Image source, Pacemaker

Northern Ireland's class of 2020 have had it tougher than most.

Coronavirus meant school was out for summer by March and many never got a chance to say a proper goodbye to their teachers or their classmates.

They then faced the daunting prospect of A-level results based on their previous performance - without the chance of sitting a final exam.

Some students are thrilled with their results, but many students and teachers are bitterly disappointed with how this year's grades were decided.

For more on this and many other issues which have been affected by the pandemic, please join BBC News NI for more live coverage tomorrow.

The latest Covid-19 reproduction number (R) in Northern Ireland has been estimated at between 1.2 and 2.0.

The Department of Health said this means R is likely to be about 1.6 at present.

R represents the number of individuals who, on average, will be infected by a single person with coronavirus.

It does not have a fixed value but varies with time, and is likely to be different every day.

The department also said the seven-day rolling average for new cases has more than doubled in the past week.

Read more here.

Image source, REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/Illustration

In terms of the appeals process for contested A-level results, Education Minister Peter Weir said: "We have made it very clear that there will be changes to the appeals process so that, where evidence can be shown of prior attainment, that will show that the grade given was not fair and not correct."

He added that the process had to be "fair to everybody".

Asked if he could guarantee that a school pupil who appealed their A-level grade would not be awarded a lower grade, he said he could not, but that it was "extremely unlikely".

"You can't give a guarantee - that would be legally impossible," he added.

Education Minister Peter Weir told the BBC he had "great sympathy" for pupils who did not get the A-level result they expected, but stressed that overall results had gone up by 1.6%.

"That has been a particularly large increase with non-selective schools, so it shows that the overall system is robust.

"However, any system where there is a form of projection in terms of grades is never going to be as good as doing the examinations themselves.

"So it's important that we ensure there's fairness for each individual who feels they have not achieved what they should have been given, and that's why the appeals process has been widened for the first time ever."

He added that data had been gathered for a number of years on the accuracy of teacher predictions and that they had actually improved.

"This year, about 56% of the teacher assessment has produced the accurate grade. Last year, it was 46%, the year before it was 44%.

"Each year, for very good reasons, some teachers will tend to overestimate what their pupil will get [but] the teacher estimations are not always a very accurate assessment of what the actual results will be."

He also defended the ranking of pupils, saying it was "an important part of the [grading] process".

Erne Integrated College in Enniskillen saw 45% of its A-level pupils' grades marked down from what teachers had predicted.

Principal Jimmy Jackson Ware said "it beggars belief".

"We have had students who had a teacher assessed grade of C, who were marked down to an E. I don't know how you explain that," he said.

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"We spent so much time as teachers and professionals looking at the performance of each student, we spent hours analysing [each grade] and we looked at it at a senior management level before it went off to CCEA. It begs the question, did they even consider them?"

Mr Jackson Ware said he would like to see an analysis of the impact of the grades process on grammar schools compared to non-selective schools in order to determine whether or not pupils from deprived backgrounds were more likely to be downgraded.

Image source, Google Maps

A Belfast principal has called on Northern Ireland's qualifications regulator - the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA) - to fully explain the whole process behind awarding this year's A-level grades.

Jackie Bartley, principal of St Genevieve’s High School in west Belfast, was among several headteachers who have expressed disappointment at her school's results.

"The centre-assessed grading did not match what we had hoped for our pupils, so therefore we're probably down over 15% on our overall predictions," she told the BBC's Evening Extra programme.

"I really would call on CCEA to be transparent with all our students in regards to the weighting for those centre-assessed gradings, so that we can explain to children... to disappointed parents, how did the system work?

"Because we as principals are sitting trying to defend what has gone out this morning to pupils and we're not actually aware of it ourselves."

In an email to principals on Wednesday, CCEA said there would be "anomalies" in some of the A-level grades awarded today.

It said it would "start contacting schools where we have seen anomalies in terms of judgements provided and the grade issued".

The leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Steve Aiken, has asked CCEA to "fully explain" why the anomalies happened.

There was disappointment and tears for some students at the Girls Model School in north Belfast this morning.

About 20% of its A-level pupils did not get the grades they hoped for, or indeed that their teachers had predicted.

