United Kingdom

    Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has resisted calls to resign but told Sky News he is "incredibly sorry for the distress" the A-level and GCSE results row caused to students. He said up until results day last week he had "every confidence" the controversial algorithm used to grade pupils whose exams were cancelled due to coronavirus would not penalise disadvantaged students. But over the weekend, when he said "it became clear there were anomalies", the government U-turned. I'm incredibly sorry for the distress that it's caused to those young people, Mr Williamson told Kay Burley@Breakfast on Tuesday. But it was still the right thing to do to make the changes we made yesterday... At the core of it was ensuring there was fairness across the system. Heartbreaking...

    Senior Conservative MPs are calling on Boris Johnson to consider delaying the publication of this week's GCSE results until the problems with A-levels have been resolved. The prime minister is under pressure to intervene to end the deepening A-levels crisis in England, amid growing anger among pupils, teachers and MPs, including from his own party. The same controversial algorithm that was used to determine last Thursday's A-level results is being used to dish out GCSE grades this week, sparking fears that millions of pupils could see their marks downgraded, after the coronavirus outbreak cancelled exams. It has now been suggested by a senior Conservative MP that the government may need to delay publishing GCSE results until it can be sure the grading system is fai...

    Public Health England (PHE) is facing the axe and will be replaced with a unit that will specifically deal with pandemics, according to reports. Health Secretary Matt Hancock is apparently set to announce the move later this week. He will merge the NHS Test and Trace scheme with the work done by PHE on the coronavirus response, according to the Sunday Telegraph. Meanwhile, Ofqual, the exams regulator for England, said its guidance for students hoping to challenge their A-level grades on the basis of their results in mock exams was 'being reviewed'. The move came just hours after the body published its criteria and threatened to plunge the A-level process into further disarray after almost 40 per cent of predicted grades were downgraded by the regulator’s 'moderatio...

    Theatres, casinos and bowling alleys are opening on Saturday as part of the latest easing of lockdown restrictions in England. From Saturday, socially distanced audiences will be allowed back into indoor venues, while wedding receptions of up to 30 people will also be permitted. Tattoo studios, beauty salons, spas and hairdressers will all be able to offer additional services, including front of face treatments such as eyebrow threading. Danielle Simm, manager of Kolo Hair and Beauty, said she was excited to be starting up beauty treatments , with waxing, lash lifts and dermaplaning all back on the table and a huge waiting list of keen customers. I had a massive list full of clients ready. I said I’d open up on the Sunday (2 August) and then obviously Boris didn’t...

    British tourists returning from countries including France, the Netherlands and Malta will be required to self-isolate for 14 days from today after the nations were removed from the UK's quarantine exemption list. The new measures, which came into force at 4am, saw tens of thousands of holidaymakers make last-ditch bids to return home , with tickets for planes, trains and ferries snapped up at increased prices . It comes as more businesses across England are set to welcome customers back through their doors, as part of the latest easing of lockdown restrictions. Theatres, casinos and bowling alleys will be allowed to reopen from this weekend, while close contact beauty treatments can resume. Socially distanced audiences will return to indoor venues, while wedding r...

    Britons face paying hundreds of pounds if they try to return from France on Friday to avoid the new quarantine restrictions. France was removed from the list of safe countries people can travel to without going into quarantine, alongside the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks & Caicos and the island of Aruba. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that Britons should "not be surprised" about the move, due to the rising cases of Covid-19. British Airways is charging £452 for the cheapest tickets to fly direct from Paris to London Heathrow, while the same journey on Saturday can be made with the airline for just £66. The cheapest ticket on a Eurostar train from Paris to London is £210, compared with £165 on Saturday. It comes as the lockdown in England is set to e...

    Hundreds of thousands of school leavers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are receiving their A-level results, as ministers face pressure over a last-minute change to allow students to choose their mock exam results if they are unhappy with their grades. Exams this summer were cancelled due to the pandemic and students will receive estimated grades to help them progress into university, work or training. But the use of mock grades has drawn criticism from teachers, students and ministers, who warned the change contained massive inconsistencies and beggars belief. Labour leader Keir Starmer hit out at the eleventh hour changes, calling it shambolic. This is a complete fiasco. It was obvious this was going to be difficult but it’s been weeks or months in the com...

    Rishi Sunak today warned of "hard times ahead" as the UK was officially declared to be recession after the coronavirus pandemic sent the economy plunging by 20.4 per cent between April and June. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) confirmed the UK’s nosedive into recession for the first time since the financial crisis after the record-breaking contraction in the second quarter, which follows a 2.2 per cent fall in the previous three months . After the GDP figures were revealed, the Chancellor said: Hundreds of thousands of people have already lost their jobs, and sadly in the coming months many more will. But... we will get through this. It came as education minister Nick Gibb defended the Government's last-minute changes to GCSE and A-Level exam results, whic...

    Fears are growing of a second global coronavirus wave after four new cases of Covid-19 were identified in New Zealand after 102 days without a transmission. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed the news as the UK Government came under fire for its NHS Test and Trace, with Labour saying it is not fit for purpose, despite health minister Edward Argar calling a successful system . Meanwhile pupils returned to the classroom today in Scotland as the first in the UK to begin reopening schools, despite some concerns about how well prepared teachers are to deal with mitigating the spread of the virus, as well as anxiety among staff who are returning. Elsewhere, London and the South East bucked the national trend to see a rise in Covid-19 deaths as the global number of c...

    Exam results in Scotland that were downgraded by a controversial moderation process will be withdrawn, the Scottish education secretary has announced. John Swinney told the Scottish parliament that the 124,564 results affected will revert to the grades estimated by the pupils' teachers. He said he was directing the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to reissue those awards based solely on teacher or lecturer judgement. Schools will be able to confirm the estimates they provided for pupils to those that are returning to school this week and next, Mr Swinney added. Pupils in the most deprived areas of Scotland had their exam pass rate downgraded by more than twice that of students from the wealthiest parts of the country. Exams for nationals, highers and advan...