:00:00. > :00:19.of those living with HIV. Don't forget, there is
:00:20. > :00:23.Good evening. Head teachers from across Wales have raised concerns
:00:24. > :00:31.over the "unexpectedly low" grades, for GCSE English language exams, sat
:00:32. > :00:38.by pupils earlier this year. Teaching unions say the results were
:00:39. > :00:41."far below what was expected". Tonight, the Head of the WJEC exam
:00:42. > :00:45.board has questioned whether new GCSE courses - due to be introduced
:00:46. > :00:48.- should be delayed. Here's our Education Correspondent, Arwyn
:00:49. > :00:52.Jones. Last August, sunny days and happy pupils. As GCSE results came
:00:53. > :00:58.out, they were warmly welcomed as the best performance the years. --
:00:59. > :01:03.for years. Today, near the weather nor the results could have been more
:01:04. > :01:06.different. Pupils who sat the exam in January have been getting their
:01:07. > :01:12.results, but there has been disappointment all round. We are
:01:13. > :01:15.beginning to get a flood of concern, that has spread across all parts of
:01:16. > :01:20.Wales. It also covers different types of schools. Schools in
:01:21. > :01:23.relatively affluent areas and also in areas of deprivation. A picture
:01:24. > :01:32.is beginning to emerge, and it is not pretty. Any schools can put
:01:33. > :01:36.pupils forward to have early exams, it can free up time to study other
:01:37. > :01:40.subjects before summer. But it will be scrapped next year. At this
:01:41. > :01:43.school, pupils have not yet got their results. Staff are releasing
:01:44. > :01:57.them tomorrow with a letter explaining what happened. Our
:01:58. > :02:02.results were significantly under what we expected. All our internal
:02:03. > :02:08.data suggested they should be much better. From the children going from
:02:09. > :02:12.the top to bottom grades, they were all two or three or even four grades
:02:13. > :02:15.below what they were expecting. So what has gone wrong? There could be
:02:16. > :02:19.possible answers according to the body that sets the exams. There is
:02:20. > :02:22.now a different emphasis on what counts towards the exams. Accuracy
:02:23. > :02:25.now accounts for 50% of the available marks for writing, whereas
:02:26. > :02:28.it was previously contributing 30%. As a result, the proportion of
:02:29. > :02:32.candidates getting a grade C has fallen from 23% to 5%. Were teachers
:02:33. > :02:36.made aware of the changes? Another explanation could be more people
:02:37. > :02:39.sitting early exams. The number taking GCSE English Language in
:02:40. > :02:59.January has increased from an 18,000 last year to well over 22,000 this
:03:00. > :03:04.year. The main exam board here says that schools will struggle from
:03:05. > :03:09.changes to one course this year, so maybe the extra changes for next
:03:10. > :03:13.year should be delayed. It has been shown from today's experience that
:03:14. > :03:18.that is a challenge in itself, so the question is, how shown -- how
:03:19. > :03:24.soon should be let another significant change occur? We are
:03:25. > :03:32.still working with teachers on the current changes. The new courses are
:03:33. > :03:37.designed to boost disappointing exam results, but the man, the worry is
:03:38. > :03:46.that rushing to watch them too soon could do more harm than good. -- to
:03:47. > :03:49.launch them. An extra ?4.2 million has been promised by the Welsh
:03:50. > :03:52.Government to repair the country's battered flood defences. The money
:03:53. > :03:55.is going directly to local authorities, on top of ?3 million
:03:56. > :03:59.already promised. Conwy Council is to get the lion's share of the cash.
:04:00. > :04:02.Roger Pinney reports. The tide was out when we visited this beach
:04:03. > :04:05.today, but there is plenty of evidence that people here already
:04:06. > :04:10.fear the next storm and high tide when it comes. There is plenty of
:04:11. > :04:13.evidence as well of the one at the beginning of December. In this home,
:04:14. > :04:16.floorboards are having to be replaced. Plaster has been hacked
:04:17. > :04:19.off the walls. Coming down here, it was like a torrent, like a river,
:04:20. > :04:22.bringing debris with it. It surrounded my house. And there are
:04:23. > :04:32.plenty of people ready to describe what happened to them. The waves
:04:33. > :04:36.were coming over the grass verge at the top and flooding down everywhere
:04:37. > :04:40.it could. So how much at risk do you feel for the future? I feel very
:04:41. > :04:45.much at risk in the future, because you do not know how much at risk you
:04:46. > :04:51.are in the future because you do not know how much worse it could get. In
:04:52. > :04:54.this bay, Conwy Council was to spend ?1million. With its long coast,
:04:55. > :05:03.Conwy Council gets the biggest share of the cash. Almost ?4 million.
