the system isn't working, nick gibb.at. 35%... you have ruined my life. it will not ruin your life, it will be sorted, i can assure you. well, the student in question joins me now, nina bunting—mitcham is in peterborough for us. thank you for speaking to us today. how are you feeling after that exchange? hopeful. hopefully. i'm thinking that to myself there must be some resolution to this. it must be some resolution to this. it must bea be some resolution to this. it must be a mistake. something has gone horrifically wrong. and it doesn't seem like i am the only student it has happened to. so i'm hopefulfor not only myself, but every other student that has been affected out there. i really hope they have the outcome that they deserve. just remind our viewers what you were predicted, what you needed now grade and what you actually came outwith. was predicted abb in my subjects biology, chemistry and psychology at a—level. i then got a place at the royal veterinary college to study veterinary medicine medicine so i had a p

stu d e nts minister at 7:30am, nick gibb.higher but the welsh government says they will not be upgrading a—level results as it believes it can accurately predict grades. it is worth saying you can find out more information on a—level results and any changes as well because the changes announced will be administered 10:30pm last night, so it'll be new to a lot of people. go to our website. as we heard this morning, lots of you witnessed dramatic or heard dramatic thunderstorms overnight, some of you or woken up to sounds like this... carol film is that in edinburgh last night, compared to being in the tropics. charlie: bridgnorth as well. louise: and these pictures were taken byjenny in stoke—on—trent. it was a dramatic night, wasn't it? evenif was a dramatic night, wasn't it? even if you didn't have these storms, it was very warm. i don't know if you saw any of those pictures but there's a few more storms ahead as i understand them! it has been described as a tropical night by many people which is defined by the temperatures

nick gibb will head up university now. the task force, one of the longest serving ministers in government, but i dare say he has not faced such a big challenge. and thursday is gcse results day. an easing of the lockdown takes place in england today, after being postponed from the 1st of august. businesses including soft play centres, casinos and bowling alleys can open, and indoor weddings with up to 30 guests are now permitted. but the changes don't apply in the areas under tighter local restrictions. vivienne nunis reports. newly lengthened lashes after a long wait. close contact beauty treatments are available again. and customers here were quick off the mark. so exciting, it's been like christmas eve, we are alljust so excited to get back to work, get back to doing what we love doing and making our clients happy with lashes and brows again. so we're just over the moon. since opening a couple of hours ago, this salon has already had five clients through the doors, and they're booked out for the rest of the day. like so

we will speak to that skills minister nick gibb —— we'll be speaking to schools minister nick gibb andief medical officer later on this morning. we will also be speaking tojenny harry. if you have any questions about your children going back —— check outjenny about your children going back —— check out jenny is not just the pa rents check out jenny is not just the parents and grandparents. do get in touch. a number of lockdown restrictions that were imposed in aberdeen earlier this month have been lifted. tighter rules were introduced because of a surge of cases in the city. a five—mile limit on non—essential travel and a ban on indoor gatherings has been removed, while pubs, cafes and restaurants will be able to re—open from wednesday, subject to environmental health checks. president trump has announced that emergency authorisation has been given to use blood plasma to treat coronavirus patients. 70,000 people have already received a transfusion, which is taken from those who've sucessfully recovered from the virus. the announcement was made on the eve of donald trump's presidential

that's likely to be the focus of a lot of the scrutiny and nick gibb did expect to see enquiries intoalled before the education select committee which is holding an enquiry into the impact of coronavirus on education. he said the statistics authority is looking at the maths of the algorithm. it's interesting he is standing by the algorithm itself saying it's not the model that was wrong but the way it was applied that throughout up problems. there will clearly be a lot of scrutiny and a postmortem on this but i think in the immediate term that the pressure will be on the department for education to make sure those exam results to go out next week for btecs and any other problems raised by this are dealt with, and there will be immediate pressure on the department for education to show they are in control of the situation. what are the questions you want answered about exam results, just after 9.30 we'll be putting some of them to grainne hallahan from the times educational supplement. do get in touch if you have a question — use the hashtag bbcyourquestions on social media, or email y

