than five miles from where they live, unless for work or education, as our scotland correspondent lorna gordonow reports. aberdeen, back into a local lockdown. more than 200,000 people living here facing restrictions on what they can do and where they can go. this, a last pint poured in a granite city pub before, like other venues, at five o'clock it had to close. instead of closing down aberdeen, maybe close the two or three bars, that's fair enough. some people, this is the only enjoyment they get.

lorna gordon, bbc news, glasgow.ows there were 670 new confirmed cases of covid—19 in the latest 24 hour period. the seven—day rolling average is 802, that figure is starting to rise. 89 deaths were also recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that takes the total number of deaths in the uk to 46,299. on average in the past week, 60 people have died every day from coronavirus, the downward trend in deaths has slowed recently. the head of england's test and trace system for coronavirus has denied that it is a failure after another day of criticism. as schools prepare to reopen and parents start returning to work, scientists are warning that if test and tracing isn't improved significantly, there could be a second wave of the virus by december that's worse than the first. here's our health editor, hugh pym. blackburn with darwen, the area with the highest number of virus cases relative to the local population. the council has felt the need to launch its own scheme to reach contacts of those who have been infected, addin

lorna gordon, bbc news, aberdeenshire.er in the uk who was unable to get tested for covid—19 untiljuly has said she fears she may have spread the disease into care homes despite showing no symptoms. alison taylor from sheffield recently tested positive forantibodies, indicating she once had coronavirus. she now fears she may have worked while contagious and even visited her mother, who later died with suspected covid—19. jamie coulson reports. i find it really hard to think that i might have passed it to care homes, to residents, to my family. cos i could be responsible for other people's deaths. throughout the pandemic, alison taylor has looked after some of the most vulnerable in society. last week, the 51—year—old received a positive antibody test, which means that at some point she's had covid. she's never experienced any symptoms, so the agency care worker had continued with normal life. i've gone into other places while i've had covid. i've been to see my family and, if i'd have known, there's no way i would've... we

lorna gordon, bbc news, glasgow. rest of the uk as hundreds of thousands of students get their a—level and btec results on thursday, and gcse results next week. there are now similar concerns about the system used to calculate their grades. the prime minister says the government will "do its best" to ensure the hard work of pupils is reflected. 0ur education editor, branwenjeffreys, has been talking to a group of students about their hopes and fears. my biggest worry is that all the hard work that i've put in over the last two years is going to be underestimated by the standardisation process. that my hard work and achievement throughout the two years won't be acknowledged. all the work i've done will be for nothing, especially for my art a—level. their future rests on their results, but with exams cancelled, grades will be awarded in a system never tried before. how is my grade calculated? your teachers have estimated your grades in each subject, a—level or btec, and then ranked students in each subject from top to

our scotland correspondent lorna gordon has more. it has been a tough few days for 16—year—old olivia and her dad, david. her dreams of studying medicine, after she got results that bore little resemblance to what she was predicted, for now on hold. i wasn't really nervous at all because i kind of knew what i was expected to get. then i opened up the results and i was completely devastated. i was heartbroken. literally, i thought my dreams were crushed. after days of defending the process, a u—turn from scotland's first minister, who said she wasn't prepared for young people in more deprived areas to think the system is stacked against them. despite our best intentions, i do acknowledge that we did not get this right and i'm sorry for that. but instead of doing what politicians sometimes do and dig our heels in, we are determined to acknowledge that and to put it right. the anger was down to this. with no exams this year, the scottish qualifications authority calculated grades based on teacher assessments. but 125,000 of those estima

our scotland correspondent lorna gordon has the story. summer holiday surprise from islands far across the sea. messages not in a bottle, but in a tiny mail boat, washed ashore and discovered by children playing on a remote norwegian beach. the kids, as always, were messing around down by the water and looking for things and just playing around and they just stumbled upon this boat. they found it and look what i found and then, by coincidence, totally coincidence, they just dropped it and it opened. what they found inside was a treasure trove of postcards, intact after a ten—year, thousand—mile journey from the shores of the remote scottish islands of st kilda. the mail boat tradition stretches back to when the islanders who used to live here had to send messages appealing for help from the mainland. life in this rocky outcrop in the atlantic was extremely harsh and the islands‘ last—remaining residents voted to leave and were evacuated in 1930. just imagining that life there, and you can see the abandoned community and it is all still th

