06/03/2014 BBC Wales Today

Yard's handling of the case. That's all from the BBC News at

Welcome to Wales Today. Our top story. The exam system under

scrutiny again. There's dismay and disbelief over unexpectedly poor

GCSE results. We are beginning to get a flood of concern, that has

spread across the all parts of Wales. The picture is beginning to

emerge and that is not pretty. Tonight, there are calls for an

urgent investigation. We'll be asking the head of the exam board,

what's gone wrong? The work to repair homes goes on

after recent storms, now millions of pounds is announced to fix flood

defences. He's being investigated over

payments he's received. Tonight, the chief executive of Pembrokeshire

council survives a no confidence vote.

A new plan to persuade the best doctors to stay here after finishing

their training. And he set up two and scored the

third, Gareth Bale just gets better for Wales.

Good evening. Head teachers from across Wales have raised concerns

over the unexpectedly low grades, for GCSE English language exams, sat

by pupils earlier this year. Teaching Unions say the results were

far below what was expected. Tonight, teachers and pupils have

told Wales Today they're shocked and can't understand what's gone wrong.

Here's our education correspondent, Arwyn Jones.

Last August, sunny days and happy peoples. As GCSE results came out,

they were warmly welcomed as the best performance the years. Today,

near the weather nor the results could have been more difficult. --

different. Pupils who sat the exam in January have been getting their

results but there has been disappointment all round. We are

beginning to get a flood of concern, that has spread across the four

parts of Wales. It also covers different types of schools. Schools

in affluent areas and also in areas of deprivation. A picture is

beginning to emerge and it is not pretty. Pupils showed their anger on

social media websites. These were all messages on Twitter.

There were many other comments but the language used was far too

colourful to broadcast. What we need to ask ourselves is how the brighter

tried to persuade us to follow them. Any schools can put pupils forward

to have early exams, it can free up time to study other subjects before

summer. But it will be scrapped next year. At this school, pupils have

not yet got their results, staff are releasing them tomorrow with the

letter explaining what happened. This is -- our results were

significantly bad at them we -- worse than we were expecting, all

our internal data suggested they should be much better. From the

children going from the top to bottom grades, they were all too or

three or even four grades below what they were expecting. There were

concerns these results could prevent the students getting the grades they

want in the summer. The exam is worth 40% of our final grade. It

makes me quite nervous because whatever grade I will have is going

to impact me further down the line whether that is a levels, degrees,

my university choice. I haven't disappointing the work the -- I am

disappointed the work people are putting, it will not be a high grade

as they thought. They have been disappointed by the exam board. So

what has gone wrong? There could be possible answers according to the

body that that the exams. There is now a different emphasis on what

counts towards the exams. Accuracy now accounts for 50% of the

available marks for writing wet as it was previously contributing 30%.

As a result, the proportion of candidates getting a grade C has

fallen from 23% to 5%. Where teachers made aware of the changes?

Another explanation could be more people sitting early exams. The

number taking GCSE English language in January has increased from an

18,000 last year to well over 22,000 this year. All of these changes

according to the Welsh government means it will be misleading to

compare this year 's result of last year. They declined our request to

be interviewed on camera. January's in this language exams were unique

to Wales for the first time. It was meant to be a way of avoiding the

regrading fiasco we saw two years ago but now that is exactly what I'm

teaching unions are calling for. We can discuss some of the details

in that report with the chief executive of the exam board who

accept the exams, Gareth Peirce. I'll guess first of all, to the many

people at home wondering what has happened here, what has gone wrong?

We sympathise with anyone who has disappointing results. There are

standard routes for people to enquire about individual result and

we expect to have requests through that route. It is the change that we

need to understand. The significant change in the demand and nature of

the demand, in response to the Welsh government's desire to strengthen

these qualifications. The Welsh government asked you to strengthen

the qualifications, more emphasis on accuracy and sentence structure. As

I communicate it to the teachers themselves, do they know that was

happening? Yes, it was relocated as far back as autumn 2012. So these

exams were 18 months on from that. -- that was communicated. The

January series is early in the year 11 experience and the maturity of

the pupils. We have got to be careful not to overreact on these

results because the statistical trend across Wales is not that

different from what we would have expected with increased and

different demands and an unexpected increase in entry. We have heard

from NT headteachers saying that the results did not reflect what they

were expecting from their peoples. Something must have done wrong. We

have had correspondence from a small number of schools who are reporting

much larger changes than the national pattern and we are looking

forward to exploring in great detail, including the enquiries, to

asking our examiners to look again. I must emphasise that is a small

number of schools. The majority follow the national pattern which I

would say is not unexpected giving increase in entries and a

substantial change in the nature of the demand. You say that some

schools have not followed the normal pattern, will there be regrading for

those schools? The process is an enquiry, various checks can be made

and there is a possibility of a school asking us to mark again. We

do not want to rush into that process before exploring very

carefully with any school, because that is a time-consuming activity.

