AS and A-level students in NI will now receive highest predicted grades, education minister announces
Peter Weir makes the announcement hours after announcing GCSEs would be based solely on teacher predictions
Some students at schools and colleges in NI have not yet received BTec results which were due last Thursday
Local lockdowns might be needed to combat rising levels of coronavirus infection, says chief scientific adviser
The Consumer Council in NI says it has recovered £400,000 in flight refunds for consumers since March
One coronavirus-related death was reported by the Department of Health on Friday; its total number of deaths is now 558
Nisra records show there were 859 deaths where Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate by 7 August
Thirty-nine new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in NI on Monday - 6,430 people have now tested positive
That's all for our coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in Northern Ireland for today.
It's been a hugely significant day for many of Northern Ireland's young people, with a major change in how A/AS-level grades will be awarded.
We'll be back early tomorrow morning and leave you with this picture of a rather more tranquil Blue Lough in the Mournes from Raymond Hilman.
Have a good evening.
Image source, Raymond HilmanIt's been a huge day for thousands of school students in Northern Ireland.
Here are the key developments in the coronavirus pandemic from today:
The SDLP's education spokesperson Daniel McCrossan welcomes the "U-turn" on A-level and AS-level results and said it was a "sensible move" by the education minister.
In a statement, Mr McCrossan said: "This is a win for our teachers and their professional judgement, but most importantly a win for our young people.
“While I welcome the eventual positive result, I do deeply regret the anxiety and distress this has caused for our young people over the last number of days.
"It was unnecessary and highly unfair."
Mr McCrossan has called on the education minister to "offer a full and genuine apology to our young people for causing this distress and to our teachers, for the way their professional judgement was cast aside".
“The minister should compel CCEA to publish the algorithm that was used," Mr McCrossan said.
He said this was a "critical lesson" and something to be "learnt from."
Peter Weir says that in relation to the A-level and AS-levels there will be a "considerable level of grade inflation".
"Because I think what has been calculated was on the basis of if we switch between the systems," he says.
"We are probably talking about both A-levels and AS-levels we are looking at the A* to C or A to C - probably rises above 10% in both."
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has welcomed news that A-level and AS-level students in Northern Ireland will be awarded the highest grade either predicted by their teacher or awarded officially last week.
In a tweet, Mr Donaldson said this is the "fairest outcome in all circumstances".
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Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill has welcomed the decision to award A-level and AS-level students with the highest grade they were predicted by either their teacher or awarded officially last week.
In a tweet, Michelle O'Neill said: "Standardisation was flawed from the beginning and should never have been used.
"Many students have been through a tough number of days. Today is a win for them."
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Stephen Walker
BBC News NI Political Correspondent
I think it is a U-turn from Peter Weir. He was digging in, he was standing by the system, despite the fact he was getting criticism from all sides.
But, in a sense, today's announcement was no great surprise.
Mr Weir made his argument that he was concerned that students from Northern Ireland could be disadvantaged if NI had stayed with its own system.
He said today's decision was in line with the rest of the UK.
He rejected criticism that he'd been slow to react, but said in the circumstances this was the best way to move forward.
At the heart of this are thousands of young people, young students starting out in life and the last four or five days have been really difficult.
It's not an exaggeration to say that last week many people's ambitions had been dented and clearly there was this clamour for change.
Image source, NI ExecutivePeter Weir says there was a situation regarding A-levels "where one in five A-levels are issued through English and Welsh boards".
"So we couldn't in Northern Ireland go on some level of solo run in relation to this," he adds.
"Because that would have meant there would have been disadvantage and disparity within students in Northern Ireland."
Mr Weir tells a press conference there are no "perfect solutions".
"What we will try to do is ensure there is enough help and support and fairness for all students," he says.
"I believe that we have at least reached a situation where everybody in the United Kingdom is in step."
Image source, Stormont ExecutiveEducation Minister Peter Weir says CCEA is working to release the revised results to candidates as quickly as possible.
"In the interim, students will be able to access details of their Centre Assessed Grade from their school or college," he said.
“Concerns remain over the impact of changes to the qualifications system throughout the United Kingdom and any potential solution offered has its flaws.
“However, my prime concern is to ensure that young people in Northern Ireland are in no way disadvantaged in comparison to their peers elsewhere.
“Portability and comparability of qualifications is critical for students, particularly in Northern Ireland."
A-level and AS-level candidates will be awarded the higher of the grades submitted by their centre or the grade calculated by CCEA, Peter Weir has said.
This announcement follows controversy last week after more than a third of A-level and AS-level grades provided by schools were lowered by the exams board CCEA.
Education Minister Peter Weir is due to give a press conference at 16:00 from Stormont.
