The Department for Education confirmed that the drop of top A-level grades by nearly 10% from last year is the biggest ever, causing chaos for those hoping to secure a university place. 19,000 students who were not accepted scrambled for clearing places, causing the UCAS website to crash. Welsh and Northern Ireland A-level students were given advance information about topics to expect in their exam papers. English students were not given the same support. Ofqual said it built protection into the English grading process because of the disruption that students had faced. This should have enabled students to get the grades they would have received before the pandemic even if the quality of their work was a bit weaker due to disruption. The Association of School and College Leaders said the ‘sharp fall’ in high A-level results was because the grading system was adjusted. Pray for the fearful and disappointed students who have not secured their first choice of university or college.

Following a watchdog review of the charity’s accounts, the Captain Tom Foundation faces renewed scrutiny over reports that its co-founder Hannah Ingram-Moore received thousands of pounds for judging a Virgin Media O2 awards ceremony featuring foundation. She was the £85,000-a-year CEO of the foundation, but did not seek its board approval before entering into a commercial agreement with Virgin Media O2. Her appearance fee was paid into a private company which she and her husband owned. After a series of controversies, the Captain Tom Foundation stopped taking donations earlier this year. Its 2022 accounts recorded it giving out £160,000 of over £1m it raised. There have been ongoing investigations regarding conflicts of interest between the charity and businesses owned by the Ingram-Moores, as well as concerns over mismanagement and compliance with charity law.

Thirty conscription officials in Ukraine have been accused of taking cash and cryptocurrency bribes to smuggle people out of the country. All men over the age of 18 capable of fighting are eligible to be conscripted, and most adult men under the age of 60 are prohibited from leaving the country. Mr Zelensky posted a video on social media saying, ‘Conscription officials who took bribes and smuggled people out of the country have been sacked in an anti-corruption purge. Bribery at a time of war is high treason’. The president's office said that the corruption allegations pose a threat to Ukraine's national security and undermine confidence in state institutions. Replacement officials will be chosen from candidates with battlefield experience and vetted by the intelligence service.

Demyan Kevorkyan, a prisoner released early to fight with Wagner mercenaries is accused of a double murder after returning home from the war. He was arrested for killing a young man and woman on their way home from work. He is not the only convict who was freed early to fight and then reoffended. It is confirmed that suspects in about twenty serious offences, including rape and murder, are fighters recruited from prison by Wagner to fight in Ukraine. Kevorkyan was one of 150 prisoners recruited on 31 August 2022, and was later spotted back in his home village of Pridorozhnaya in south-west Russia telling people he had just returned from the battlefields of Ukraine.