let's kick off with gavin williamson, who is on a lot of front pages this morning.on't take the blame — i think you as the education editor of the sunday times, one detail that caught my eye was that his officials had held crisis talks with the regulator last month about the flawed computer model. that's new, i didn't know that. and if they did hold crisis talks last month, why didn't they realise what would happen and do something to stop it happening? that's my point! is the first levels had been alerted to this, he can't say he didn't know about this until the weekend. there was an report by the weekend. there was an report by the education secretary that made it absolutely clear injuly the education secretary that made it absolutely clear in july that this was a disaster waiting to happen, and the very youngsters who would be worst hit would be those high—flying youngsters in tough schools in disadvantage areas. because this algorithm that 0fqual used to award grades this year was very much based in the end on a school's historic exa m in the end on a school's h

gavin williamson has said there will be no u-turns.the first minister in scotland and our government, who seem so unable to read the atmosphere. never admit they're wrong. the mistakes that we re they're wrong. the mistakes that were made with covid, they blame it i'iow were made with covid, they blame it now on were made with covid, they blame it now on the scientists. gavin williamson, not in my view, a man who should ever be a minister or secretary of state, is now deciding that what happened was right, that board members on quual are saying step back, think again, let's go back to teacher assessments. teachers know the pupils. this is an extraordinary year. let'sjust teachers know the pupils. this is an extraordinary year. let's just deal with it. the numbers are even higher with it. the numbers are even higher with gcs he's coming up. the chaos is going to be greater. —— gcses. i feel so bad for all these pupils having to go through all this. andy, are you surprised borisjohnson has remained silent so far? he's made a public state

so it is no good for the prime minister, hanging gavin williamson out to dry, and mr williamson out toying to shake the blame onto the regulator when you have a command and control downing street like we have at the moment, the prime minister ultimately must take responsibility. and it is significant that he's kept a very, very low profile. he is supposed to be on holiday, but prime ministers are never really on holiday. be on holiday, but prime ministers are never really on holidaylj realise are never really on holiday.” realise that the picture was outside the department for education after the department for education after the news was announced. interesting also, the guardian picking up that the government is now lifting the cap on english university admissions. so despite all the inconvenience and the trauma of this and the pandemic, i suppose the good thing is they can lift the cap because a lot of other foreign stu d e nts because a lot of other foreign students won't be coming to study this year in the uk, so the capacity might well be there. that's true, but there's also a bi

is a gavin williamson?hem. 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, lei

this of course, nigel, is that education secretary gavin williamson, who's been in charge whilst the exam results. mps are furious about it, that the olympians called forth these regulation —— the lib dems. now some labour mps regulation —— the lib dems. now some labourmps arejoining regulation —— the lib dems. now some labour mps are joining her, regulation —— the lib dems. now some labour mps arejoining her, i think they bought a very good point. gavin williamson has proven himself to be totally incompetent and unable to handle something like this. especially given he's had five months in which to do it. i'm not surprised at all that mps are calling for him to go. i think one thing that the tory party will start to be worried about is they could remember how the lib dems were wiped out after going back on student tuition fees, and students would never vote for them again. you can't see 18—year—old now wanting to actually vote for the tories either, and there's another generation of gcs the students likely to be in the same boat next week —— gcse. gcs the students likely to be in th

after education secretary gavin williamson declared there would be no change and no u—turn. says the prime minister told the education secretary to scrap the algorithm for this summer s exams results — following the outcry. the daily mirror describes it as another government "screeching" u—turn, but note that education secretary reamins in his job. according to the daily telegraph, gavin williamson is blaming the exam regulator for the exam results chaos. the ‘i' describes how some students, parents and teachers are breathing a sigh of relief after days of confusion. while the daily mail suggests the story is worthy of laurel and hardy — calling it ‘another fine mess.‘ is blaming the exam regulator for the exam results chaos. the ‘i' describes how some students, parents and teachers are breathing a sigh of relief after days of confusion. while the daily mail suggests the story is worthy of laurel and hardy — calling it ‘another fine mess.‘ so, let‘s begin. shall we start with the express? obviously, for the british papers, it is all about the u—turn on the results. victory f