Thank you for your time. An extra ?4.2 million has been

promised by the Welsh government to repair the country's battered flood

defences. Councils applied for help after the wettest winter on record

here. The money is going directly to local authorities on top of ?3

million already promised. Conwy Council is to get the lion's share

of the cash. From there, Roger Pinney reports.

The tide was out when we visited this page today, but there is plenty

of evidence that people here already for the next storm and high tide

when it comes. There is plenty of evidence as well of the one at the

beginning of December. In this home, floorboards are having to be

replaced. Plaster has been hacked off the walls. Coming down here, it

was like a torrent, like a river, bringing debris with it. It

surrounded my house. And there are plenty of people ready to sit --

describe what happened to them. The waves were coming over the grass

verge at the turn and flooding down everywhere it could. So how much at

risk do you feel for the future? I feel very much at whisk in the

future because you do not know how worse -- at risk in the future

because you do not know how much worse it could get. In this bay,

Conwy council was to spend money. With its long coast, migratory

council gets the biggest share of the cash. -- Conwy council. Smaller

amounts go to other councils around the Welsh Council coast. We have

been working closely with local authorities and national we shall

see his rails since we saw these is -- resources Wales since we saw

these storms since then we have understood the damage, we have not

invested into protecting homes, businesses and communities. This

money will put us back into a position where we are less likely to

flood. The damage caused by the storms is not always apparent. Here

on the North Shore, the beach material has been scoured away. That

meet at high tide, the water will be deeper. And deepwater means the

force of the next storm will be much greater when it hit the shore.

Restoring the beach will mean restoring one and a half thousand

tonnes of shingle. Four 1000 homes will be protected. This winter 's

storms and high tides were exceptional, the damage will be

repaired. It is a short-term measure. In the long term, much more

money will have to be sent. The High Court has quashed the

decision by a state-owned savings bank to withdraw its Welsh language

service saying it was unlawful. National Savings and Investments

dropped its Welsh service last April saying it wasn't an effective use of

public money. The bank says it's now working to re-instate its Welsh

service. This was after a legal challenge from the Welsh language

Commissioner. The key message is, Welsh language services are really

important for people who use those services, whether they are coming

from Westminster, or coming from Wales. And in delivering those

services, people need to have security that they are going to be

there. The value of exports from Wales last

year were up by ?1.5 billion latest figures have shown. Goods worth

?14.8 billion were sent around the world, an increase of just over 11%

compared to the UK as a whole at 0.4%. The United Arab Emirates is

now our third largest export partner behind Ireland and America. Our

Political Editor Nick Servini is here. Some interesting figures? They

are, and export led growth is almost holy Grail territory in terms of

economic, recovery. It is a great generator of wealth. Within the

sector, transport and machinery, much of that is manufacturing. So it

could be a balanced recovery. The first Minister Carwyn Jones is

specifically saying it is down to old-fashioned pressing the flesh and

putting in the air miles in trade missions around the world. I do

detect a step change here. This has been difficult territory for the

Welsh government for many years. Really since the abolition of the

last of element agency. They speak with a lot more confidence about

things now, and say those trade missions are also being successful

in attracting inward investment into Wales. Earlier this week, Cowin

Jones came up with a scathing attack of the Welsh development agency. --

Carwyn Jones. When he spoke about the figure today, he gave a nod to

the past and how they are affecting what is going on. In the old days,

20 years ago, the WDA would say, come to Wales, come to the table and

people would pay less than anywhere else. Unless you want to go back

there we have to think of something new, so we are saying, the skills

are here that you need, aerospace, automotive, creative industries. If

you are in construction, defence, life sciences, you can come to

Wales. So how sustainable is this? In the past, you have a decent set

of economic data like this, politicians are not afraid to jump

on board but there would be a cautionary note, because obvious

reasons, economic data has not been a friend of Welsh politicians in the

past. There is certainly a narrative trying to be created by Carwyn Jones

at the moment to the extent where he is talking about Wales leading the

economic recovery around the UK, trying to change the narrative

coming from Westminster and the Conservatives, particularly in the

fields of public services, that Wales is some kind of failed state.

It's been described as the biggest transformation in the way medical

students are educated here since Wales biggest medical school was

established 90 years ago. Students at Cardiff University School of

Medicine now follow a brand new curriculum which aims to give them

more opportunity, even in their first year, to get out from the

lecture halls and train in Welsh communities with real patients. The

hope is eventually to persuade more medical graduates to stay in Wales

to develop their careers. Training the doctors of tomorrow.