lorna gordon, bbc news, edinburgh.that we cover on our website. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ lucyegrey thanks for watching. hello there. pressure is on to bring in the harvest. there is heavy rain and thunderstorms in the forecast for next week. at the moment, it's all about how high the temperatures are going to get. it wasn't quite as hot on saturday as it was on friday. but still, the temperature in hampshire reached 34 degrees. the highest temperatures were in sussex and at frittenden in kent, and it's these sort of areas that we'll see the focus of the heat again during sunday. we start with some very high temperatures in the morning in the southeast corner of england, perhaps 19—20 degrees. again, it's cooler as you had further north, maybe 4—5 in the northwest of scotland. in between, we have got this zone of cloud that's pushed in off the north sea. and there may be 1—2 light showers in that as well. any shower threatening the far southeast should move away. gradually, the sunshine develops more widely,

lorna gordon, bbc news, edinburgh. that's it.night. hello. this is bbc news. let's return now to our top story — the protests that have been taking place in the lebanese capital beirut. thousands of people have taken to the streets to express their anger at the country's leaders in the wake of tuesday's explosion. 0ur middle east correspondent, lina sinjab has been speaking to people in the city. basically it is chaotic and a lot of riots going on in the central square in downtown beirut. the protesters are having different plans this time, trying to occupy public buildings like the ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of finance and even wanted to break into the central banking building. so that is their plan, to occupy these buildings and stay there until these politicians and elites respond to their requests and be held responsible and held accountable for what has happened. i'm am actually joined by one of the protesters, aline, who was just there and she just came out. aline, tell us what happened and what is going t

lorna gordon, bbc news. on bbc news, philippa thomas hears from people around the world about their extraordinary experiences during the pandemic and how covid—19 has changed their lives. welcome to coronavirus: your stories, a programme about how covid—19 is affecting the lives of people around the world. i am philippa thomas and it this week we are hearing inside stories from scientists, some of them directly involved in the fight against the virus and others using ingenious methods to carry out the research while working from home. later, we will hear what it is like to be leading one of the global teams trying to develop a vaccine, we will find out how students learning online with the u.k.'s open universities can remotely conduct experiments, use robots a look at the stars from a spanish island. we start with two young research scientists who answered the call for expert volunteers as a uk faced its pandemic emergency. abigail and jessica both work at the francis creek institute in london. my normaljob

lorna gordon, bbc news., covid—19 is posing an unprecedented us election year challenge to the candidates running for president, transforming it into a virtual one. chanting: four more years! the 2020 race for the white house is like no other. history has delivered us to one the most difficult moments we have ever faced. the coronavirus has upended american life. before the plague came in from china, like we had never seen. and transformed the political conventions, launching a presidential campaign which is anything but normal. as you've seen by now, this isn't a normal convention. president trump is fighting for re—election against his challengerjoe biden as the nation reels from the coronavirus outbreak which has left millions unemployed and killed more than 180,000. his only pre—existing condition was trusting donald trump. as a national reckoning over racial injustice. i urge people to come together in a civil manner. previous conventions brought great drama and launched careers. the rhetoric this time

lorna gordon, bbc news.istance after picking up more than two—hundred drifting migrants in the mediterranean. the german—flagged louise michel said it was overcrowded and unable to move with at least one dead on board. the vessel had earlier rescued another 89 people from a rubber boat on thursday. those are the main stories on bbc news. don't forget, you can keep up—to—date throughout the day with all of the news, national and international, from the bbc as we get it straight to you. its own bbcnews.com. we can take a look at the weather now. —— it is on bbcnews.com. not a huge amount of sunshine to begin with, but parts of wales faring quite well so far today. there are a few showers the further west you are. across much of the east of the uk, and particularly the east of the uk, and particularly the eastern side of england, cloud cover, a bit of rain to come, as well because you are closest to this area of low pressure. bit of wind around it. and pulling away. further to the west of the uk, there is an ar