Vice principal Julie Graham told the BBC there were some "very disturbing" anomalies among the school's results.

"We have some examples of some girls who have done fantastically well - girls we would have expected to do well - and as always we're extremely proud of them," she said.

"But then there are the girls who we know their grades have dropped."

"Our teacher-assessed grades perhaps have not been accepted, which is very disappointing because we went through a very rigorous process.

Image source, Google Maps

"We have, for example, a student whose teacher-assessed grade was a B and she has come out with a D.

"We had also two students who were predicted As. One of those students has come out with an A and the second student has come out with a C.

"So those kind of anomalies are very, very disturbing and disappointing for us."

Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill says the controversy over this year's A-level results is "unacceptable" and she has called on the education minister set out how he intends to "fix" the problem.

Ms O'Neill, deputy leader of Sinn Féin, said many students had been awarded grades "way below what they expected to achieve".

"I heard it this morning described as an anomaly" she said.

"It is a far cry from an anomaly. There needs to be a resolution."

Ms O'Neill said today's meeting of the Northern Ireland Executive would be an opportunity for Education Minister Peter Weir to set out his plan to resolve the issue.

Justin Edwards also said CCEA has dealt with about 400 calls to its helpline and 100 appeals so far today from students who are unhappy with the grades they've been awarded.

He said it was difficult to compare those figures to previous years because of the unique circumstances.

"We have specialists on hand to help schools and colleges and would ask students to contact their schools and colleges in the first place.

"If there are data errors, we will look at it and and consider other contextual information."

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Mr Edwards added that the examination of appeals will be "rapid".

"Some cases will take a matter of days, other cases will be more complex and will take longer.

"Our aim is to get through all those critical cases so we can help all those learners progress by the university cut off dates of the universities. But we've had extension commitments from universities."

CCEA chief executive Justin Edwards has defended the body's standardisation model for A-level grading.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: "If we didn't have standardisation, the grades in Northern Ireland for A* to A would have risen by 11.8% overall. At the moment it rose by 2.3%."

He added that in the three UK jurisdictions which use A-levels, the rise was 2.4% - just 0.1% of a difference.

"So you cannot make the assumption that appeals will advantage one jurisdiction over another. We have to work through those individual appeals process and look at the data once the appeals are completed."

Mr Edwards said that "whilst there was no perfect solution" to the problem presented by schools being closed and A-levels cancelled, his organisation "had to rapidly develop a situation where we could give grades to students so they could progress with their lives".

Tony Gallagher, professor of education at Queen's University Belfast, has said exam board CCEA needs to give clarity about how results were awarded.

He told the BBC that in recent years the increase in the proportion of A level students who get three or more good results is between 1% and 2%.

"I think the 2020 outcome has raised it by about 2%. It seems to be in line with that," he said.

Image source, Pacemaker

"Now whether that was something that CCEA felt had to be done, or whether they were told that was a parameter they had to build into the model, that is something that needs to be clarified.

"Were they told as part of the process that they had to keep it within that limit?

"Because in a sense, CCEA were doing a technical exercise."

Mr Gallagher said the issue was around what seemed to be "the high level of anomalies in the system".

"We don’t know exactly the number, but we are hearing about what seem like really, really strange outcomes, and nailing that down is going to be really, really important," he added.

In Limavady, Filip Kazubski received 3 Cs in performing arts, moving image and visual technology.

While happy, he said his results "didn’t really matter anyway" as he already has an unconditional offer for Edge Hill University in Liverpool.

Katie McCusker is going to study social work at Queen's University Belfast after getting two Bs in health and social care and a distinction in child development.

Katie said her results were not as high as she would have expected if she sat exams, but said she was "happy enough" as it was enough to get her place.

Ross Barr received his results for maths, biology and business this morning.

He will be going to Northumbria University in Newcastle to study accountancy.

Ross said he didn’t expect to get what he needed to get in but got C, B and a distinction, which was better than what he had hoped for.

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

Even exams can be unfair, sometimes two people marking the same paper will give different grades.

But this year’s assessment and today’s downgrades have left many people feeling their future chances have been harmed by an algorithm.

The standardisation system that led to the downgrades is there to stop grade inflation.