This dummy has the symptoms of a severe asthma attack. It is so

sophisticated, it can even let me students know how well they are

doing. I can't breathe. Even with the latest technology, there is

argued there is no subject for meeting real patient as quickly as

possible. And it is happening here at this GP surgery. The skills of

the first-year medics are being giving a test. It gives you an

eye-opener of however thing works in the community, how GPs work with

patients and families, dealing with various diseases. Initially I

thought they would be nervous. And is it too soon? Having seen it

progress, I think it is brilliant, it is going to set them in good

stead. It is not a new concept, other medical schools offer patients

early contact with students. Cardiff University says it has learned from

the best courses around the globe and by giving students more exposure

to the Welsh NHS earlier, it is hoped more than will be dented to

stay on here when they do on here when they modify. That, it is

claimed, could address problems like a shortage of GPs. -- they will be

tempted to stay here when they qualify. This is what happened when

I was a junior doctor, I came back here and spent 11 years working in

Chester. This is only part of the solution, surely? Yes, we need to

move to the second step, making sure our first -- postgraduate training

is as good as the undergraduate training. There are patches of

excellent but there are areas where we are not able to provide training.

So what is the view of the fledgling medics? I think it is a lot better

to actively learn, rather than sit in lectures. Think when you are

choosing the medical School, the most important thing is how good a

doctor you will be when you come out of it. I think the course will make

me the best doctor I can become. Having experienced the world

community and Welsh NHS, I definitely closer to stay here.

Nobody claims this curriculum will on its own solve the difficulties of

attracting more doctors to Wales. It is hoped it can be at least part of

the remedy. You're watching Wales Today, stay

with us, plenty still ahead. Bale gets better, he set up two, and

scores a third for Wales against Iceland.

Wales' highest paid council boss has survived an attempt to see him

ousted tonight. Bryn Parry Jones will stay as the head of

Pembrokeshire Council after a motion of no confidence failed. It follows

the recent scandal over unlawful pension payments. Abigail Neal is at

county hall in Haverfordwest for us tonight, and there's been some

lively debate there? You could say that. Today, the full council

meeting, there were no less than 14 separate motions of no confidence in

Mr Parry Jones. If you remember, this relates back to an issue that

emerged last September when the both Chief Executive 's temperature and

Carmarthenshire were shown to take advantage of a tax scheme which

meant they paid less tax on their pensions by excepting cash is the

deploy -- accepting cash instead of employer contributions, a move which

the audit office described as unlawful. Today the move was

described as just one in a series of crises to hit the authority. They

have had had poor report over safeguarding children and education

over the last few years, and they felt that he is the man of the top

should go. Here is the flavour of the debate we heard in the chamber

this afternoon. Question, chairman, it is in the Constitution, it is

allowed to ask questions. I despair in seeing this authority stumble

from one question to the next -- crisis to the next. We are hitting

one iceberg and another. I had been interrupted semi times, I do not

know where I am. This is not a reason to move someone out. This is

my opinion and I need to be listened to because I have listened to all of

you. After a two-hour debate, the motion of no-confidence failed by 23

votes to 30 with five councillors at Benning. The council leader was

relieved but said he had heard the clear message of moral indignation.

I think we will reflect on that and ensure that we give consideration to

the way that we are perceived and not only that, I think the comments

I made earlier about the openness and accountability that the

authority now operates under, this is three years ago, the decision was

made. Now we operate under them, they are very different indeed.

Briefly, whether the council go from here? The leadership will hope that

they have drawn a line under this. In the end today they were there to

pass a budget which is what they were there for. That got through,

and I think it is still said that ratepayers in Pembrokeshire pay the

least council tax in Wales. The council leadership will be saying

there is a lot to move on to now. As part of this debate, we did hear

that although there will be no further legal case from the Wales

audit office, Pembrokeshire Council alone have already spent ?27,000

offending their case against the world 's audit office before

eventually backing down. -- the Wales audit office. There is clearly

a lot of unease about the way the council is run here and the way

people held to account. Gwynedd councillors have approved a

council tax increase of 3.9% for the next financial year. The authority

says it'll go towards bridging the shortfall, caused by a reduction in

government funding. Several Welsh councils have already approved

similar increases. Some news reaching us in the last

few minutes, police say a man has been arrested following an incident

in Powys. The road was closed while pleased out of the situation.