gavin williamson will be here live at 7:30am this morning. gn after apologising to students. but it says he has blamed quual, and quotes him saying he had been "constantly reassured" by senior officials at the regulator that the system was fair. and online, the washington post is following events at the democratic national convention. with the race to the white house now well and truly under way, former first lady michelle obama has delivered a speech in which she described donald trump as "the wrong president for our country." she spoke for quite a while and only mentioned him by name on one occasion. sniffer dogs, what is the step up from sniffer dogs? i don‘t know, cats. locusts. dogs may be traditionally be sniffing animal explosives but when it comes to reaching hard to reach spaces, the military is looking for a different option. the us navy has invested money into developing a sideboard locust and turning the pest into a sophisticated weapon. that and ten i are so sophisticated weapon. that and ten i are so delicate and so sensitive the

this may turn out to be the biggest mistake gavin williamson ever made.l, like public health england is now being blamed for the failures of covid—i9. they have got to get a grip. 0k, for the failures of covid—i9. they have got to get a grip. ok, so they are talking of a u—turn —— talk of a u—turn, to return to the front page of the daily mail, the? of what is going to happen on thursday. yes, this is the gcses, looking at whether it would make sense to delay gcse results so they can look again at the algorithm and get ahead of these problems rather than, as they have shown this weekend, with guidance allegedly being published and then not being published, with tweets at 930 saying they were still working on saying this and the department for education, frankly press office is not always been the most helpful of what is going on, clearly looking ahead to thursday and whether or not they're going to annoy another tranche of the parents. the one thing i disagree with jasmine parents. the one thing i disagree withjasmine on as i think the tories cannot regat

and gavin williamson liked a lot of the pictures on facebook. what do you make of that?ns and need a break and everybody needs a holiday of course. this rather blows gavin back to scarborough where he grew up out of water. pictures from august 6th to 18th, right before the a—levels and until after this. gillian keegan, the minister for apprenticeships and skills, jointly responsible for post 16 education, was having an amazing time, i'm very jealous looking at these pictures. but you know it does look bad, everybody needs a holiday, but think needed to have sorted this stuff out properly before they went away and to see this when my son and other childrens had uncertainty and upset is galling and that gavin williamson did find the time to like some of the posts on instagram, but not to know about the problems about the algorithm which i knew about weeks ago and, hay, aim not education secretary. now the theme of people being on holiday, the papers are interested in it. the mail have a big splash of borisjohnson on holiday in scotland. he put up that tent. apparently he a

they expect gavin williamson to be out of hisjob they expect gavin williamson to be out of his job atthe future. they sayjob spec out of his job at some point in the future. they say job spec for the soon—to—be vacant role of education secretary. according to the daily mail today, other conservative mps have told them that borisjohnson will wait before it sacking gavin williamson, in order to potentially, they say, take the rap for any gcse results chaos and any chaos as schools reopen? that's right. if the newspapers decided on gavin williamson's political career, he would be gone by now. the daily star talk of farce and humiliation. usually supportive papers for the government, including the sun, have been weighing in as well. certainly there are big challenges for the education secretary ahead, the difficulty of actually getting people into universities with limited capacity, even though the cap on admissions has been lifted. very difficult if people have already been turned down for university places. that is the most immediate challenge. then it is about getting children inning e

shift the blame from ministerial decisions and making it seem like it was a civil service one —— gavin williamsonhair of 0fqual, put his foot down. know what is interesting here is how readily williamson, how quickly he climbed down in the face of this threat. now that suggests to me that there's more to this than meets the i, and actually the error ofjudgement, meets the i, and actually the error of judgement, the catastrophic meets the i, and actually the error ofjudgement, the catastrophic error ofjudgement, the catastrophic error ofjudgement, the catastrophic error of judgement by williamson ofjudgement, the catastrophic error ofjudgement by williamson to insist that grades be decided by algorithms rather than by teacher markings, was that he did realise that he had been warned about this and perhaps there was a warned about this and perhaps there wasa paper warned about this and perhaps there was a paper trail that 0fqual had to prove that. i'm surmising a bit, but reading between the lines, that's what i think this story is hinting at. tim, what else might this reveal about the inner workin

earlier in the news briefing we heard from gavin williamson, the education secretary, and also jenny williamson, the education secretary, and alsojenny harries the deveney chief medical officerfor and alsojenny harries the deveney chief medical officer for england. and earlier on today we had another 596 deaths announced. that is the smallest increase to more than two weeks. you're watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. hello there. the early morning cloud has cleared out of the way to reveal these beautiful blue sky is pretty much nationwide. walking norfolk spotted this. the only place that held onto some cloud this afternoon was northern ireland. this is what bringing the dry weather and it's going nowhere for very fast. that means for the week ahead it is looking drive with plenty of sunshine day by day. 0vernight tonight we are going to give clear skies. it never really get that call for most of us because it is going to be quite a breezy night. the breeze keeps the temperatures from falling too far. five in norwich, seven in london, some fr

