and how the poorest teenagers in england are falling behind their counterparts at gcse level.bbc news. before seven, we'll hear from the national sheep association as they warn prime minister boris johnson to stop playing russian roulette with their industry. as one hotel group says they are banning mini toiletries

free school meals are, on average, eighteen months behind the rest of the class by the time they take gcsestake 500 years to close the gap. 0ur education correspondent frankie mccamley reports. tackling the gap in achievement between poorer pupils who are eligible for free school meals and their peers has always been a priority. in the last eight years, analysis showed progress in closing the gap was slowing down to a point where it is now at a standstill. researchers found between 2017 and 2018, a gap has actually widened slightly by 0.2 months to 18.1 months, meaning poorer pupils are now1.5 months, meaning poorer pupils are now 1.5 years behind their pants —— peers by gcse level with larger gaps in northern england have more than two years. the report also warns that black caribbean pupils have experienced particularly poor progress. in secondary schools, they are more likely to be in deficit and primary schools with around 30% of pupils in deficit. that is where we are seeing the real problems with the gap stopping and potentially starting to widen in future. at the current rate, the st

analysis of government gcse attainment figures has found in recent years the progress in closing the it doesn't surprise me that these pupils have fallen behind. they have not had their breakfast, which means they are not concentrating. they have not got the parents behind them because the parents are just trying to get through the day and put food on the table. in some parts of the north there are high levels of deprivation and that is where researchers have found that disadvantaged pupils can fall even further behind their peers. here in rotherham the gap can go up to two years. but it's in blackpool where it is at its widest, closely followed by other northern towns. and in parts of the south the gap isn't that different. in some of the most deprived areas in london, though, there is a much smaller division which could be down to more investment in the capital which hasn't gone unnoticed in rotherham. we've always felt that, that there's been a north—south divide. the advantages that people in the south get is with education, with healthcare, everything. the government maintains g

analysis of government gcse attainment figures has found in recent years the progress in closing thedstill. it doesn't surprise me that these pupils have fallen behind. they have not had their breakfast, which means they are not concentrating. they have not got the parents behind them because the parents are just trying to get through the day and put food on the table. in some parts of the north there are high levels of deprivation and that is where researchers have found that disadvantaged pupils can fall even further behind their peers. here in rotherham the gap can go up to two years. but it's in blackpool where it is at its widest, closely followed by other northern towns. and in parts of the south the gap isn't that different. in some of the most deprived areas in london, though, there is a much smaller division which could be down to more investment in the capital which hasn't gone unnoticed in rotherham. we've always felt that, that there's been a north—south divide. the advantages that people in the south get is with education, with health care, everything. the government mai

0.2 months to 18.1 months, meaning poorer pupils are now one and a half years behind their peers by gcseibbean pupils have experienced particularly poor progress. in parts of northern england, like here in rotherham and also in blackpool, researchers found some disadvantaged pupils were falling two years behind their classmates by the age of 16. in secondary schools, they're more likely to be in deficit than primary schools, with around 30% of pupils in deficit. that's the age range where we're seeing the real problems with the gap stopping and potentially starting to widen in future. at the current rate, the study predicts it will take 500 years to close the gap. some are blaming the stalling in progress on financial pressures. if we could have more funding, we could spend more money supporting some of the outside activities, and provide not what we do in the classroom, but outside the classroom, summer courses where the children aren't paying. at the moment they have to pay because we can't afford to. but the government says the gap for both primary and secondary schools has narrowed o

i am in the middle of my gcses, so that would not be good to have the support during that and also foren't actually started school yet, however they going to manage in the future? the government says it's up to councils to manage their resources and it's given them access to more funds this year than last, including extra for the most vulnerable. but it hasn't stopped many from worrying about the services they depend on. alex forsyth, bbc news, hampshire. hello, i'm tulsen tollett and this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: world number two naomi osaka is out of wimbledon after losing her first round match to yulia putintseva. pop superstar rhianna turns up to watch the west indies at the cricket world cup but they lose to sri lanka by 23 runs in durham. and sadio mane scores twice for senegal against kenya as they move through to the last 16 of the africa cup of nations. hello and welcome to the programme, where we start with tennis news from the opening day at this year's wimbledon championships. there is plenty to get through. there was a sh

