot by a lifeboat crewman. this is all after one of the jet skis caught fire. the rnli says the area is popular will dolphins, and they'd actually followed the lifeboat to the scene of the fire. how we have a another one? there you go. now it's time for a look

at the weather with phil avery. hello. in many parts of the aisle still contending with this mix of gloriously summary stays in some locations and just point you get used to that come along comes a bellow cloud and some pretty hefty showers. it's been that way widely across the british isles. either side of the scottish border, more cloud with the audit longer burst of rain further to the northwest and the showers and thunderstorms gradually dying after the course of the night as things settle down. it will be a warm night right across the piece before dying and we get a new area cloud of wind and rain into the corridor of england and wales. and through wednesday we would drive that area cloud of rain at the further to the north and by tea—time, most spots in england and wales will have seen that cloud and rain and pretty gusty winds in the south, northern ireland picking up on that rather went into the day. the best of the sunshine away from

wa nted the best of the sunshine away from wanted to murky coast of the heart of scotla nd wanted to murky coast of the heart of scotland come expect a of the day of scotland come expect a of the day of about 22 degrees. —— expect a high of the day.

this is bbc news — donald trump takes on michelle 0bama after she slams him in her convention speech. the former first lady has largely avoided his wrath — until her words last night put her in the presidential cross—hairs. in a stingingly personal rebuke of the man who succeeded her husband, mrs 0bama said the country deserved better. he cannot meet this moment. he simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. it is what it is. the us postmaster general says he's suspending changes to the postal service — democrats had warned that the service was being deliberately run down ahead of the election also in the programme....