this is nick gibb this morning.” do it in the prime minister's words.gibb this morning. i am confident we will have all schools open. we had 90% of schools open when they went back in june. open. we had 90% of schools open when they went back injune. the surveys from the 0ns say 90% of parents are likely to send their children back to school in september. it is a moral imperative, and the risk of long—term harm to peoples of not being in school according to the chief medical officer, outweigh the small risks of children acquiring the virus within the school environment. children wa nt the school environment. children want to be back in school, they want to be back with their friends and they want to have lessons where the teacher is leading the lessons because it is the most effective way for young people to catch up on the education and that is why the prime minister is right to say it is a moral imperative for schools to be openin moral imperative for schools to be open in septemberand moral imperative for schools to be open in september and for young

really interesting that when the schools minister nick gibb was on brea kfast schools minister nick gibbll pupils and we are now looking locally at when we impose new restrictions. they will be locally imposed and they will depend on the local circumstances. so that's the schools minister nick gibb. we have heard ministers say repeatedly on breakfast over the la st repeatedly on breakfast over the last few days they are determined to open schools up in september. and it does feel to me that it would be really ha rd does feel to me that it would be really hard for the government to do anything else now having made all those commitments repeatedly. nick gibb also saying, by the way, that it will also include those areas facing increased restrictions like in the north of england. schools there are also due to reopen. labour have made it clear they think schools should be a priority as well. it was interesting that when jon ashworth was on breakfast earlier, he was saying the government should consider that idea of getting older pupils, perhaps in secondary schools come as unions have sugges

let's speak to the schools minister nick gibb. very good morning to you, mr gibb.eceiving the recalculated grades i will say this to them, congratulations on what you have achieved but also how sorry i am for the pain, anxiety and uncertainty that they will have suffered as a consequence of the grading issues that we encountered last week. and to reassure them that we are doing everything we can put these matters right. and in fact, today the exam boards 48 hours after the decision by the independent regulator to move to teacher assessed grades, they have delivered those results to schools, millions of grades delivered to schools in a very short period of time and i am very grateful to the exam boards for the herculean effort they have gone to to make sure that that has happened. soa to make sure that that has happened. so a very exciting day for these gcse students, by way of contrast those btec students who are hoping to get their results today and indeed those who got the results last week are left in a state of confusion, because they will not get their results

the detail of that, we have heard a figure from nick gibb this morning, in terms of the detail of thatare saying we are already stretched, getting on with next year's teaching, dealing with social distancing and everything else that the pandemic has thrown at schools, you know, will there be the time, the space, the resources, the people to manage resets as well? this is what the government have to ensure. it is something we also recommended in our select committee report. it has to be properly resourced. as i understand, it is about £30 million that has been given to schools to do this. but it has to happen. if pupils are opting to do exams, they need to be taught and given every chance to climb that educational ladder opportunity and get the grade they deserved. thank you very much. the us democratic presidential candidate, joe biden, has chosen the california senator — and one—time rivalfor hisjob, kamala harris as his running mate for november's election. ms harris is the first african american woman on a major presidential ticket in us history. here's our north america corresponde

numbers of events all coming together but whatever, gavin williamson and the education minister nick gibb 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 morally, socially a

minister nick gibb this evening and i imagine many questions such as this will be asked then.hether that with the liberal democrats calling for gavin williamson's resignation, whether it goes that far we have to wait and see. this is a government that were very keen on i think that meat quite a difficult move in any case so we have to wait and see —— i think that would be a difficult move so we have to wait and see. 0ur wales correspondent tomos morgan had this update. we've had this statement from the welsh education minister christy williams, u—turn on the decision made last week, she made the decision late on wednesday evening all pupils in wales would get results for a—levels, that would be no less than what the received in the same subject in their as—level the same subject in their as—level the year before but today we've got the year before but today we've got the decision everyone in wales will now have the decision on whatever their teachers had said they would get on anyone that got a higher grade last week they will maintain that higher grades. this decision comes f