poorer pupils trail 18 months behind the rest of the class once they take their gcses, according to new research. coming up in sport, gareth bale pulls out of real madrid's pre—season trip to munich after his big money move to china was blocked by the club. greg and amber! and, as the winners of this year's love island are crowned, we'll ask what's made the reality show such a success. good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. a former high courtjudge says police may have broken the law in the way they investigated claims of a paedophile ring at westminster. carl beech was jailed for 18 years last week for perverting the course of justice after lying about his claims. sir richard henriques, who carried out a review of the scotland yard inquiry, claims that warrants to search the homes of some of those beech had accused of abuse may have been obtained unlawfully. andy moore reports. carl beech alleged in police interviews that he had been abused by a group of high—profile men. i had poppies pinned to my chest whilst they did whatever they wanted to do. scotland yard spent £2 million in

the sign up is down 30% over five years for french and spanish gcse.ams, even though it's an option they have because they don't feel like it something they are going to pass. a couple of weeks ago there was a survey that came out around second languages spoken across the eu and of course, our spirits were down there at the bottom as people who don't speak any other language. the theory is stu d e nts other language. the theory is students are concerned they won't pass, not that they don't think it's worthwhile? there has been a sense generally that languages have been a bit parked. informally we aren't speaking other languages as a nation. you have many languages, right? yes. at one point i started dreaming in french because i was flue nt dreaming in french because i was fluent in french. that's brilliant. and mandarin. mandarin, greek. so you're an advert for having many languages at your expose —— at your disposal. is it a useful tool? languages at your expose —— at your disposal. is it a usefultool? in life in general, definitely. we've got events

0.2 months to 18.1 months, meaning poorer pupils are now one and a half years behind their peers by gcseve experienced particularly poor progress. in parts of northern england, like here in rotherham and also in blackpool, researchers found some disadvantaged pupils were falling two years behind their classmates by the age of 16. in secondary schools, they're more likely to be in deficit than primary schools, with around 30% of secondaries in deficit. that's the age range where we're seeing the real problems with the gap stopping and potentially starting to widen in future. at the current rate, the study predicts it will take 500 years to close the gap. some are blaming the stalling in progress on financial pressures. if we could have more funding, we could spend more money supporting some of the outside activities, and provide not what we do in the classroom, but outside the classroom, summer courses where the children aren't paying. at the moment they have to pay because we can't afford to. but the government says the gap for both primary and secondary schools has narrowed overall sinc

and how the poorest teenagers in england are falling behind their counterparts at gcse level. in a moment it will be time for sportsday but first a look at what else is coming up this evening on bbc news. before seven, we'll hear from the national sheep association as they warn prime minister boris johnson to stop playing russian roulette with their industry. as one hotel group says they are banning mini toiletries we'll find out other ways to cut our plastic consumption while on holiday. that's just after half past eight. and at half past ten and half past eleven tonight we'll be taking a look at tomorrow's front pages with pippa crerar, the political editor at the daily mirror, and claire cohen, who's the women's editor at the telegraph. that's all ahead on bbc news. hello and welcome to sportsday with me will perry, coming up on the programme this evening. the ashes is just two days away and we now know that england captain will bat at number three for the first test against australia at edgbaston. we'll speak to former england batsman nick compton. the new football season

poorer pupils trail 18 months behind the rest of the class once they take their gcses — according torch. coming up in sport: gareth bale pulls out of real madrid's pre—season trip to munich, after his big—money move to china was blocked by the club. greg and amber! and in a surprising end to the series, amber and greg are crowned the winners of this yea r‘s love island. good morning, and welcome to the bbc news at 9. a former high courtjudge says police may have broken the law in the way they investigated claims of a paedophile ring at westminster. carl beech was jailed for 18 years last week for perverting the course of justice, after lying about his claims. sir richard henriques, who carried out a review of the scotland yard inquiry, claims that warrants to search the homes of some of those beech had accused of abuse may have been obtained unlawfully. andy moore reports. carl beech alleged in police interviews that he had been abused by a group of high—profile men. i had poppies pinned to my chest whilst they did whatever they wanted to do. scotland yard spent £2 million investigat