according to the metro, the uk education secretary, gavin williamson is managing to cling onto hisjobscrambled for university places and gcse pupils faced more uncertainty over their exam results on thursday. the ‘i' reports that borisjohnson has rejected the minister's offer to resign — while senior conservatives call for regulator ‘0fqual‘ — to be abolished. the daily mail says gavin williamson has enraged tory mps with a desperate bid to shift the blame for the exams fiasco, in an attempt to cling on to hisjob. and the daily telegraph reports universities have told the uk government they will need more money, if they are to take more students this year following the climb—down over a—levels results. so let's begin... welcome to you both. should we kick off with the metro? the paper says he is clinging onto hisjob. is that how you see it education editor? yes. i think so. it is quite clear in the headline. you are gabbing a life of think that is how people say it. three times this morning on television or whether he was going to resign and he evaded the question be time. i think he'

it's just, the scale of it is unenviable for gavin williamson. but it is on his watch.member when we got our results will either wait a tough day for anyone who got their results. let's move onto front page of the daily express. big headline there, seeing... it is talking about there, seeing... it is talking about the increase in fines for those who refuse to wear face coverings, it will now be £3200 if you refuse to wear a mask and faiza this has come in at the same time as relaxed some of the restrictions around coronavirus when it comes to sport, beauty salons can do close contact treatments, that kind of thing. let's stick with the masks for now. do you think that this is going to change the game? certainly, when i came in today, i did not see that many people wearing masks. probably 50-50. for any others using public transport it has been a bit of a mixed bag. there's no question about whether people are taking seriously or not. the police are saying it's ha rd or not. the police are saying it's hard for them to go in and check and e nforce hard for them to go in a

and it did take gavin williamson at the best pa rt it did take gavin williamson at the best part of ats, action —— and pupils. there are many parents, teachers and pupils in that time who would have been because a great deal of stroke stress —— distress. many mps are questioning how much longer mr williamson can see in hisjob least an eight we have finally some clarity for those people who are hoping to go to university. nick with the latest on westminster there. stay with us on outside source — still to come. we'll look ahead to the beginning of the us democratic national convention — where the democrats will firmly selectjoe biden as their presidential challenger. across the world the number of new coronavirus infections continue to soar. the us and india are among the worst affected countries — recording tens of thousands of deaths. here's fergus walsh. there are now more than 21 million confirmed coronavirus cases around the world. that figure is rising by more than 250,000 new cases every day. the global death toll now exceeds 750,000. in the past 2a hours, the world health organ

my colleague layla moran challenged gavin williamson in the house of commons yesterday on a fraction able to learn at this time have actually been provided to the government was that they really need to focus, just like they did when we made sure we had enough capacity in the nhs and building nightingale hospitals within weeks, we need that kind of book is now on our education system, for children's learning ad for their mental health and well—being. for their mental health and well-being. dean russell, is it not clear that something has to change here and if schools are going to open by september, either more classrooms are going to have to be provided or the scientific advice is going to have to change and you are going to have to change and you are going to have to change and you are going to have to be able to have larger bubbles or larger classes than 15, because if not, surely we are going to be in the same situation in september?” are going to be in the same situation in september? i think the truth of this is that the government has been listening. i speak to local schools, a

we to hear more about this today from gavin williamson. iam sure gavin williamson.s will be the focus of today's news conference at downing street. the education secretary for england leading that briefing. there will be questions about exactly what their position of the government is and how far it is willing to accommodate the concerns and the request that we have been hearing about from the teaching unions in terms of whether it is safe or not as far as they are concerned for some children to return to school in england as early as the ist ofjune. to remind you, the government wants to see children in reception, year one and year six going back in limited numbers if possible from that date and also for some children in secondary school in year ten and year 11 to have some contact with their teachers before the end of this school year. the picture elsewhere in the uk is different with both the scottish and welsh governments and ruling out return as early as the ist ofjune. it seems that they are at the as well it is unlikely that children will go back this academi