43-year-old male has been arrested in connection with the incident, no

one was injured. Labour have accused the Plaid Cymru

MP Jonathan Edwards of being mean-spirited for questioning how

Sam Warburton could captain the Welsh rugby side and describe

himself as British. Warburton, who has captained the British Lions,

made his comments on feeling British in response to comments from England

rugby stars suggesting some Welsh players hated England. David Cornock

reports. Sam Warburton has led Wales to grand

slam glory. He captained the British and Irish Lions to victory in

Australia. And a head of this weekend's match at Twickenham, he

took in his stride suggestions from opponents that some Welsh players

hated England. Summary to my nationality, I just say British. I

do not look at it like that. -- if someone asks me my nationality. I do

not think the boys talk about that. They love it because the amnesty is

so good and you can sense the anticipation from the fans. The

feeling is we feed off that. Those comments kicked off a political rock

on Twitter. Jonathan Edwards said he found it really difficult to

understand how someone who does not consider themselves Welsh can

captained the National seed. Labour leapt to Sam Warburton's defence. It

was completely wrong for Plaid Cymru to in any way challenge the way in

which Sam Warburton, at proud Welshman and British citizen, feels

about his identity. Nobody can doubt his passion and commitment, whether

he is putting on the Welsh jersey all the British Lions journey. --

jersey. Jonathan Edwards sidestepped our request for an interview. In a

statement, he denied attacking anyone's identity but said he hoped

the captain of Wales would feel Welsh. It is not the sort of

attention Plaid Cymru wanted on the eve of their spring conference. But

if Sam Warburton captained Wales to victory on Sunday, no one will be

talking about Well, is Warburton's old school

friend, Gareth Bale, the best footballer in the world? It's a

debate that's been restarted by another virtuoso performance for

Wales in last night's friendly against Iceland. The Real Madrid

star continued his recent club form, scoring one goal and setting-up two

more as Chris Coleman's side enjoyed a morale-boosting 3-1 win. Here's

our sports reporter, Ashleigh Crowter.

It seems that being the world 's most expensive player at the

world's most famous club has not sated Gareth Bell's ambition. There

was evidence last night that the best British player of his

generation is tapping his standards further. -- Gareth bail.

I merely asked him for his autograph. He is one of the best

players I have had the pleasure of working with, and he has got years

left in him. It was an all-round performance of the highest class.

Immaculate delivery of a free kick for Wales's first. Then the way he

wrapped the full-back in knots, creating the easiest of chances for

centre forward Sam Vokes. Former Wales striker Ian Walsh watched from

the commentary box work site. By daily as a financial planner. There

is no doubt in his mind that Wales are enjoying a substantial return on

Real Madrid's record-breaking investment. I do not think that

Gareth Bale would get any better, but goodness me, he was unbelievable

last night. He is more was at it, very direct, taking it all on his

own shoulders. And what a performance. He looks fitter,

bigger, stronger. With Gareth Bale in the side, you have got a great

chance. It was the first time Wales has scored three times under manager

Chris Coleman. They are now four games unbeaten. And with the likes

of Aaron Ramsey still to come back, there is growing optimism about the

Euro 2016 qualified campaign which begins later this year.

Let's get the weather now. Hard to believe it, but the weather

is improving, we can look forward to spring light: -- springlike

conditions next week. A weather system pushes south and east to its

tonight, a lot of cloud and hill fog, but it is a very mild night.

Tomorrow, there is a ridge of high pressure trying to build which will

settle things down full-time, low pressure brings a little bit of rain

with it through the weekend. It is moving away. First thing tomorrow

morning, wet start button. To brighten up from the north and west

as we go through the morning. By the afternoon, much of Wales is enjoying

some glorious sunshine with highs of seven to 12 Celsius. The winds are

easing through the day. Tomorrow night, whilst the winds dropped out,

underneath the clear skies, a cold night. The potential of some frost.

Overnight, it will cloud over from the south, fog likely. A much colder

night as well. And then this area of high pressure is starting to take

charge as we go into Sunday next week. It is set to be with us for a

while so we can look forward to more settled weather for next week.

Through Saturday, we are likely to see a bit of rain, especially across

western coasts, closer to the low pressure. On Sunday, and books of

rain possible but then it will start to settle down -- outbreaks of rain

possible but then it will settle down as the high pressure takes

charge. Brighter conditions next week, sunshine but it will be cold

by night. Frost possible. We will be seeing much more of this kind of

thing next week. The Chief Executive of the exam

board W JVC has told this programme exam this may look again at some

GCSE English papers set by pupils in January. It comes after teachers

raised concerns after unexpectedly low grades. We have a correspondence

from a small amount of schools who are reporting much larger changes

than the national pattern, we are looking forward to exploring in

great detail, including the enquiries which are possibly even

asking our examiners to look again. I will have an updated 8pm and

10:30pm, that is all for now, good evening. A rare example of