most who were sitting btecs this morning u nsuccessfully sitting btecs this morning unsuccessfully thisence? i'm hitting his word trust and i'm pleased to reinforce that. also talking about fats, —— sats, primary schools will be pleased about that. what are your thoughts about, almost a personal level, just as someone who has done thejob, i don't know how level, just as someone who has done the job, i don't know how many years he had been in thejob, but your thoughts of what this all means the stu d e nts thoughts of what this all means the students who have been working so hard, irrespective of whether you think it is the right decision, what this means the kids who have been thinking i have big exams coming up and now that is not the case?” thinking i have big exams coming up and now that is not the case? i have been a head teacher since april this year and been a head teacher since april this yearandi been a head teacher since april this year and i have been at royal wootton bassett academy for 19 yea rs. wootton bassett academy for 19 years. i know all our community and stu d e nts

of the government to announce the cancellation of gcse and a—level exams and to say nothing about btec details of an alternative plan being agreed. stu d e nts of an alternative plan being agreed. students and their families in of an alternative plan being agreed. students and theirfamilies in my constituency have suffered greatly and deeply anxious about this continued uncertainty. many students have contacted me to say they are suffering negative impact on their mental health as a result. i would ask the secretary of state, what plans does he have to provide additional mental health support for our children and young people? additional mental health support for our children and young people7m course, one of the great advantages we have had with schools being back all the way through the latter half of last year is teachers and those working in schools have been in the best possible place to assess and work with children, have the best understanding of some of their needs and problems that they have, including mental health challenges, and we will be working with the education sector

he will be hearing more later about the btec exams, and we must be fair to those who are taking btecsry to protect this country from the readmission of the virus. i am grateful for the right honourable gentleman's support in the vaccination programme, i must say i do remember the derision with which he attacked the vaccine task force and the efforts they went to to secure huge supplies, i remember it well. i think it would be a good thing if you could continue to keep up thing if you could continue to keep up that spirit and point out that not only that there country devised the first effective treatment of covid—19, secure the first approval, ofa covid—19, secure the first approval, of a vaccine, the first to produce a vaccine that can be used at fridge temperature, great value to humanity across the world, and as i say, the country, as i stand before you today, has vaccinated more people than the rest of europe combined. i think it would be good to hear that from the gentleman opposite. chris grayling. the prime minister is right to be taking the steps needed to protect the nhs in t

btec exams at the moment, is that right also?week. i think an example can be more socially distant thunder can be more control that situation. it is a hard decision so i think the btec local ahead. dr mary bousted, good to talk to you. the new measures were introduced after rapidly growing cases of coronavirus and increasing pressure on hospitals. so, will these tough restrictions be enough to tackle the drastic rise in infections across england in the last week? from the new and emerging respiratory virus threats advisory group to the government, also known as nervtag. good to have you with us, professor. that is the question, i suppose, will these new measures work? are they enough? i think they will definitely save tens of thousands of lives, but i think we could be going a lot further and learning from the previous lockdown and what we saw in the previous lockdown is a rates and deaths were concentrated in the poorest areas of the community, so we need to think about a strategy about how we protect those groups and key worker

she is taking ta blets to due to sit her btecs.o help us sleep, because of her anxiety wa5 tablets to help us sleep, because of her anxiety was nobody wants their daughter to be taken tablets to help her sleep or suffer more anxiety than they need to. the government 5aid than they need to. the government said that vocational exams would go ahead, butjust said that vocational exams would go ahead, but just hours said that vocational exams would go ahead, butjust hours later they change their position, leaving it to individual schools and colleges to decide with that they should happen. this has drawn criticism from some teachers will stop we have students who are writing to us, 5aying, i'll be coming in for exams or not? we are having to do everything we can to support our students. our wonderful team are going out of their way to create advantages for their way to create advantages for the students, but it is not fair at the students, but it is not fair at the moment. the lack of information makes it harder for us. in contrast, min