. -- gavin williamson. toughjob of gavin williamson as doing a really tough job of taking a bullet for borisjohnson and tough job of taking a bullet for boris johnson and by the government has problems with the schools. they see him as taking on the unions and two we e ks see him as taking on the unions and two weeks ago when he ditched the pledge to get all primary school pupils back they saw that as not reality. the unions will find any excuse to try to oppose the plans to get back to schools. even today the union leaders were saying even at one metre we will not be safe to get all the kids back by september. i think it'sjust that all the kids back by september. i think it's just that we get to the age—old political battle between the conservatives and the hard left unions. i get the hunch now that gavin williamson will actually be safe at least a cabinet position, maybe not in his current role. has he still got his tarantula from when he still got his tarantula from when he was chief whip? i don't know a

today, gavin williamson has lifted that cap on numbers. many more students. but of course there are other considerations. we are going into a university term where universities will have tobacco individual secure and they're thinking about how many they can fit into seminar rooms, or lecture theatres. many lectures have moved online. but one thing that has not is student accommodation and they have limits on the numbers that they're putting into their accommodation, often a key part of the experience of going away from home for the first time is being with other students. it is not clear how they're going to manage those difficulties. and six form college like this are now scrambling to write their own admissions policies. come thrs and friday and next monday they could be facing a lot of stu d e nts they could be facing a lot of students with very similar looking gcse grades, they're going to have to find some way of deciding which ones of those to let on a limited number of places for a—level courses. and of course as vicky said, there w

it looks like gavin williamson will be bearing the brunt of this was of gavin williamson wake me notise or does his next reshuffle in the autumn. likely not to be when the premise or reshuffle. he will not be because he has been too weak in the face of unions and not been able to push hard against them. dominic cummings and numberten push hard against them. dominic cummings and number ten has battled with unions before and overruled them along with michael gove when he was education secretary. i think there is little sympathy in number ten for gavin williamson not having put upa ten for gavin williamson not having put up a fight against the unions. looking at the metro, sebastian work on sound after all those days and weeks of the government saying we are just following the science and the science and the message from the scientists was confusing they disagreed each other, so much of this in fact all of this really is political and that is what the focus for the metro, 15 deaths 950 cases but would be called. and on this, a prime minister positive reputation and place in history as p

gavin williamson.on the coronavirus front since mps last met at the end of july, with local lockdowns being imposed in areas with a high number of cases and the replacement of public health england with a new agency, so there were plenty of questions for the health secretary, matt hancock, when he gave an update to the commons. he began with an appeal for unity. we're doing everything we can to prevent a second peak, to prepare nhs for winter and restore as much of life as possible. as schools go back, we must all remain vigilant and throughout this crisis. we all have a role to play. this is a war against an invisible enemy in which we are all on the same side, and as we learn more and more about this unprecedented virus, so we constantly seek to improve our response, to protect our health in the nation and the things we hold dear. he is now embarking on a risky, distracting restructuring of public health england in the middle of a pandemic. i know tory mps like to blame public health england because

gavin williamson has this human shield of of coal, the exams regulator.d about how they would deal with people is by a cross— party would deal with people is by a cross—party group of mps in the education select committee. they worried about the effect of disadvantaged pupils, those from ethnic minority backgrounds. all these concerns were raised with 0fqual at a meeting onjuly the 16th. concerns were raised that he could not devise an algorithm himself and he is saying he did everything he could to try and put fairness into the system and make the appeals process more robust. any mess up if you like is that of 0fqual and not his. mess up if you like is that of quual and not his. does that put an end to the pressure? no, it does not. lib dem mps have called for him to go. most significantly, many conservative mps are scratching their heads as to why he is still there. one of them said an education secretary who makes children cry is not a good look. 0ne secretary who makes children cry is not a good look. one reason they are concerned is not about whether

that was the education secretary gavin williamson talking to usa secretary gavin williamson talking to emergency powers which could be used to tackle the threat of the virus. the emergency coronavirus bill will include measures to strengthen the nhs , shut down the uk's ports and airports and bolster police powers to detain people suspected of having the virus. let's get more on this from our political correspondent jonathan blake who joins us from our westminster studio. some clarity today due on key workers? reassurances from the education secretary gavin williamson but very little detail in terms of a nswe rs but very little detail in terms of a nswers to but very little detail in terms of answers to the questions that students, teachers, head teachers and universities will be asking now, having heard the news that schools across the uk will close as of tomorrow. on those key issues of exams, as to how pupils will get the grades of the a—levels, gcses, scottish highers and other exams they were due to take in the summer and what it will mean for them going to university, if that is