thank you, lorna gordon.t online — that's the stark view of britain's most senior drugs police officer, who says social media firms should do more to tackle the sale of illegal substances on their platforms. jim connolly has been speaking to three families who lost children after their children bought drugs in this way. three mums brought together by grief after their teenage children died taking illegal drugs. she was funny, sassy, a bit of a diva, a bit of a drama queen. loved to sing. sarah's daughterjodie died after taking ecstasy that she'd bought on snapchat. fiona is leading their campaign to get social media companies to act to stop the trade of illegal drugs on their platforms. how can it be that drugs can be offered to children so openly and apparently nothing done? i want to find outjust how easy it is to find drugs in this way on social media, so i've set up a snapchat account, i've set up an instagram account and i'm going to search for a few phrases and see what comes up. turns out, very easy. w

lorna gordon, bbc news, in the scottish borders.tland's schools open their doors from tomorrow, england aims to follow suit in september. the education secretary gavin williamson says there's little evidence of coronavirus being transmitted in schools and the plans to fully reopen schools in england have been guided by the best science. but how safe will classrooms be for pupils and teachers? our science editor david shukman has been looking at the evidence. all the signs are that children generally escape the worst of the virus. studies across europe show that under 18s make up a tiny fraction of the cases. so for them schools should be safe. for young children, for primary schoolchildren, they are probably about half as likely as adults to get infected and extremely unlikely to get on well. for secondary school children, they behave more like young adults in terms of their risk of infection but they are also unlikely to get on well from covid. for staff the risks may be higher, so for staff the risks may be higher, $03 for staff t

lorna gordon, bbc news. for england says schools must be prioritised over pubs and shops in planning for future coronavirus lockdowns. it comes amid fresh warnings from a top scientist, professor neil ferguson, that reopening secondary schools could see a signifiant rise in the virus‘ ability to spread. here's our education correspondent elaine dunkley. this is a primary school that's open all year round during term time and holidays. this head teacher agrees with the children's commissioner that schools should be the last to close. she says it should be up to school to make the decision on whether it's safe to open. we know the cases in the area, so i think it would be really helpful if it was done on an individual basis by authorities so that we would monitor oui’ own areas. then put things in place from that. there are concerns about how much we can reopen society without a resurgence of coronavirus. this leaves a question mark over schools reopening. some scientists say the risk of transmission on primar

our scotland correspondent lorna gordon has the story. boat washed ashore and discovered by children playing on a remote norwegian beach. the kids, as always, were messing around down with the water, and looking for things, and just playing around, and they just stumbled upon this boat. they found it, then totally by coincidence they just dropped it and it opened. what they found inside was a treasure trove of postcards intact after a ten year thousand mile journey from the shores of the remote scottish islands of st kilda. the mail boat tradition that stretches back to when the islanders who used to live here had to send messages appealing for help from the mainland. life on this rocky outcrop in the atlantic was extremely harsh, and the islands' last remaining residents voted to leave and were evacuated in 1930. just imagining that life there. and you can see the abandoned community, and it's all still there to see. the street, the graveyard, the church, the school, just all left when people walked out 90 years ago. alexander gillies fe

lorna gordon, bbc news, aberdeenshire.ed thousands of people on the streets for a fifth day of protests over disputed election results. there's been unrest since the long serving leader, alexander lu kashenko, was declared the winner of sunday's presidential election, in a vote condemned by many, including the uk, as not being free orfair. mr lukashenko has ruled the country, located between russia and the baltic states, for more than a quarter of a century and the police have made more than 6,700 arrests, since he secured another term in office. some of those detained were released today, and tearful relatives gathered outside a jail north of the capital, minsk, hoping to be reunited with their loved ones. from there, our correspondent, abdujalil abdurasulov, sent this report. applause. factory workers down tools across belarus today. the protest mood in the country is changing following a violent crackdown on protesters. people are finding new ways to make their voices heard. although the number of protesters on the stre