i am in the middle of my gcses, so that would not be good to have the support during that and also for yet, however they going to manage in the future? the government says it's up the future? the government says it's up to councils to manage their resources and it's given them access to more funds this year than last, including extra for the most vulnerable. but it hasn't stopped many from worrying about the services they depend on. alex forsyth, bbc news, hampshire. the mexican city of guadalajara has been hit by a severe hail storm, which dumped more than a metre of ice in the subtropical region. cars had to be abandoned half—buried, with their drivers trapped inside, and around 500 homes have been damaged. troops have now been deployed to help residents, as sangita myska reports. breaking through eyes parked to macro metres deep, industrial diggers leave the operation —— ice. every hailstorm has left parts of the city, one of mexico's most populous, paralysed. from the sky, a white sheet appears to have settled across the landscape, encasing hundreds of cars. there are drivers use g

was so not pleleased at all the r rules today saying you should definitely be part of the british gcse french syllabus. it's a different pair when we kissed i realized my voice boyfriend girlfriend pretty quicklkly and only it takes a while in england. i didn't even realize i was in a relationship that i was presented this girlfriend. gets ready to kill me for saying french man go from zero to i love in sixty seconds. so i it moves a lot faster i am hahave friendsds unfortunately i have no french accent when i speak english have notice of the french accent works. at the mesa mazing thing i used to listen his voice mails over neighbor neighbor and repeat -- doesn't work as well anymore. it was a my friend smells like rotten eggs all the time because he loves cheese how to be diplomatic about this -- i think they complain. a locks i don't think i would say asia time to a french boyfriend because it say posted- and d you want to say in your on language i if somebody y of it s itit's he then f fls g good s sl so being french does have this added value was certain people other people findin

i am like in the middle of my gcses so that would not be good to have less support during that, and alsoen't started school yet, how they are going to manage in the future. the government says it's up to councils to manage their resources and it's given them access to more funds this year than last, including extra for the most vulnerable. but it hasn't stopped many worrying about the services they depend on. alex forsyth, bbc news, hampshire. an extraordinary match on the opening day of wimbledon. a 15—year—old american schoolgirl has knocked out venus williams, the seven times grand slam winner, in straight sets. cori gauff, who's coached by her dad, is the youngest player ever to qualify for the main draw at wimbledon. natalie pirks is in sw19. last week cori gauff had to take a science test but unlike other teenagers it was in the middle of wimbledon qualifying. she breezed through a bat to set up a dream tie against her heroine and now is the youngest woman to win in the first run since 1991 she got a b in that test but her performance to date was a. the first cork popped marks the

harvey's just finished his gcses, but earlier in the year struggled with anxiety.s in many forms. i think with social media and stuff, people my age now grow up with, oh, this is what you need to be like, this is how you need to act to fit in, and now it's not so much of that happens at school, that happens at school and then when you get home, it's not really something you can escape. when obviously i was 16, it was kind of like, well, you go and do what you do and if it comes off great, if it doesn't, it doesn't. but now there's that much emphasis on the fact that there's only a few jobs and you've gotta be the best of the best in order to get those jobs. right from an early age, the schooling is more full on and life is more full on, and peer pressure is much more full on. they worry so much about what their peers are thinking. whereas i think we were much more, we are what we are. the charity action for children have spoken to thousands of families across the uk and its report speaks of childhood in crisis. 62% of grandparents, 60% of parents and 34% of their c

poorer pupils trail 18 months behind the rest of the class once they take their gcses, according to newd to fall on currency markets as the government talks up its willingness to leave the eu without a deal. sterling fell in overnight trade in asia to a two—year low against the dollar and it's also been losing ground against the euro, making uk exports cheaper but imports and the cost of overseas holidays higher. the mobile phone provider giffgaff has been fined £1.a million by regulator ofcom for "unacceptable" billing mistakes in which 2.6 million customers were overcharged. giffgaff is owned by 02's parent telefonica. ofcom said the fine should be a warning to other providers that it will defend consumers. the chief executive of british gas owner centrica is to step down and retire from the company's board next year. iain conn told the bbc it was "a natural time...to hand over." it follows a dramatic reversal in fortunes with centrica losing £aa6 million in the first half of this year compared with a profit of 700 million last year. bad news if you're about to go on holidays — there