gavin williamson gave more details of a £1 billion covert catchup plan to help children get back to where. the fund would help with catch lessons and tutoring. and he reconfirmed that the coronavirus alert level across the uk has been downgraded to level three which means the virus is still in general circulation but cases are not rising exponentially. he said r, the reproduction number of the virus, remains unchanged from last week and still below one. a further 173 people have died in the uk after testing positive for coronavirus. we are joined uk after testing positive for coronavirus. we arejoined not uk after testing positive for coronavirus. we are joined not by the labour and co—op and p from nottingham north and shadow public health minister alex noris was up a trigger listening to what galleon —— gavin williamson had to say. what extra restrictions would you like to see being lifted in the coming days and weeks given that we are now down to level number three? we are glad to level number three? we are glad to see that. with a responsible opposition that we are supporting the gove

that's the question that will be to gavin williamson, —— after scotla nd that will be to gavin williamsoning ourselves in exactly the same situation. lots of questions will be asked. well that put pressure on his position? the liberal democrats called for as resignation —— will that put pressure? we know this administration is quite keen to keep its cabinet ministers. changing the education secretary in the middle of a pandemicjust one month before schools are supposed to reopen would be very difficult. helen, thank you. zainab ali from east london lost out on a place at her first choice university because of her exam results. i'm delighted to say she joins us now. thanks for speaking to us again. remind us what you are predicted and what you got and what this change will mean for you.” predicted and what you got and what this change will mean for you. i was predicted a star, a, c from the school and was dropped a grades on each one. i was then not able to get into my first choice university and had to go into the unconditional offer which was my second choice at westminster. and i had al

confusion over a few things that gavin williamson was seeing.ion. this is to do with the number of students which the education secretary gavin williamson has assured us this morning will get either the grade they were predicted by their teachers or are within one grade of that. he gave different figures in different interviews this morning so to be clear the department for education has said it is in fact 97% of a—level students in england will get the grade predicted by their teachers are a result within one grade of that. that is clearly the overwhelming majority but of course it still includes a significant number of stu d e nts includes a significant number of students who will see their grades reduced by one. the by one. and a small number will see their grades resulting in a higher result than the ones they were aborted by their teachers. as the results are coming out this morning a lot of attention on the detail and in the flurry of activity we see this morning as stu d e nts activity we see this morning as students open their results an

the sunday express has the education executory gavin williamson vowing to get children back to schoolext month because he says the risks of not returning are too high to ignore. the sunday mirror reports that some mps are calling for the education secretary to quit in the wake of the a—level results issues. according to the sunday telegraph, public health england is to be scrapped and replaced by a new body early next week, specifically designed to protect the country against a pandemic. the daily mail says priti patel is embroiled in a row to say that... the sunday people predicts the country won't recover from the current recession till 2023. let's

i spoke to a head teacher lacks weak web into a conference where gavin williamson was addressing them felt enormously frustrated because on one hand, he had parents coming to him and saying "are you going to close the school? i need to know so my work and make other arrangements." but the government wasn't asking them to close i was saying you should stay open. at the same time, he had staff who were may be pregnant or who were feeling ill themselves and had to therefore self—isolate and so the number of staff was reducing and the capacity of schools to cope was being brought down. the government has been brought to this point because they heard the message loud and clear from schools and saying they need clarity and they need to close now. let's talk to john for a clarity and they need to close now. let's talk tojohn for a moment. as the editor of your magazine, you come across a lot of teachers. this question is from catherine. our teachers children still to attend school so that should know my teachers can teach vulnerable children? i think from what gavin williamson said today, sc

a lot of people looking at what gavin williamson is saying and doing as education secretary, saying heresults and on the system that has been set up despite quite a lot of unease from teachers and teachers unions. this article of quual they have basically said that the us teachers have over marked and marked too high. —— you, as teachers, full i would dispute that this isjust because of covid—19. of course young people missed exams that we could see this coming and teachers were raising issues with the algorithm for some weeks and we onlyjust last week so the fallout in scotland, so you would have thought that we might have made sure that we were in a better position and scotland was la st better position and scotland was last week and we have not. as a consequence, a lot of young people are very upset today and i think the real scandal here

i think we have had different reports previously about the various things gavin williamson and his teamnew in advance of the awful algorithm. and i think we have had different types of communications where bodies have come forward and individuals have come forward and individuals have contacted say we spotted a problem. i think it is also worth noting that we have a public report if you look at things that robert half in the chair of the education select committee said, pointing out potential problems. so i think that generally speaking, i think there is plenty of evidence to suggest gavin williamson should have been aware there were problems coming up the track but i think ultimately it does feel as though his position is secure for now in dentistry have decided to stick with them. and i think with the return of schools today and throughout the week, i think should they continue going to plan, ithink think should they continue going to plan, i think number ten is his biggest test and that you turn on a level. the biggest risk restrictions in glasgow after a rise in virus restrictions t