Without it, there would have been a 12% increase in people getting an A* or A grade, according to the head of Northern Ireland's main examination body - CCEA.

Image source, PA Media

But if a school has a stronger year group than last year, or if teaching has improved, that might not be fully recognised this year.

The information available to calculate grades differs across the UK: like in Wales, AS results contribute to overall A-level results in Northern Ireland and therefore can be taken into account.

However, this doesn't happen in England - where AS grades have no bearing to A-level results.

Research suggests that using AS performance can improve the overall accuracy of grades.

Grades could be calculated using a range of evidence including work to date, mock exams and teacher assessed grades, but even experts can’t agree on a perfect way to navigate yet another difficult problem caused by the coronavirus.

Today's figures from the Department for Health also show there are currently three people with Covid-19 in intensive care.

Northern Ireland has previously reached a point of having no patients with coronavirus in intensive care.

Eight people in total are currently being treated in hospital.

Image source, Pacemaker

There has also been an increase in the number of outbreaks in care homes.

Thursday's figures show three confirmed outbreaks, compared with one on Wednesday.

There are also suspected outbreaks in six other care homes.

The Public Health Agency (PHA) says it has identified 11 clusters of Covid-19 where five or more people have tested positve since the start of contact tracing on 24 May.

Four of these clusters are in Newry, Mourne and Down, while three are in Mid and East Antrim.

The PHA adds there have been 20 clusters in that time across Northern Ireland involving fewer than five people.

It says the key settings for the clusters include workplaces, retail or hospitality premises, domestic gatherings and sporting settings.

Image source, Pacemaker

Dr Gerry Waldron, Head of Health Protection at the PHA, said the figures are an "important reminder that we must not become complacent".

"Coronavirus remains in circulation, so each of us has a responsibility to take steps to help keep ourselves and those around us safe," he says.

“Maintain social distancing, wash your hands regularly, and get tested if you display any symptoms of coronavirus. You can also download the StopCOVID NI contact tracing app."

Image source, PA Media

The principal of Belfast’s Lagan College says the system used to award A-level grades this year has let pupils down.

Amanda McNamee says she felt “disappointed and embarrassed” this morning.

The NI exams board CCEA said there will be some "anomalies in terms of judgements provided and the grade issued".

“They are real children with real lives, they aren’t computers, they are not data, not anomalies, and I feel we have let them down.

“If I hear the word anomaly again being linked to an actual real person, a real child, I think I am going to scream."

She added it isn't fair to suggest predicted grades need to be adjusted because teachers are prone to over mark.

“I spent weeks in school during the Covid pandemic looking at every single child, every single grade, making sure that ethically I could stand over them.”

Coronavirus has made big changes to our lives this year and schools were one of the areas most deeply affected.

A-level and GCSE exams were cancelled but the question remained - how would students be assessed and grades be awarded?

The chosen scheme involved both teacher predictions and exam body standardisation.

The publication of this year's A-level and AS level results on Thursday has raised questions about how successfully the process was handled, with 37% of final results being lower than those grades estimated by teachers.

Image source, PA Media

Following the cancellation of exams in March, CCEA was instructed by Education Minister Peter Weir to ensure the calculated results in 2020 were broadly in line with performance in recent years.

While it recorded an increase - the proportion of A*-A grades awarded to A-level pupils rose by 2.3%, for example - CCEA said it was content this rise was not significant enough to impact the integrity of the results set.

So where have the issues and anomalies come from?

Here we have an explainer breaking down exactly what has happened with today's A-level grading controversy.

The eight new confirmed cases of Covid-19 recorded by the Department of Health in the last 24 hours have been in the following council areas:

• Antrim and Newtownabbey - 1
• Belfast - 2

• Causeway Coast and Glens - 2
• Mid and East Antrim - 2

• Newry, Mourne and Down - 1

There have been eight new confirmed cases of Covid-19 according to the Department of Health's , externallatest update.

This now brings the total number of confirmed positive cases in Northern Ireland to 6,225.

There have been no Covid-19 related deaths recorded by the Department of Health in the past 24 hours, which means its death toll remains at 557.

The department’s daily figures are mostly comprised of hospital deaths, where a patient had previously tested positive for the virus.