this task force will beheaded up by schools minister nick gibb.he radio last night and an audience member, and a level student, said he had ruined her life. he is one of the most experienced ministers in government but i suspect this is one of the ha rd est but i suspect this is one of the hardest tasks you will ever face. peter, thank you. lockdown rules will be eased in england today after being postponed from the 1st of august due to concerns about a slight increase in the number of positive tests for coronavirus. under the new changes, soft play centres, casinos, ice rinks and bowling alleys have all been given the green light to open. beauty salons can offer close contact treatments, indoor weddings with up to 30 guests are now permitted, and socially distanced indoor theatre and music performances can take place. but the changes don't apply in the areas under local lockdowns and the current restrictions in greater manchester, west yorkshire, east lancashire and leicester have been extended. vivienne nunis has been speaking to some of the bus

nick gibb.china s secretive system of mass incarceration — in the far western region of xinjiang. in a self—shot video, a former fashion model — who is from the uyghur ethnic group — can be seen handcuffed to a bed. his relatives say he was taken away for what china has called re—education and that nothing has been heard from him since. up to1 million uyghurs have been detained in so—called ‘educational training' centres. neither the chinese foreign ministry nor xinjiang authorities have responded to the bbc s requests for comment. john sudworth has this report. a few years ago, this man was a long way from his home in xinjiang, making good money as a fashion model in southern china. but this is him in february. his camera reveals his filthy clothes, and his left arm handcuffed to a bed. he is now clearly back in xinjiang. beyond the steel mesh on the window, a propaganda announcement drones away in the uyghur language. despite the risks that it may bring him further punishment... ..relatives, i

nick gibb, thank you very much indeed. got to the bottom of that one, i think.ood morning, john. explain all? yes, good morning. as you say, a return of grassroots rug, but not quite the game as we know it. still no full contact training and no tackles. but what we are seeing todayis tackles. but what we are seeing today is a return of larger groups training, which means rugby players can get back playing the game in which they love. as you say, we only had but one solid return date for the game in men's rugby, would the premiership getting under way in about a week. bill sweeney is the ceo of the rfa, and hejoins us this morning. you might be able to shed some light on when we can potentially see full contact rugby and those matches being played in clu b and those matches being played in club rugby? this is a step in the direction of getting there. it is the first time we have been able to get larger groups of players competing against each other. we have had to take some of the contact of the game away, around the scrum and rock. hopefully this goes onto the s

we'll be speaking to schools minister nick gibb and england's deputy chief medical officer this morningnew zealand in march last year arrives in court to be sentenced for the worst terror attack in the country's history. as the government's eat out to help out scheme

this was the schools minister, nick gibb, this morning. the surveys from we had 90% percent of schools open injuly. the surveys from the 0ns are saying that 90% of parents are likely or very likely to send their children back to school in september. it is a moral imperative to have young people back in school. in fact the risk of long—term harm to pupils of not being in school, according to the chief medical officer, outweigh the small risks of children acquiring the virus within the school environment. and children wa nt to the school environment. and children want to be back in school, they want to be with their friends, they want to be with their friends, they want to have lessons where the teacher is leading the lessons because the most effective way for young people to catch—up on their education... that's why the prime minister is right to say that it is a moral imperative for schools to be open in september and for young people to come back into school. it's interesting, because there were some figures out from the office for nation

one is the schools minister, nick gibb, the other is the deputy chief medical officerjenny harries.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 children, certainly 15 and under, are not very compliant. it also suggests children who are running and jumping and playing should not be wearing masks. those interviews both took place in two days ago. can i ask you first of all, education secretary, what scientific evidence has changed, has come to light since those interviews and prompted the change? as you will be completely aware, when w

on monday gavin williamson, the schools minister nick gibb, the chief medical officer were saying thee, and if we look at other parts of the uk they are dealing with the evidence in their own way, but it is really important we instil confidence in children, students, teachers and families to send children back to school next month. do you think so many u—turns do instil confidence? i think people understand this virus is unprecedented. if a year ago you had told me we would be talking about buying facemasks for our children, i think all of us would have looked rather surprised by that. we are in absolutely unprecedented circumstances and we are having to feel our way along with this. one of the ways we are able to help instill confidence in returning children to school is through the use of masks, only in those areas that have lockdown restrictions of course, but also saying to schools... you know, schools have done enormous work over the school holidays to safeguard their community. whether it is the use of classrooms, using them differently, whether it is hand sanitiser, one—way sys

