Design with bees on reverse, part of collection inspired by plants and animals, was voted people’s favourite
The first £1 coin bearing the official portrait of King Charles III has entered general circulation as part of a collection inspired by plants and animals found across the four nations of the United Kingdom.
The latest design, featuring two bees, has been issued to Post Offices and banks, with nearly 3m coins making their way into tills and pockets.
Continue reading...Ministers activate Operation Early Dawn, so defendants can be held in police cells as more are sentenced over riots
Ministers have been warned that they have placed a “sticking plaster” over a crumbling criminal justice system after emergency measures were activated to ease prison overcrowding, as more people are sentenced for their role in the recent riots.
The longstanding measures, known as Operation Early Dawn, allow defendants to be held in police cells until prison places become available and could mean their court dates are delayed or adjourned at short notice.
Continue reading...Climate campaigners criticise decision to allow capacity to increase from 6.5m to 9m passengers a year
Ministers have approved London City airport’s application to expand, in a decision that has disappointed climate campaigners.
The airport submitted a proposal to increase capacity from 6.5 million to 9 million passengers a year by putting on more weekend and early morning flights. Local campaigners and Newham council opposed the move, arguing the air and noise pollution would affect people living nearby and that it could potentially increase carbon emissions.
Continue reading...Children’s commissioner finds wide disparity with white counterparts in year to June 2023, with 88% of searches aimed at finding drugs
Black children are four times more likely to be strip-searched by police officers across England and Wales than their white counterparts, according to the latest nationwide figures disclosed by a watchdog.
The children’s commissioner also found that children under the age of 15 are a bigger proportion of those subjected to intimate searches, official figures from the year to June 2023 showed. Fewer than half of all searches of children in that year (45%) were conducted in the presence of an appropriate adult.
Continue reading...POA chair says ministers could declare as soon as Monday that Operation Early Dawn is coming into force
The launch of an emergency plan to avoid prison overcrowding in England could be announced as soon as Monday, the Prison Officers’ Association has said.
The longstanding measure, known as Operation Early Dawn, would allow defendants to be held in police cells until prison beds became available and could mean their court dates are delayed or adjourned at short notice.
Continue reading...David Wilkinson, 48, was part of ‘baying mob’ who left driver in fear for his life, court heard
A man who was part of a “baying mob” who forced three terrified Romanians from their car during a riot has been jailed for six years, as the number of people sentenced for their part in far-right disorder topped 100.
David Wilkinson, 48, previously pleaded guilty to violent disorder, attempted arson and racially aggravated criminal damage after playing a “prominent role” in the violence that gripped Hull on 3 August.
Continue reading...Number of pupils accepted by ‘high tariff’ providers passes 100,000, after better than expected A-level results and fewer international students
Sixth-formers are rushing to take up places at the most selective universities, with figures showing a substantial increase in the numbers enrolling compared with last year after receiving their A-level results.
Experts said that “high tariff” universities, including those in the Russell Group of research intensive universities, were allocating more places to UK school-leavers this year after recruiting fewer international students.
Continue reading...Stem subjects most popular among this year’s students, who secured higher proportion of A*s than pre-Covid years
Another year, another cohort of A-level students in England experiencing the unique, nerve-racking experience of results day. Yes, the results are in. And for many more students than expected, the news is good.
Here is what we have learned in the course of this year’s A-levels … and be grateful that there will be no exam on it at the end.
Additional contribution by Chris Watson and Tural Ahmedzade
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed, you can read about this year’s A-level results here
Private schools which could close as a result of the government’s plans to impose 20% VAT are already facing “big budget shortfalls”, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said.
She told Sky News:
Private schools are businesses that can make choices about how they manage their budgets, the level of fees that they charge, and ultimately, it’s about how attractive they are to families in terms of the numbers of students that are sent there.
We have seen private schools in recent years whack up their fees year on year, way beyond inflation, and that has priced out lots of people.
Overall, 425,680 applicants (all ages, all domiciles) have been accepted into university or college – an increase on 414,940 (+3%) in 2023.
In total, 376,470 students (all ages, all domiciles) have been accepted at their first (UCAS ‘firm’) choice, a 4% increase on last year. This represents 82% of those holding an offer who received their decision this morning up from 79% in 2023.
The overall number of accepted international students stands at 51,170, in line with 51,210 in 2023. However, accepted applicants from China are slightly down compared to last year – 10,950 (-6%).
The top three subjects with the largest increase in total placed applicants are engineering and technology (+11% on last year), architecture, building and planning (+9%) and law (+9%).
Acceptances for UK students (all ages) to nursing have risen slightly compared to 2023, with 18,450 applicants securing a place (up 1%). This still represents a decline from the peak seen during the pandemic.
I’m particularly thrilled to see free school meals students securing a place at university or college in record numbers. I know how important it is to everyone working in education that every student, no matter their background, has the opportunity to reach their full potential. Widening access and participation is not just about numbers; it’s about opening up doors and transforming the lives of students through higher education so they can pursue their passions and career aspirations.