You can watch the minister's address live by pressing play at the top of this page and you can follow updates throughout the news conference on this page.
Deirdre Heenan, a professor of social policy at Ulster University, says "logic dictates" that predicted teacher grades should be used for final AS and A-level grades as well as GCSEs.
She says Education Minister Peter Weir's "current position is nonsensical" in using standardisation for AS and A-levels.
"I do think he is going to have to change it and the sooner he does it the better," she told Talkback.
"His previous arguments around the reliability and validity of teacher data no longer stand."
Image source, PA Media"We should acknowledge that he's in a difficult position," she says.
"It's not about humiliating him, there will be slight embarrassment, but I don't understand though why he seems to be willing to die in a ditch to protect the integrity of CCEA because it actually defies logic.
"The whole point of a devolved government and a devolved minister is to make decisions which are bespoke for Northern Ireland and the people of Northern Ireland.
"Surely his decisions, his overriding objective, is to say: 'I will do what is best for these young people given the situation we find ourselves in'."
The Green Party in Northern Ireland says the education minister should "remove standardisation for AS and A-level grades and recalculate grades accordingly".
Cllr Simon Lee, the party's education spokesperson, says today's decision for teacher assessments to determine GCSE grades comes after "much pressure from parents and pupils".
However, maintaining standardisation for other exams, he says "further highlights the culture of elitism that is entrenched in our education system".
Image source, PA Media"The badge on a uniform or the postcode of a school should have nothing to do with how exam results are allocated," he adds.
Cllr Lee says for many students there will be an "imposition of grades that don't reflect their ability and effort".
A Londonderry school principal has welcomed news that GCSE results in NI will be solely based on grades provided by teachers but says A-level results still need to be addressed.
Katrina Crilly, who is the principal of Oakgrove Integrated College, tells BBC Talkback that non-selective schools have been "hit really hard" by the algorithm used to adjust A-level results.
There was controversy last week after more than a third of A-level and AS-level grades provided by schools were lowered by the exams board CCEA.
"Our children in non-selective schools are the ones suffering," Ms Crilly tells the programme.
Ms Crilly says that adjusting grades based on previous performances by pupils is not fair because results go "up and down every year".
"Our head girl is an A* pupil all-day-long in English, but because we have achieved As and Bs in the past but never an A* just through the nature of the cohorts we've had in previous years - she wasn't given her A*," Ms Crilly said.
"The ability of our cohorts differ from year-to-year, we have a natural variability with smaller cohorts of students and that has not been taken into consideration by the minister."
Image source, PA MediaA-level and GCSE students in Wales will be awarded the grades predicted for them by their teachers, the Welsh Government has announced.
The U-turn followed pressure from Welsh Labour backbenchers, opposition politicians and students.
Education Minister Kirsty Williams said she took the decision to "maintain confidence in the system".
A total of 42% of A-level grades predicted by teachers had been lowered when results were published last week.
Read more here
The education minister’s decision to trust teachers with GCSE results but not for A-level results was “inconsistent, unfair and untenable”, an AS-level student has told Talkback.
Harvey, a pupil in Belfast, said the AS and A-level results controversy was “a clear indictment of our education system as a whole”.
He said students “had been disadvantaged across the board".
“We should begin a long conversation about how our education system works,” he said.
Mid and East Antrim Council area has seen a rise of 73 new cases of coronavirus in the past seven days.
That is the highest out of all the council areas for an increase of the virus over that period, according to the Department of Health.
The council area recorded six new cases of the virus in the last 24 hours, according to the latest Department of Health statistics., external
Earlier, NI's chief scientific adviser Prof Ian Young said the the rise of coronavirus cases recorded by the Department of Health in the past week is of "considerable concern".
Prof Young highlighted particularly the high numbers of cases in the Antrim and Newtownabbey and Mid and East Antrim council areas.
"We're getting close to the point, certainly in those areas with the high numbers of cases, that we may have to consider whether any additional local measures are required," Prof Ian Young told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.
Most of the 39 new cases confirmed in NI in the past 24 hours were in Belfast where 15 new infections were confirmed.
It brings the total over the past week in the city to 71.
There have been 302 new cases over the past seven days across Northern Ireland but no further deaths.
A total of 6,430 cases of coronavirus have now been confirmed in Northern Ireland since the pandemic began.
A further 39 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Northern Ireland in the past 24 hours, according to the Department of Health's , externallatest update.
This now brings the total number of confirmed positive cases in Northern Ireland to 6,430.
No new deaths were recorded by the department in the past 24 hours.
The department’s daily figures are mostly comprised of hospital deaths, where a patient had previously tested positive for the virus.
No patients with Covid-19 are currently being treated in intensive care in a Northern Ireland hospital, according to the department's latest update.