lorna gordon, bbc news.or england says schools must be prioritised over pubs and shops in planning for future coronavirus lockdowns. it comes amid fresh warnings from a top scientist, professor neil ferguson, that reopening secondary schools could see a signifiant rise in the virus' ability to spread. here's our education correspondent elaine dunkley. this is a primary school on the whitchurch estate in birkenhead which is open all year round during term time and in holidays. this head teacher agrees with the children's commissioner that schools should be the last to close and says it should be up to schools to make the decision on whether it is safe to open. we know the cases in the area so open. we know the cases in the area soi open. we know the cases in the area so i think it would be really helpful if it was done on an individual basis by authorities so we could monitor our own areas and then put things in place and action things from that. there are concerns about how much we can reopen society without

lorna gordon, bbc news, aberdeenshire.ing environment for the rescue this morning this afternoon. 0ur correspondent lorna gordon is at the scene. do we know where the investigation will be focused? i think it's likely that a very big focus of this investigation will be on what part the weather played. it was truly appalling weather in this part of scotla nd appalling weather in this part of scotland overnight, there was thunder and lightning between 6—10 a.m. this morning and 79 mm of rain fell. they'll be looking to see if indeed there was a landslide here that caused the train to derail and, if it was the sheer weight of water falling from the skies that caused that landslide to happen. but in make no mistake, this is a very difficult place for those investigators to work in. in the last hour, we have seen those investigators turn up and we are told they will be working through the night, but they'll have to walk through the fields to get to that cutting behind me. it is very remote and difficult to get to, we've seen th

lorna gordon, bbc news, aberdeenshire.nts are very unusual nowadays in the uk — it looks like the storms overnight played a major role in this. yes, the flash flooding seems to have been one of if not the main factor, but it is worth noting other rail lines in the area were closed this morning because of the poor weather. we saw the videos posted by network rail showing how poor the conditions were. before the accident i'm told this train encountered flooding on its line, it then a p pa re ntly flooding on its line, it then apparently switched to another line adjacent before continuing on its way to glasgow, then at some point later derailed. it's a fair question to ask whether any train should have been running in that part of scotla nd been running in that part of scotland this morning given the conditions. a recent report from the rail regulator warned about the worsening conditions and the risk that has for railways. incidents of this nature are incredibly rare. you have to go back 13 years for the last major derailmen

lorna gordon, bbc news, edinburgh.d the caribbean. but since the pandemic hit, and with staycations on the cards for many of us this summer, a growing number of luxury liners have moored off the south coast of england. the ships have themselves started to become an unlikely attraction. duncan kennedy is in weymouth for us this evening. it isa it is a spectacular but somewhat of a sad sight. spectacular because the ships are gleaming here in the sunshine of the evening, but sad because they are all laid up here because they are all laid up here because of covid—19 and are unlikely to be going anywhere for the rest of the year. but it hasn't stopped them becoming a major tourist attraction. weymouth bay has become a parking bay for britain's cruise industry. we counted ten ships today, giant, gleaming and empty vessels. they are here so they don't have to pay the birthing fees in ports, but these mega ships have now become major attractions. something else to come and see, isn't it? something different. they should be ou

than five miles from where they live — unless for work or education. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordonocal lockdown, the streets this evening close to deserted. more than 200,000 people living here, facing restrictions on what they can do and where they can go. this, a last pint poured in a granite city pub before, like other venues, at 5pm, it had to close. instead of closing down aberdeen, maybe close down two or three bars, whatever, that's fair enough.