boris johnson street is defending gavin williamson this morning. that waiting to further problems. and then they return to school for pupils at the start of term in september, both big tests still to come for gavin williamson. this afternoon we'll be answering your questions on the government u—turn on how a—level exams will be graded. simon mccoy will be joined by grainne hallahan from the time educational supplement and mary curnock cook, former chief executive of ucas. that's coming up at 3.30 this afternoon. the democratic party convention has got under way in the united states. but like everything these days, it looked very different, with none of the razzmatazz usually on show when america's major political parties meet to elect their presidential nominee. instead of speeches in front of cheering crowds, during a two—hour televised event, there was series of live—streamed and pre—recorded appearances by the party's — and some republican — big names. 0ur north america correspondent, peter bowes, reports. remote, virtual, and very unconventiona

gavin williamson said quual was "very independent."o ensure fairness. i know that 0fqual, very much at the heart of what it does, wanted to ensure fairness. and without a doubt, any process that you introduce in the midst of a pandemic is going to have its challenges. now, sexual and violent offenders will serve at least two—thirds of their jail terms, rather than half as part of changes to the criminaljustice system in england and wales. it will also be possible forjudges to send people aged 18 to 20 convicted of terrorism causing mass loss of life to prison for the rest of their lives. the justice secretary set out the aims of the sentencing overhaul. to bring in tougher sentences, to tackle drug—related crime, to treat addictions, to improve employment opportunities for offenders, to review the parole system and much more. a smarter approach to sentencing will grow confidence in the criminaljustice system's ability to deal robustly with the worst offenders and reduce the risk of harm to the public, but also be smart enough to do the

and at 7:30 we'll speak to gavin williamson.st, this report from our education correspondent danjohnson. after 12 years at school, it all comes down to this but the stress of results date is multiplied by the added complications of coronavirus. with no exams, teachers have estimated grades. the who is up and who is down. deep anxiety about these unusual results. help me is confident and really looking forward to getting the results but at the same time, because of what has happened in scotland, there is little bit of uncertainty about am i going to get the predicted grade? quite apprehensive but i know i have done a good job with my preparation,. i am feeling happier that have done well in my mugs and assessments. the best i could do but i was really set on doing the exams. resulted scotland were raised after no standard marks. in wales, stu d e nts no standard marks. in wales, students have been promised at least the grade they scored in the first year exams. in northern ireland, schools will be able to appear if mugs schools w

gavin williamson explained more about how he hopes that will happen on bbc breakfast this morning.ing to be getting a drop of tests. all the equipment they need to set up, all the ppe that they need in order to have the staff. and, on top of that, those schools that are really having difficulty, aren't able to get this set up with the resources that are being provided, we are very grateful to the armed forces, 1500 service personnel, for those schools that are really having difficulty, aren't able to follow the guidance and the instructions, and use the equipment that has been provided, and the money that's been offered to them, to be able to help them get that massed testing programme set out in their school. so, support of the armed forces, but still criticism of how this mass testing programme has been handled for schools. 0ne testing programme has been handled for schools. one a teaching union described this as a last—minute mess, and labour saying it is further proof that the government has lost control of its response to the pandemic. thank you very much. borisjohnson's trade

gavin williamson the education secretary will be at the helm today. what are we expecting?een at one of these press conferences, the timing is obvious, given that school terms on the summer term is about to start for thousands of pupils. but not any way that many of them would have thought was going to be happening. soi thought was going to be happening. so i think there will be quite a bit about online learning, how families cope with all of that, with home—schooling and trying to work out the best way for children to learn. and in line with all of that, one of the things they are going to be talking about is extra help for those from disadvantaged backgrounds who might not have a laptop of the tools to deal with that. they will allow some of the older pupils to borrow laptops to help them with ag connection, for example, just to make sure that they can follow things in the same way as everyone else can. but there are sure to be lots of questions of course about when schools might reopen and the impression i get is that the government is not willing to discuss dates, that