have a listen to the schools minister nick gibb speaking on bbc brea kfast.e our priority. all children will be returning to school this september. of course, schools have been open partially since june. we've had reception year one and year six returning to school. by the time we end the summer term, about 1.6 million children were in school, but we do want all children back in school in september, including in areas that are subject to local restrictions such as in greater manchester, and there are a huge number of measures in place in schools to make sure that children are safe, and minimise the risk of the spread of the virus. so, for example, increased hygiene, hand washing, cleaning of surfaces, lunch breaks, being staggered, playtimes, making sure that children are in those bubbles and not over mixing with too many children while they are at school, and making sure that staff are socially distance from each other and from pupils, where that's possible. we have had that commitment from a number of ministers now that schools will go back in england in se

in particular the schools minister, nick gibb, was asked about claims that a former director generalth the education secretary last month. were you warned six weeks ago there would be problems? john coles rang me, we had a conversation and i was concerned about the issues he was raising. what did you do? so i called a meeting with quual, the regulators, senior officials of the department, this was in mid july, and we went through the concernsjohn had. he felt the model as devised would disadvantage young people from poorer families. we discussed that in great detail and i was reassured it would not. in fact it turned out that it did not. for all the problems we encountered, it has not... the downgrade of the grade did not disproportionally affect young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. are you saying it did not disproportionally affect... yes. but the grades inflation, according to the algorithm, was higherfor students who were in smaller classes, isn't that true? yes, that's true. because statistically, if you have a small cohort, and those small cohorts can be in the independe

clearly believes that this is an important step for it to take, to offer what the schools minister nick gibbsmall number of pupils. our concern was to make sure that — with the best model in the world, there will be students who fall outside it, and we didn't want any student to suffer disadvantage. we apologise to nobody for finding solutions, even at the 11th hour, to stop any student being disadvantaged by the system. so, no apology for making this change. late in the day, so close to when children will be receiving their results. a lot of criticism has come the government's away in the build—up to results being released here in england. the labour leader keir starmer, warning last night that boris johnson leader keir starmer, warning last night that borisjohnson risked jeopardising the future of a whole generation, unless the system was changed. in response to allowing mock exam grades to be taken into consideration for students, labour's shadow education secretary kate green said this morning that the change doesn't go far enough. what we have now got is a system which clearly is not lo

over the weekend we heard nick gibb the schools minister will head up the task force to make sure appeals it is up to quual which i know has worked very hard, it is up to quual and especially the government to try to put in place something that will claw back some of that public confidence. i am afraid it will not be able to claw back all of it. when the government talks about fairness and equality effectively across the system, scotland has already said it is going to teacher assess grades and northern ireland has said it will do that for gcses. we do not know what wales will do but when there is already disparity, how could that be equal? that is one of the question that has been asked and while there has been a lot of criticism of quual and the algorithm they designed there will be questions asked of ministers why they did not spot the politics of they did not spot the politics of the situation. by using an algorithm that specifically ties somebody‘s grace of the previous historic treatment of the school and therefore where they live by that could be problematic particularly for a gove

we talked about this with nick gibb yesterday.be unable to have detention rooms because they can't mix year groups. how many detentions did you have at school? i met a —— how many detentions did you have at school? i meta —— i how many detentions did you have at school? i met a —— i bet you can count them on one hand. regular. mr wilkinson was our head teacher. i regularly had to stand outside his office. i'm not going into those details. general tomfoolery. i was never horrible. i was just a tomfoolery. i was never horrible. i wasjust a bit tomfoolery. i was never horrible. i was just a bit near the knuckle. should we talk about snogging? yes! i'm not going to remember —— ask you if you remember them days! a lot of snogging in soap operas. how do you do that with the pandemic at the moment? a handshake?! no, that's not snogging. there is going to be a clear plastic sheet put in front of your mouth... i want to demonstrate, don't worry! and then you kiss. i just happen to have one here! and then you kiss, their case, through then