:05:04. > :05:08.Neighbouring Denbighshire is in line for around 700,000, with Ceredigion
:05:09. > :05:14.and Pembroke should receiving half a million. -- Pembroke shire. Smaller
:05:15. > :05:17.amounts go to other councils around the Welsh coast. We have been
:05:18. > :05:20.working closely with local authorities and national Wales since
:05:21. > :05:23.we saw these storms since then we have understood the damage, we have
:05:24. > :05:34.not invested into protecting homes, businesses and communities. I have
:05:35. > :05:38.said that since the storms we are born rebel, this money will put us
:05:39. > :05:42.back into position where we are less likely to flood. The damage caused
:05:43. > :05:49.by the storms is not always apparent. Here on the north shore,
:05:50. > :05:53.the beach material has been scoured away. That meet at high tide, the
:05:54. > :05:57.water will be deeper. And deep water means the force of the next storm
:05:58. > :06:00.will be much greater when it hits the shore. Restoring the beach will
:06:01. > :06:08.mean restoring 1,500 tonnes of shingle. That will cost ?1.5
:06:09. > :06:12.million. 4,500 homes will be protected. This winter 's storms and
:06:13. > :06:16.high tides were exceptional. The damage will be repaired. It is a
:06:17. > :06:24.short-term measure. In the long term, much more money will have to
:06:25. > :06:27.be spent. The High Court has quashed the decision by a state-owned
:06:28. > :06:29.savings bank to withdraw its Welsh language service, saying it was
:06:30. > :06:32.unlawful. National Savings and Investments dropped its Welsh
:06:33. > :06:36.service last April, saying it wasn't an effective use of public money. It
:06:37. > :06:39.led to a legal challenge from the Welsh Language Commissioner. The
:06:40. > :06:48.bank says it's now working to re-instate its Welsh service. The
:06:49. > :06:51.key message is, Welsh language services are really important for
:06:52. > :06:54.people who use those services, whether they are coming from
:06:55. > :06:57.Westminster, or coming from Wales. And in delivering those services,
:06:58. > :07:03.people need to have security that they are going to be there. Wales'
:07:04. > :07:07.highest-paid council boss survived an attempt to see him ousted this
:07:08. > :07:10.evening. Bryn Parry Jones will stay as the head of Pembrokeshire
:07:11. > :07:16.Council, after a motion of no confidence failed. It follows the
:07:17. > :07:19.recent scandal over pension payments made to the Chief Executive, which
:07:20. > :07:22.were deemed unlawful by the Wales Audit Office. Gwynedd councillors
:07:23. > :07:26.have approved a council tax increase of 3.9% for the next financial year.
:07:27. > :07:30.The authority says it'll go towards bridging the shortfall, caused by a
:07:31. > :07:40.reduction in government funding. Several Welsh councils have already
:07:41. > :07:42.approved similar increases. Labour have accused the cloud Cymru MP
:07:43. > :07:45.Jonathan Edwards of being "mean-spirited" for questioning how
:07:46. > :07:48.Sam Warburton could captain the Welsh rugby side and describe
:07:49. > :07:51.himself as British. Warburton - who has captained the British Lions -
:07:52. > :07:54.made his comments on feeling British in response to remarks from England
:07:55. > :08:01.players, suggesting some some Welsh players "hated" the English.
:08:02. > :08:07.Let's get the weather forecast for Wales. Here's Behnaz Akghar.
:08:08. > :08:10.It looks like spring is around the corner, and we can look forward to
:08:11. > :08:18.some settled weather going into next week. Tomorrow, at the start but the
:08:19. > :08:20.drier and bright afternoon. Tonight, lots of cloud around and rain
:08:21. > :08:25.spreading from the West, with temperatures reaching two Celsius.
:08:26. > :08:29.Then we have that ridge of high pressure building, then it will
:08:30. > :08:32.become unsettled again for the weekend, and then high pressure
:08:33. > :08:38.takes charge going into next week. Tomorrow, wet and windy start but
:08:39. > :08:43.that rain band will through quickly. Across Scotland, some heavy
:08:44. > :08:45.showers, and the show was there could be wintry across high levels.
:08:46. > :08:59.# showers there. Good news to -- tomorrow, with
:09:00. > :09:03.sunshine and height temperatures of 12 Celsius and the winds becoming
:09:04. > :09:06.lighter as well. For a time tomorrow night it could be called, so
:09:07. > :09:13.gardeners beware, a possible touch of frost. And then the wind comes
:09:14. > :09:15.from a south-easterly direction. On Saturday, the best of the
:09:16. > :09:21.brightness, the further east you are. Clouding over with with a of
:09:22. > :09:26.rain. Quite blustery conditions, as well. On Sunday we will see
:09:27. > :09:31.outbreaks of rain, but the best of the dry, bright weather, the further
:09:32. > :09:36.inland you are. Then, things will start to settle as we go into next
:09:37. > :09:40.week. We can look forward to sunshine and settled conditions,
:09:41. > :09:45.certainly, it will be cold at night time. Newsnight is over on BBC Two
:09:46. > :09:49.Wales now, talking direct to the undercover cop who says it was his
:09:50. > :09:54.job to infiltrate and stop the Stephen Lawrence campaign. There is
:09:55. > :09:59.more news on our website. We'll have the latest for you in Breakfast from
:10:00. > :10:00.6:25am. That's Wales Today. From all of us here, goodnight, nos da.