harvey's just finished his gcses but earlier in the year struggled with anxiety.ms. i think with social media and stuff, people my age now grow up with, oh, this is what you need to be like, this is how you need to act to fit in, and now it's not so much of that happens at school, that happens at a school and then when you get home, it's not really something you can escape. when, obviously, iwas 16, it was kind of like, well, you go and do what you do and if it comes off great, if it doesn't, it doesn't. but now there's that much emphasis on the fact that there's only a few jobs and you've gotta be the best of the best in order to get those jobs. right from an early age, the schooling is more full on and life is more full on, and peer pressure is much more full on. they worry so much about what their peers are thinking. whereas i think we were much more, "we are what we are." the charity action for children have spoken to thousands of families across the uk and its report speaks of childhood in crisis. 62% of grandparents, 60% of parents and 34% of their children

attempts to close the gap between disadvantaged pupils and other children when it comes to gcse resultso by tarun kapur, the ceo of the dean trust which runs several high schools in the north—west of england, and from our london newsroom byjo hutchinson, who is the author of this report for the education policy institute. let me begin with you, joe. can you explain what is gap is and how it is measured? what does it effectively mean? we measure the gap by looking at the attainment for disadvantaged children, those eligible for free school meals in the last six years and other children. we look at their attainment and we convert the difference in their attainment into months of development or months of schooling. so that is how we reach the 18 month figure. sorry, excuse me for not understanding. what does 18 months mean? what are we comparing? that means that on a typical measure of how much children will learn in one month for one year, what we're is that by the end of the gcse at 16, disadvantaged children have 18 months less learning than non— disadvantaged children. so, pick up on t

harvey's just finished his gcses, but earlier in the year struggled with anxiety.omes in many forms. i think with social media and stuff, people my age now grow up with, oh, this is what you need to be like, this is how you need to act to fit in, and now it's not so much of that happens at school, that happens at school and then when you get home, it's not really something you can escape. when obviously i was 16, it was kind of like, well, you go and do what you do and if it comes off great, if it doesn't, it doesn't. but now there's that much emphasis on the fact that there's only a few jobs and you've gotta be the best of the best in order to get those jobs. right from an early age, the schooling is more full on and life is more full on, and peer pressure is much more full on. they worry so much about what their peers are thinking. whereas i think we were much more, we are what we are. the charity action for children have spoken to thousands of families across the uk and its report speaks of childhood in crisis. 62% of grandparents, 60% of parents and 34% of thei

the british council has been looking at the state of gcse language teaching in our schools, and saysafter brexit. here's peter wittig, is the german ambassador to the uk, speaking on the today programme earlier. i think it is important to learn languages, and the findings of the report are concerning, regarding language learning in general, but in particular the german language. in a way, it is saddening, as the german language is economically speaking a huge asset. german is the most sought after language among employers, according to... really? among who, i don't know of an employer who says you must have german. the employability of young people enhances with german language skills. that is a statistic recently found out, and it offers opportunities. german is for the more really a smart choice beyond just the economy, keep in mind that speaking german enables you to study ata speaking german enables you to study at a top german universities, that are tuition free. there are huge opportunities here. it's bigger than snapchat, twitter and linked in but if you're not a teenager, you

take people with no formal qualifications and no skills all the way through to people who have got gcses apprentices will stop you are part of a group called the 5% club. can you explain what that is and why? it is an important commitment for us. balfour beatty has always hired apprentices. we hire 100— 150 each year. we are part of something called the 5% club. 5% of the workforce in own and loan positions. the organisation was founded by our group's ceo. there are around about 400 businesses working together. we share best practice around apprentice development, we help small organisations you may find it more difficult. for us it is a way to share best practice. was going to ask about that. it is all right for you guys, the big guys, but what about the smaller companies that you work within your supply chain, it is tough for them to give training like this or even to take on apprentices in some cases. i think it is more challenging for them. they have challenges around visibility pipeline. they might not know enough about the levy. i think the 5% club is there as a support network and