Ucas is here to help all applicants take their next step, including students who received different results than expected, or those who are looking to change their mind.
Continue reading...Four firms including Northern and Greater Anglia unlawfully prosecuted more than 74,000 alleged fare dodgers
Tens of thousands of prosecutions for alleged fare dodging brought by train companies are to be quashed after a court ruling.
Four companies including Northern Trains and Greater Anglia unlawfully prosecuted more than 74,000 passengers in England and Wales using the single justice procedure (SJP), which allowed fast-track magistrates hearings on fare evasion cases to be held behind closed doors.
Continue reading...There are stark contrasts between north and south England, in Northern Ireland and Wales, and between private and state schools
Many students in England receiving their A-level grades on Thursday will be happy after overall results showed an increase in the number of As and A*s, exceeding not only last year’s results, but those recorded before the disruption caused by the pandemic. Nevertheless, disparities remain between northern and southern England, and in Northern Ireland and Wales where results fell compared with last year, as well as between private and state schools.
It is the second year in England that A-level and GCSE assessment has returned to pre-pandemic norms. Exams were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 after Covid closed schools for long periods, and A-level grades based on teachers’ predictions led to a sharp spike in top results.
Continue reading...One in four practices capping number of patients they see to 25 a day amid first action in 60 years
Almost half of GP surgeries in England are staging industrial action for the first time in 60 years amid a row over funding, with one in four capping the number of patients they see to 25 a day, a survey suggests.
Family doctors voted overwhelmingly in favour of collective action earlier this month in protest at the last government increasing their budget by only 1.9% this year. The new government has pledged to increase funding for 2024-25 to 6%.
Continue reading...CQC finds risk he presented to public was ‘not managed well’ before he killed three people in Nottingham last year
A “series of errors and misjudgments” in Valdo Calocane’s mental health care led to him being discharged, despite repeatedly not taking medication and showing signs of aggression, months before he killed three people in Nottingham, a report says.
A review by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) of the treatment that Calocane received from Nottinghamshire healthcare NHS foundation trust over two years between May 2020 and September 2022 found that “the risk he presented to the public was not managed well”.
Continue reading...As international intake dwindles, leading institutions become less cautious about offers post-Covid
School leavers collecting their A-level results on Thursday will have an easier time getting into their chosen university than their predecessors in the past two years, experts are predicting.
A record number of 18-year-olds are competing for university places this year, but experts said that many universities hope to fill accommodation and lecture theatres with more UK students, due to anxiety about falling numbers of lucrative international students.
Continue reading...Hundreds of people attend service for 19-year-old who died after going missing in Tenerife mountains
The family and friends of Jay Slater have paid tribute to the teenager who died while on holiday in Tenerife at a funeral service attended by about 500 people.
Mourners packed into the chapel at the Accrington crematorium for the funeral of the 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, who is believed to have fallen to his death after getting lost in a mountainous area of the Spanish island on 17 June.
Continue reading...Exclusive: London mayor warns law must be revisited ‘very, very quickly’ due to falsehoods that contributed to unrest
Laws designed to counter misinformation are “not fit for purpose” and must be revisited after the spread of online falsehoods contributed to this month’s far-right riots, the mayor of London has said.
Sadiq Khan, one of the UK’s most senior Muslim politicians, said ministers should act “very, very quickly” to review the Online Safety Act after the violent unrest in England and Belfast over the past week. There have been calls to hasten the act’s implementation.
Continue reading...Latest housing data show 151,630 children in temporary accommodation – the most since records began
More than 150,000 children in England are living in temporary accommodation, prompting calls for the government to address what it calls a “national scandal”.
Living in temporary accommodation is considered a form of homelessness and can involve people staying in hostel or bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation.
Continue reading...Shops close early, with more than 100 rallies planned to take place across country
Businesses have boarded up, closed or plan to close early amid fears about potential violence as more than 100 far-right rallies across England were planned for Wednesday night.
Employers across the country also told employees who felt vulnerable that they could work from home.
Continue reading...England research shows huge benefits with resulting savings for NHS and councils
Curbing child poverty by scrapping the two-child benefit cap would save hundreds of lives a year and avoid thousands of admissions to hospital, the largest study of its kind suggests.
Keir Starmer has faced repeated demands from within Labour ranks and opposition leaders to abolish the policy, which was announced in 2015 by George Osborne, then chancellor. Almost half of all children in some towns and cities now live below the breadline.
Continue reading...Senior figures praise repeal of law but privately some want full workers’ rights overhaul implemented without delay
Unions have welcomed the government’s move to formally scrap a “draconian” anti-strike law that would have ensured a minimum level of service during industrial action as the legislation had restricted workers’ rights.
The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, and the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, have written to government departments with sectors that were most affected by the strikes to give a “clear message” the measures will be repealed and have urged all metro mayors to start engaging with local employers on the change.
Continue reading...