lorna gordon, bbc news. serious implications for businesses in scotland.w to adrian gomez. he's the owner of the tippling house pub in aberdeen. thank you very much for being with us. tell us when he reopened. we reopened on friday just tell us when he reopened. we reopened on fridayjust past. we we re reopened on fridayjust past. we were going to wait a couple weeks to see how things went. we had our staff doing training, we had our measures in place, we dropped capacity by 50%. we did as much as we could and we were happy with what we could and we were happy with what we had. we were track and tracing, he had —— temperature checks and eve ryo ne he had —— temperature checks and everyone obeyed the rules. we've had a really good respectful clientele that have not given us any trouble so that have not given us any trouble so far. did you restock? we restocked, we reopened the kitchen. we are operating on a smaller team, so we we are operating on a smaller team, so we just we are operating on a smaller team, so wejust got we are operating on a smaller team,

lorna gordon, bbc news, aberdeenshire.engineering at the university of birmingham. his research focuses on the interactions between rail systems and climate change and how these impact on the resilience of communities and services. good to have you with us. you might have just heard there the transport secretary saying he wants an interim report by the 1st of september and a full report in the autumn on the resilience of the network. why do some of that work not already being done? thank you, christian. i think the work is ongoing. we have — to put this incident into context, this year we've had similar incidents in japan, china, france and the usa. and serious weather impacts are something that is growing because of climate change. however we do need to put into the context of the british railways, they are some of the safest in the world, and the extreme weather action teams that network rail employee actually pick out a lot of these incidents before they ever affect any trains or passengers becoming a risk. so we need t

passenger, the train‘s driver and its conductor all lost their lives. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordonailed train. if 0ne passenger carriage halfway down a bank. another carriage seemingly crushed in the force of the crash. shocking images showing what's left of the early morning service from aberdeen to glasgow. the scale of the incident, all too clear. scotland's first minister at the shock of the days events. this is shocking news. in my condolences of the few people who have lost their lives and that includes the driver of the trade. clearly this is an ongoing operation. ijust been briefed on that but devastating news for the bereaved was up but also for those that were on the train and my best wishes go to those who sustained injuries. the weather overnight was described as atrocious. at the time of the crash network trail published as footage showing poor conditions. lines block, heavy rains because flash flooding in stone haven the town nearby. early indications are that they derailment in this rural part of aberdeenshire may have been caused by a landslide. the emergency servic

another six people on board have been taken to hospital. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon hasn at the scene. the wreckage of the derailed train. 0ne passenger carriage halfway down a bank. another carriage seemingly crushed in the force of the crash. shocking images showing what's left of the early morning service from aberdeen to glasgow. the scale of the incident all too clear. scotland's first minister expressing her shock of the day's events. this is shocking news. in my condolences of the loved ones of the few people who have lost their lives and that includes the driver of the train. clearly, this is an ongoing operation. ijust been briefed on that, but devastating news for the bereaved, but also for those who were on the train and my best wishes go to those who sustained injuries. the weather overnight was described as atrocious. around the time of the crash, network rail published as footage showing poor conditions. lines block, heavy rain caused flash flooding in stone haven, the town nearby. early indications are that they derailment in this rural part of aberdeenshi

lorna gordon, bbc news, edinburgh. a man who was shot at his home in hampshire in south—east england on wednesday afternoon has died in hospital. james nash, a children's author and local parish councillor, who was 42, had suffered serious head injuries in the attack in the village of upper enham. the suspected attacker fled on a motorbike and was killed in a crash three miles away. the indian ocean island of mauritius has declared a state of environmental emergency as tonnes of fuel spill out of a ship that ran aground in july. the weather is forecast to deteriorate and there are fears that the japanese—owned mv wakashio could break up, leaking more diesel and fuel into the pristine waters off pointe d'esny. 400 sea booms have been deployed to limit the spill. now it's time for a look at the weather with alina jenkins. hello, another warm if not hot day for england and wales, a bit cool gci’oss for england and wales, a bit cool across northern ireland, scotland on the north of england. sunshine around for most of the

our scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports.ust the usual nerves. these students didn't get a chance to prove themselves through exams. instead, their results were based on a system newly designed for these exceptional times. i'm going to uni, i've got a b, i'm so i'm going to uni, i've got a b, i'm so happy, i'm so glad. i'm going to uni, i've got a b, i'm so happy, i'm so gladlj i'm going to uni, i've got a b, i'm so happy, i'm so glad. i was expecting to get lower grades because it is an estimate but i did way better than i expected and i'm proud of myself. i did not know what to expect because it was estimate so you don't know what is going to happen, it is out of your hands, sitting an exam to determine it, so you're just not sure, but i am happy now! there was no opportunity this yearfor now! there was no opportunity this year for last—minute cramming in the library, no sitting in a desk and of all writing answers against the clock. the exams which were held in the midst of two world wars, were cancelled this year because

our scotland correspondent lorna gordon has this update.said urgent checks are now being carried out for similar high—risk cuttings. we have the best safety record in europe but we were good enough yesterday. whatever happened yesterday we will want to find out eventually what that was. important that the real accident investigation give time to do that properly and forensically. three people died in the derailment passenger along with the trains conductor, a family man he was sent to light up the room with his cheery banter and stories. the trains driver was described by his family as the most decent and loving human being we have ever known. his passing leaves a huge void in all of our lives. this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom donald trump announces an historic peace deal, between israel, and the united arab emirates. hundreds of thousands of students in england, wales and northern ireland have received a—level grades for exams they didn't sit because of lockdown. marks were awarded using teacher estimates, but those marks

our scotland correspondent lorna gordon is at a school in glasgow for us. how is it going?small group of students have joined us to discuss their results, we are all physically distant. let's come on to dionne and her dad, john. i got more than i expected, i wasn't sure what to expected, i wasn't sure what to expect but i got everything i wanted, meaning i will be going to university. first choice, yeah, i will be giving primary education at glasgow university. did that depend on particular results?|j glasgow university. did that depend on particular results? i needed to get b for maths, that is what i got. you were quite emotional earlier a nswer you were quite emotional earlier answer with your dad, john. such a nerve—racking few months, such a ta ke nerve—racking few months, such a take today. it is an outstanding e ntryway take today. it is an outstanding entryway pick period of uncertainty, absolutely delighted for dionne and everyone else — — absolutely delighted for dionne and everyone else —— and outstanding end toa everyone else —— and outstanding end to a big peri

lorna gordon, bbc news. 9:a1am is the time.manchester's karen gabay, who was a producer on the documentary, and paulette morris who features in it. paulette, i want to start with you first. i love the stories about people who have met someone, a moment in time, you've met someone who is very significant. you had one of those moments with bob miley when he was here in the uk. tell us what happened. -- bob marley. good morning. me and my sister travelled toa morning. me and my sister travelled to a celebration in manchester, which was held by the tribes of israel and we travelled there to have a meeting and bob marley turned up have a meeting and bob marley turned up and hejust have a meeting and bob marley turned up and he just turned have a meeting and bob marley turned up and hejust turned up and said he's here, like everybody else, and ijust remember the he's here, like everybody else, and i just remember the excitement he's here, like everybody else, and ijust remember the excitement in the room at somebody so amazing and as

a handful of them are with lorna gordon at a school in glasgow for us this morning, as they prepare fory have got some results in the last ten minutes? yes, the result started pinging through to students' phones at eight o'clock this morning, some have received by paper, by e—mail. we are with a group of students in hollywood's secondary school in glasgow, scotland's largest school. dion, and your judge, scotland's largest school. dion, and yourjudge, how are you feeling?” got exactly what i was hoping for, meantime going to university, i am so happy. i have mascara everywhere. where you feeling confident about your exams shot no exams, your results ? your exams shot no exams, your results? one moment you think you have to unwelcome again at the next you think you are not getting through, opened them constantly, did not know what you expect. and dionne's dad, it has been such an extraordinary three months, such a lot of pressure on the young people and the parents too? indeed. congratulations, i am so proud. big hugs earlier, you must be so impressed with what joe hugs earlier, you must