the shadow education secretary, kate green, has written to gavin williamson, saying he should considerof term or pausing the arrival of students to allow improvements in testing capacity and remote learning. with little warning before they were asked to isolate, some students are worried about getting supplies. as for staying put over christmas, which the government hasn't ruled out, labour say that would be unthinkable. it's really difficult. i'm personally from near london, so my family is really, really far away. so it's not like they can just come and see me through the gate. we didn't have time to go to the food shops before security came in, so it's put us in a really, really difficult situation. and just the lack of knowing what's going on, really, it's difficult. the department for education said it was monitoring the situation very closely and working with universities to ensure they were well prepared for the return of students, who the government says should follow the latest health advice just like the wider public. jonathan blake, bbc news. professor mark woolhouse, an epi

there are huge numbers of events all coming together but whatever, gavin williamson and the educationch seems to be just serious the whole time. dave, the mirror is saying he should be sacked, the sunday express are much more sympathetic. he has written the article himself, ijust noticed the deputy political editor byline on this is david williamson, i don't think they are necessarily related. it says he is making a passionate plea to get back to school and presumably he would be quite keen for people to concentrate on the next school term, not what has gone on over this year. yes, as anne rightly said, he has the gcse results coming up next week, the biggest on with 7000 to relax 700,000 students getting their grades. bodies 20 tonne into the express. . . grades. bodies 20 tonne into the express... when he is about to get kids back to school and he is launching a back—to—school safety campaign to try to convince parents that it campaign to try to convince parents thatitis campaign to try to convince parents that it is safe to go back to school and in his article he argues that it is

just finally, jack, let's look at the metro, more problems looming for gavin williamson.these freshman around universities around the country are in lockdown and not even sure there will be home for christmas? you see the picture of gavin williamson popping up on the front page, it always seems like when there is calamity, and his face is attached. never a great place for the minister to be. is attached. never a great place for the ministerto be. it is attached. never a great place for the minister to be. it all seems obvious that we would've gotten to this point, but you wonder if they we re this point, but you wonder if they were so this point, but you wonder if they were so focused on getting those primary school back after that went so primary school back after that went so badly wrong last time, and maybe that i was taken off the ball a little bit and there should have been measures brought in more quickly? we have to cut you short, we've run out of time. we will see you in 35 minutes' time. that's our first look at the papers. good evening, i'm chetan pathak with yo

just on the point of gavin williamson, where does this leave him? few days ago seems to have been shot by 0fqual anyway, so who is making the decisions here? that is an interesting question, and i think it is probably emblematic of what is happening across government. you have government agencies that are delivering to what they understand to be their statutory objectives. in 0fqual‘s case i think not very well, but leave that aside for a second, and you have those agencies put under huge pressure by government. these agencies are very often headed nowadays by political appointees and it creates an appalling conflict of interest. so my guess as to what happened last night was that 0fqual was under intense pressure to support the government's policy call for a better appeal system, so it put up that blog, and then somebody at 0fqual worked out that actually it was unlawful for them to do what they had done, and so it was taken down again, pending a review of the legal position. the legal position is complicated, undoubtedly, but ultimately 0fqual is

this is something that the education secretary gavin williamson mentioned ina secretary gavin williamson the idea now is that schools that can manage it can actually start taking in other classes not just manage it can actually start taking in other classes notjust here and in yearone in in other classes notjust here and in year one in your six. this is all very well but i was the depends on the school and this is why i think the school and this is why i think the whole planning for the opening of school was such a chaotic mess. that the schools and many of the schools i know who have the pupils backin schools i know who have the pupils back in on section one, and six are now at 50% capacity because if you divide them up into bubbles of 15 pupils. now surely they will have known that right from the beginning and so it is actually always going to be impossible to open schools fully to everyone. now they are trying to get a few other kids back but i was in the more children who are back in school the better it is for them. but really this is the kind of planning that should have gone and b

there is an effort here to apply some political pressure on gavin williamson.s a devolved issue. i do not think gavin williamson will be the only minister andi williamson will be the only minister and i do not think the conservative party will be the only party to come under pressure. to what extent that ramps up potentially depends on whether we see more and more cases of stu d e nts whether we see more and more cases of students having to self—isolate in student halls for two weeks, which is obviously difficult for stu d e nts which is obviously difficult for students and the broader question about whether they feel they are getting value for money out of their education. thank you. president trump has picked a conservativejudge — amy coney barrett — as his nominee to fill the supreme court seat left vacant by the death of the liberaljudge, ruth bader ginsburg. the decision has been condemned by democrats who say he is trying to force through a judge who would help to destroy public healthcare and abortion rights. donald trump's presidential rival, joe biden,

