The Guardian – Record A-level results highlight regional divide
Thursday’s record A-level results highlighted the growing regional divide in pupils’ performances, The Guardian reports. The paper says the North of England lags far behind the south-east in national exam grades and university application rates.
The paper’s secondary story reports on news that the death toll in Gaza has exceeded 40,000.
Pupils achieve best A-level results in a generation but regional gap widens
Pupils achieved their best A-level results in a generation on Thursday with marks that highlighted the growing gap between the strongest and weakest-performing parts of the country.
While the national exam grades were among the highest for decades, regional differences showed areas in the north lagging far behind the south-east. Private schools also continued to outperform state schools.
Students in London and the south-east of England recorded some of the most startling results – more than 30% of their A-level entries were awarded A* or A grades. But those in the East Midlands saw top grades creep up by just 0.2 percentage points to 22.5%.
Gaza rubble likely to conceal untold horrors to swell 40,000 death toll
Dapartment building where she lived in February, burying the young mother with her 10-month-old daughter, Mona. They are not listed among Gaza’s war dead, because their bodies were trapped too deep beneath the rubble for rescue teams to reach them.
Ten months into Israel’s war on Gaza, the death toll has passed 40,000, according to health authorities there. Most of the dead are civilians and the total represents nearly 2% of Gaza’s prewar population, or one in every 50 residents.
But even that figure does not tell the full story of Palestinian losses. “This number, 40,000, includes only bodies that were received and buried,” said Dr Marwan al-Hams, the director of field hospitals at the Palestinian ministry of health. “New procedures are being tested to include those who are missing or known to be under the rubble on the list of the dead, but they have not yet been approved.”
Today’s news summary – Paper Talk
If you are someone who reads every perspective of a story, here is a news summary of all of today’s front pages from today’s newspapers; summarised in a 2-minute read
Editorial 16 August 2024.
Friday’s newspapers lead with a variety of stories, mostly domestic news. A number of the leads carry the news that the UK economy grew by 0.6% between April and June as it continued its recovery from the recession at the end of last year.
There’s coverage of potential pay rises for GPs following the government paying out to end rail strikes. A-level results, British tanks in Ukraine and Taylor Swift in London are splashed on the front.
Prince Harry and Meghan are pictured on several front pages as they visit Colombia. Other celebrity news also features, including news that five people have been arrested in connection with the death of actor Matthew Perry.
The back pages look ahead to the return of the Premier League as the new season is just around the corner.