lorna gordon, bbc news.itary dog who was shot and injured during a british special forces raid in afghanistan is to be awarded the animal equivalent of the victoria cross. kuno — who's a belgian shepherd malinois — was on a night raid when he charged through a hail of gunfire to tackle an al-qaeda insurgent. he was wounded in both his hind legs and had to be given life—saving treatment. he'll be awarded the dicken medal later this year. whether now, here is phil. it has been a pretty decent start to what for many is the holiday weekend of course. probably at its best towards the west, because the low that has brought so much in the way of rain and showers of late are still pretty close to the eastern shores, and time we are going to see the

lorna gordon reports.g of moments, the results in a year when there were no exams. i'm going to university, i got my grades. so happy. i'm delighted for her. it has been a very tense wait. for many people see that there is a sense of relief. i did better—than—expected and i'm proud of myself.

deprived areas felt they were more affected by the process than others. 0ur scotland correspondent, lorna gordonports. in the seven days since she got her downgraded results 17—year—old drew has written a letter to the minister in charge, met politicians, signed petitions, taken part in a demonstration, to push for the grades to be reversed. today, a result and an apology. i want to say this, i'm sorry. drew stays in what is described as a deprived area. she believes she was marked down because of where she lives. i was left feeling quite doubtful and discouraged just because of the area i was living in and had a great impact on the exam results i got. i felt i was being treated as a second—class citizen and not as good as schools in affluent areas. now? now i'm much more relieved, especially regarding my career, getting into university and things like that. that is down to a u—turn, a rather large one, from scotland's education secretary, under pressure from disadvantaged pupils, parents and political opponents. i can confirm to parliament that all downgraded awards will be withdrawn. using pow

15%, in comparison to just under 7% for those from affluent areas. 0ur scotland correspondent, lorna gordonthe seven days since she got her downgraded results 17—year—old drew wrote her letter to the minister in charge, signed letters, taken part ina charge, signed letters, taken part in a demonstration, to push for the grades to be reversed, and today a result and an apology.” grades to be reversed, and today a result and an apology. i want to say this, i'm sorry. she lives in what is known as a deprived area and she believes she was marked down because of where she lives. i was quite discouraged because of the area i was living in and had a great impact on the exam results i got, and i felt i was being treated as a second—class citizen and not as good as schools in affluent areas. now i'm much more relieved, especially regarding my career, getting into university and things like that. that is down to a u—turn, rather large one, from scotland's education secretary, under pressure from disadvantaged pupils, parents and political opponents.” disadvantaged pupils, parents and political oppone

some schools are already advising students to wear face coverings, as lorna gordon reports.g in the time of covid. here in inverclyde, older secondary school pupils are already being encouraged to wear face coverings in areas where physical distancing is hard. it would be perfect if we didn't need to wear face masks. however, it keeps us safer. we know children, they want to talk to each other, they do want to step into that two metres zone. and so if they are wearing face masks, it is a bit better. the challenge has been this. crowded corridors during brief crossover times between lessons. the scottish government now looking to bring in guidance nationwide. the education secretary is in the final stages of consulting with teachers and local authorities on a recommendation for the use of face coverings by staff and pupils in secondary schools when they are moving around in corridors and communal areas. ahead of every class, hands are cleaned, tables wiped. pupils now sitting facing forward in the same direction. this area has the highest rate of deaths from covid in scotland

our scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports.nerves. these students didn't get a chance to prove themselves through exams. instead, their results were based on a system newly designed for these exceptional times. i'm going to uni! i've got my bs so that's me in. i'm so happy, i'm so glad. this year i was expecting to get lower grades because it is an estimate but i did way better than i expected and i'm proud of myself. i did not know what to expect because it's estimate so you don't know what is going to happen, it is out of your hands, you're not sitting an exam to determine it, so you're just not sure, but i am happy now! there was no opportunity this year for last—minute cramming in the library, no sitting at a desk in a hall writing answers against the clock. the exams, which were held even in the midst of two world wars, were cancelled this year because of coronavirus. the results based on estimates provided by teachers instead. when we found out the news from the sqa that the exams were cancelled we had members of staff wh