harvey‘s just finished his gcses but earlier in the year struggled with anxiety.fe is more full on, and peer pressure is much more full on. they worry so much about what their peers are thinking. whereas i think we were much more, we are what we are. the charity action for children have spoken to thousands of families across the uk and its report speaks of childhood in crisis. 62% of grandparents, 60% of parents and 34% of their children said childhoods today are getting worse. bullying was highlighted as the main concern, exacerbated by online and social media issues, and the charity is calling on the government to better protect youngsters by creating a national childhood strategy. in response, the education secretary damian hinds says a youth charter is in development to give young people a voice in the issues they care about — such as combating serious violence and knife crime, addressing mental and physical health challenges and concerns about the environment and climate change. john maguire, bbc news, worcestershire. let us know what you think about that. we

girls are more likely to get a top grade in maths gcse but boys are more likely to take maps at a levelhat the answer is. for others we are not sure. so we're going to be doing a number of studies on pilots schools to really look at why girls make certain choices, and we do have some evidence that, very subconsciously, and obviously teachers don't set out to do this, but people are nudged in particular directions as to what career path to take, what subjects to take. and that i think we do need to take. and that i think we do need to really understand better and address, so that is one of the things we are going to do.” address, so that is one of the things we are going to do. i also note that in december 2018 there was a carer ‘s' action plan, with lots of things announced on various things mentioned today have already been mentioned before. how much of this is a rehash and what has been mentioned before? there's a lot of things that i knew, but critically, for example, carers uk have been asking for some of these things for asking for some of these things for a long time. question is

i'm definitely going to go back to school and i promised my mum i would get my gcses. there you go.0,000. it's a lot of money, isn't it? a lifetime of money at 15, 16! impressive! time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning from bbc london. i'm tolu adeoye. a council tenant will have to pay back £100,000 in profits to westminster council after illgally subletting his flat on airbnb. 2 toby harman has now been evicted from the property. he was caught after council officials found reviews on the website from users thanking him for their stay. a london mp believes we could be following in the footsteps of canada by legalising cannabis here within five to ten years. tottenham's david lammy was among a cross party group of politicians who went on a fact finding trip to the country, arranged by a campaign group. the home office says there are no plans to change the law on recreational cannabis, but he's urging them to rethink. 2 two 2ton 2 two i want the market legalised and regulated, taken away from criminal gangs. young people not criminalised because of us

before we go to the european monsoon, i want to go back to gcse geography and talk about what is theyes, but it actually refers to the wind, so during april, may and intojune, the subcontinent heats up tremendously. we know it is hot in india and basically the monsoon is the planet's biggest sea breeze so the land heats up, the air rises into the atmosphere almost like a vacuum, and the air is drawn in and around the ocean so basically it is the sea breeze and then these sea breezes co nve rg e breeze and then these sea breezes converge inland and form storm clouds and you get the rainfall. here is the interesting bit. it turns out... i know you are drifting away a bit! meteorologists are suggesting we kind of get a bit of a monsoon so in the month of may there isa monsoon so in the month of may there is a bit ofa monsoon so in the month of may there is a bit of a lull. before we get to that it's best if i illustrate it. the thinking is as we head into this time of year, the end ofjune into earlyjuly, the south of europe heats up and there is almost like an oomph and the winds pep up

0.2 months to 18.1 months, meaning poorer pupils are now one and a half years behind their peers by gcsexperienced particularly poor progress. in parts of northern england, like here in rotherham and also in blackpool, researchers found some disadvantaged pupils were falling two years behind their classmates by the age of 16. in secondary schools, they're more likely to be in deficit than primary schools, with around 30% of pupils in deficit. that's the age range where we're seeing the real problems with the gap stopping and potentially starting to widen in future. at the current rate, the study predicts it will take 500 years to close the gap. some are blaming the stalling in progress on financial pressures. some of the outside activities, and provide not what we do in the classroom, but outside the classroom, summer courses where the children aren't paying. at the moment they have to pay because we can't afford to. but the government says the gap for both primary and secondary schools has narrowed overall since 2011, with nearly £2.5 billion spent supporting disadvantaged pupils this y