Politics

The health secretary has pledged to do “everything we can” to ensure A-level medical students unfairly downgraded can still get a place at university. Matt Hancock told Sky News “I absolutely recognise” the concerns raised by the Royal College of GPs that pupils whose marks were lower than their teachers’ predictions are missing out on

Boris Johnson has been told to “get a grip” of his coronavirus quarantine policy as Heathrow Airport pushes for the 14-day isolation period to be shortened. The travel hub’s chief executive told Sky News the prime minister needs to act swiftly to stop “holding back the recovery of the UK economy” due to the restrictions

Public Health England (PHE) is being scrapped as part of plans for a new organisation responsible for dealing with pandemics, the health secretary has announced. Matt Hancock confirmed the decision reported over the weekend to set up a body called the National Institute for Health Protection, which will also work against the threats of biological

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 and reassurance” the controversial algorithm used to grade pupils whose exams were cancelled due

This is a U-turn long in the making but short in the offing. As recently as Saturday night, government sources were insisting that, without standardisation, they would be fighting accusations of rampant grade inflation and worthless A-levels. Ultimately though, the alternative was worse. Image: Education Secretary Gavin Williamson may be fearing for his job after

The government and the exams regulator are being threatened with legal action as pressure mounts for a rethink over the awarding of A-level grades. Hundreds of angry students are demonstrating in Westminster, with some chanting “get Gav gone” and “come out Gavin” as they protested outside Education Secretary Gavin Williamson’s departmental building. Footage has also

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 government has launched a drive to reassure the public that it is safe to get back in to classrooms when schools reopen next month. The #backtoschoolsafely campaign is aiming to make parents aware of the measures being put into minimise the risk of coronavirus transmission, in an effort to restore full time education in

The new co-chair of the Corbyn-supporting campaign group Momentum has accused Labour of trying to “destroy” left-wing elements of the party. The comments by Gaya Sriskanthan are in response to an email from Labour‘s general secretary, in which he said debates aimed at rejecting an internationally agreed definition of antisemitism should not take place within

Travellers returning from France must now self-isolate for 14 days as new quarantine restrictions have come into force. Tens of thousands of British tourists in France joined a desperate scramble to return in time to avoid 14-day self-isolation rules which took effect from 4am today. People snapped up the last available tickets for planes, trains

Labour is demanding ministers ditch a controversial algorithm and use predicted grades from pupils’ teachers for A-level results in England. The party’s deputy leader Angela Rayner told Sky News that the algorithm was “flawed” and has “baked in inequalities”. Thousands of teenagers have voiced anger and disappointment after having their marks downgraded. A-Level results: The

Boris Johnson has said his government will be “absolutely ruthless” in deciding whether travellers from France must quarantine for 14 days on arrival in the UK. The prime minister said officials would be looking at the latest data later on Thursday amid mounting concern about the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country. The

The government has launched trials of a second contact-tracing app using technology provided by Google and Apple, after its first attempt to build a homegrown app ended in failure. The new app will tell people whether they have been close to someone who has had coronavirus and send out alerts advising them to self-isolate. It

The prime minister has vowed to rebuild a “stronger than ever” economy and highlighted the need for co-operation between central and devolved government. Ahead of a visit to Northern Ireland, Boris Johnson acknowledged the close working relationship between Westminster and the power-sharing administration at Stormont. He will meet first minister Arlene Foster and deputy first

The education secretary says he won’t apologise for changing how exams are graded after he came under fire on the eve of A-level results being revealed. Gavin Williamson said by allowing pupils to use their best results from mock exams, or a moderated system or by taking exams in October, students would “benefit”. “I won’t

A-level students in England will be able to use grades in mock exams to progress to university and college courses and employment, the education secretary is set to announce. The change forms part of what Gavin Williamson has called a “triple lock” to give students confidence in the moderation system, which can see predicted results