next week, millie is due to sit a btec exam.doesn't know how her gcse grades will be calculated. we've missed so much learning. like four months of last year. and we were only in school for four months. and now we are closing down again. tomorrow, more from the government on exams is expected. not a detailed plan, but confirmation of next steps. branwen jeffreys, bbc news. the bbc has announced its largest ever section of educational programmes for children at home during lockdown and from monday there will be five hours of programming on cbbc and bbc two for primary and secondary schoolchildren. england joined scotland, wales and northern ireland last night in introducing strict lockdown measures in order to try to curb the spread of the virus. in a moment, we'll be hearing from emma vardy in belfast and hywel griffith in cardiff, but first here's our scotland correspondent, james cook. scotland's lockdown is actually quite similar to england's, but there are a few key differencers. for example, there is no limit here on indivi

millie's level two btec exam in sports studies is still due to go ahead next week, but her gcse exams because we've missed so much, and like, it's just really hard to motivate myself to get up in the morning, cos we've not been in a straight routine for ages, and it's been remote learning, and our disruption to learning has been getting worse, seeing as more people are getting covid, and it's just been really hard. we've covered, like, not even half of the a—level spec... max is doing a—levels. he's been revising for mocks which were due to take place in two weeks but have now been cancelled. i think the issue is, there is people out there who have not done as well in assessments within school and colleges as they probably would have liked, who are relying on exams and mocks later on in the year to be able to get the grades that they needed. but then there is also students that have done really well in those that want teacher—assessed grades, so whether you do some form of assessment or you do teacher—assessed grades, there is always going to be half of the students that aren't going

these students came in for the cancelled btec exam.g to keep revising because i want to learn the content because i know it's going to help me for the next steps of my life and for university. it's important to know my grades and to find out how they will be worked out because it depends, that will determine which unis we apply for. abigail and leila are worried that gcse grades are fair. already, abigail has had to self—isolate twice. i think they should say that what everybody has been through, i think that needs to be taken into account, that some people have had more education than others and that they need to take that into account and make everybody equal, really. i just think they should take into account every single aspect that they can possibly find and try and even it out so that everybody has equal results, i guess. not equal, but as fair as it can possibly be. there is a long way to go between today's announcement and the kind of detail that schools really need. but also, a long, hard road to travel, with pupils and their

labour has accused the government of treating btec students as an "afterthought" gavin williamson says whether to cancel their exams. today, the house of commons was recalled from recess for the second time, to debate and retrospectively vote on the lockdown measures layer tonight. damian grammaticus has more. in a capital with soaring infection rates, mps recalled today for an extraordinary sitting. the prime ministerjust a few days ago did not foresee this lockdown happening this fast. how long are we in this for, prime minister? but in the capital, one in 30 people have been infected by the virus in just the past week. inside there was ceremony, but few to see it happen, a handful of mps present in parliament. a new year, a new variant and so tighter restrictions. i now call the prime minister to make a statement, borisjohnson. it is inescapable that the facts are changing and we must change our response and so we have no choice but to return to a national lockdown in england with similar measures being adopted by the devolved administrations. so we can control this new variant unti

sarah malinger, i hope i pronounce that public 130 students are due to sit btec and other vocationaln of colleges that the government has left it to individual schools and colleges to decide if those vocational exams are going ahead. sally champion, btec exams should go ahead for all or because of all, how cana ahead for all or because of all, how can a benchmark beset when there are inconsistencies in sitting exams and assessed results? jane potter, molly davenport is a lovely bright young lady, good luck to her and the young people taking exams, difficult times for them. yes, good luck to every student due to set major exams this summer. sport, and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's katherine downes. good morning. sad news this morning. the former manchester city and england midfielder colin bell has died at the age of 7a from a short, non—covid related illness. widely regarded as one of the finest players of his generation, bell was known as the ‘king of the kippax' — a nod to the most boystrous stand at city's old maine road stadium. he made almost 500 appeara