today the education secretary gavin williamson tried to reassure pa rents secretary gavin williamsons, such as social distancing and hygiene. he said the continued closure of schools would have a huge impact on education, particularly for children from the most disadvantaged background. and of course there is the business of the economy. in order for the country to go back to work, children will need to go back to school. the government says this is based on scientific advice but the unions say that these plans are reckless and have told teachers they don't have to go along with them. so a huge dilemma for parents. will they have the confidence to send children back to school in a few weeks? a big decision in a short amount of time. elaine, thank you very much. campaigners representing migrants are calling for all foreign key workers to have their visas extended. the government's automatic visa—extension scheme covers a number of roles, like doctors, nurses and paramedics, but does not include jobs like porters and cleaners. they say it's wrong they are having to pay thousands of pou

the education secretary, gavin williamson, has sidestepped questions about whether he will resign, andrsities minister michelle donelan said the grading system devised by the exams regulator 0fqual was "grossly unfair." the government was forced to abandon 0fqual‘s computer modelling for a level and gcse results, after an outcry when 40% of entries were downgraded. wales and northern ireland also reversed their policies. 0ur education editor, branwenjeffreys, has the latest: natasha is still looking for a place to study medicine. her hopes had beenin 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 my future but it has been a stressful couple of days because i thought i had got into university. good afternoon, you are through to clearing. because today to clearing the students checking their place is secure. the courses have been filling up at this university is honouring every offer. the legal situation i do not

you've mentioned you've called for gavin williamson to resign over the exams controversy.johnson controversy. apparently he overdid an borisjohnson rejected it which i find extraordinary. you mentioned ki rsty find extraordinary. you mentioned kirsty williams who is the education ministry in wales, a liberal democrat. you didn't call for her resignation and she too had to apologise to students for the mess 7 apologise to students for the mess he apologise to students for the mess up? the difference between england and wales as they have a different system, she put flaws in place, they we re system, she put flaws in place, they were using this algorithm but she said no one would get less than they would have got with their as—level, we change that in england, we didn't have the same checks and balances in the system. —— she put floors in place. sheep follow joyce to appear sleep for the mess. she should stay in post? even though there is a mess and wes? what she has done differently, it's not the same, the same level of risk, is not true, i have to say this. all i ever want

gavin williamson who joins us now live on education secretary gavin williamson whojoins us now liveplay are you a clip from interviews we had on monday. two days ago. one is the schools minister, nick gibb, the other is the deputy chief medical officerjenny harries. we put to them why the government had changed its advice given what was published on friday and this is what they said. provided schools are adopting all the measures that i talked about, the hygiene, the cleanliness, the bubbles and so on, in schools, then they are not recommending use of face masks in school. it does inhibit the process of being taught and the process of education in school. they do have to wear masks on public transport and on dedicated home—to—school transport. so children over 11 will be required to wear masks in those circumstances. but where children are with the same consistent group of people each day, the current scientific advice is it is not necessary to do so. we are recommending in public settings, public transport, children over 11 wear face coverings. that who report also noted that child

gavin williamson said they we re for this. gavin williamson said they were being cautious.but for some children it has been better. i spoke to colleagues working with special needs children who said it has been good because they have had contact with the child every day. my group of five or six children i work with normally, i normally see them once a week and i have seen them every day. it might be half an hour and online, working together, tailoring programmes for that child. having undivided attention for that time has been beneficial. there are other people offering concerns over perhaps people from different socioeconomic backgrounds being disadvantaged because they are not in school and do not have the facilities and technology, for example. schools are open. one of my serious difficulties with this assertion about what should happen is that schools have remained open all the way through. those children you mentioned should be in school. all the time they should have been in school. they could have been in school, most of them, 90% of them i understand have not been i

we will leave gavin williamson there, the education secretary, who has been talking in the commons.t, in many things, being sorry for the pupils affected. labour accusing the government of a summer of incompetence and confusion. our political correspondent nick eardley is at westminster for us. at the very least, the government relief schools are back, finally. something that is been slightly familiar, they have been getting a bit of a ticking on education. we heard labour accusing them of incompetence there, the snp saying they do not heed the warning of scotla nd they do not heed the warning of scotland and the exam chaos. gavin williamson, i think was pretty clear there but he is quite confident that when it comes to schools, things are on the right path now, most children england are going to go back over the next few days. that is a confidence reflected in down a street as well, so perhaps we might start to see government strategy starting to work when it comes to education —— reflected in downing street. there is the question over a call we heard from the labour party to delay