however, there‘s some confusion from btec students.d be extended further. and in northern ireland it‘s expected schools will be shut to most students until the middle of next month. we‘re joined now by our political correspondent jonathan blake. so many people will be watching very closely because there are a lot of changes going on at the moment. we are expecting to hear from the education later today. after all the uncertainty about the return to school in england this week, stu d e nts school in england this week, students with gcse and a—level results looming in the summer we‘ll have to wait a little longer to find out how great will be awarded and what they will be doing other than sitting exams in school halls, which the government has made clear it will not happen as planned. the education secretary, gavin williamson, will make a statement to mps in the house of commons later that he is not going to give full details of what will replace the exams and the system will be put in place at a later date because it has to be agreed wi

vocational exams such as btecs are going ahead as planned, despite calls for them to be cancelled too being asked not to return if possible and to prepare to start the term online until at least the middle of february. those studying hands—on courses, such as medicine and veterinary science, can return following two covid tests or a ten—day period of isolation. the decision to close schools and colleges marks a major departure from the government's previous position, but they say the latest evidence is clear. schools must be closed to protect us all. sean dilley, bbc news. with another lockdown being the very last thing businesses need right now, the chancellor has stepped in to try and stave off a fresh wave of closures and redundancies. andy verity reports. for businesses forced once again by anti—virus measures to shut, being in a cash flow crisis with too little money coming in to pay suppliers, landlords and creditors is a painful new normal. the bank of england's calculated this financial year firms have £180 billion less money flowing in than they need to pay bills. and that wa

vocational exams such as btecs are going ahead as planned, despite calls for them to be cancelled tooity students are being asked not to return if possible and to prepare to start the term online until at least the middle of february. those studying hands—on courses, such as medicine and veterinary science, can return following two covid tests or a ten—day period of isolation. the decision to close schools and colleges marks a major departure from the government's previous position, but they say the latest evidence is clear. schools must be closed to protect us all. sean dilley, bbc news. a quick line of breaking new from honda, which said it is halting output in britain, due to global supply delays. it suspended out put in september after the problems from the covid pandemic. goods being stock piled before brexit. 0utput resumed yesterday. at swindon. after the festive break. the situation being monitored. for today and tomorrow, honda has had to halt output at its plants. with another lockdown being the very last thing businesses need right now — as we've heard — the chancellor has

so what is happening with regard to those btecs?le will have to watch this space and i'm sorry for those young people suddenly caught in the middle of all this turmoil. gavin williamson will update the house of commons tomorrow, we understand. let's look ahead to gcses, a—levels in the summerand let's look ahead to gcses, a—levels in the summer and we are now talking about different assessment. can that be done and how will that be done? well, i think what will happened with the announcement last night is that it will have heard what people wa nted that it will have heard what people wanted to hear. for example, the bbc was immediately reporting that exams are cancelled, that is what you have been talking about this morning. from what i heard was that it wouldn't be fair to continue with current arrangements. that gave some wriggle room to say may be all exams couldn't run, that would be unthinkable, but may be some modification to exams. it's worth saying that if you compare the english education system with scotla nd english educa

just about schools, colleges in the same situation and have had to cancel a lot of exams for their btech,. i now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello. the heavy rain brought by storm christoph has been easing during the day, but there is a lot of water still to work through the river catchments, still a number of severe flood warnngs in place. keep up—to—date on the flood warnings still in force on the bbc weather website. through this evening and overnight, a little more rain in the south east. dry and clear weather elsewhere, wintry showers in the west, giving rise to some more ice, sleet and snow, even to low levels, continuing across the north of scotland. the snow really piling up here tonight and tomorrow. through tomorrow, we keep the wintry showers with quite a lot of snow across high ground, but even to lower levels in northern scotland. one or two showers for northern ireland, parts of wales, the south west. further east, dry and spells of sunshine but it will be quite a chilly day with top temperatures between 4—8 degrees. saturday will be dry for most, ju