Three-quarters of students (75.2 per cent) achieved grade 4 or above in both English and mathematics, while 52.4 per cent secured strong passes at grade 5 or above. The school’s Attainment 8 score also rose to a record 47.8.

The scale of improvement has been hailed as “particularly striking” in the proportion achieving strong passes in English and mathematics. This has risen from 30.7 per cent in 2024 to 39.6 per cent in 2025 and 52.4 per cent in 2026, an increase of almost 22 percentage points in two years.

Mathematics outcomes improved substantially, with 82.9 per cent of students achieving grade 4 or above and 61.9 per cent achieving grade 5 or above. In English, 81 per cent secured at least a grade 4 and 67.6 per cent achieved grade 5 or above.

Bedale High School headteacher Chris Stokes said: “The day belongs to our students. Behind every one of these results is a young person who has worked incredibly hard, shown resilience and earned the right to feel immensely proud.

“This is our second consecutive year of record-breaking GCSE outcomes. More than half of our students have now secured strong passes in both English and mathematics, while three-quarters achieved grade 4 or above in both subjects. The improvement since 2024 has been remarkable.

“However, these outcomes matter because of what they mean for our young people, not simply because they look impressive in a performance table. Every qualification gives a student greater choice over what they do next. That is what we mean by securing every child the gift of choice.”

The results continue a sustained upward trend at Bedale High School:

• Attainment 8 has risen from 42.00 in 2024 to 47.76 in 2026.
• The proportion of students achieving grade 5 or above in English and mathematics has increased from 30.7 per cent to 52.4 per cent.
• The proportion of students achieving grade 4 or above in English and mathematics has increased from 59.4 per cent to 75.2 per cent.
• Mathematics outcomes at grade 5 or above rose by 17.3 percentage points in the past year alone.
• More than one in five students achieved grade 7 or above in mathematics.

The school’s outcomes are now above the latest published national figures across each of the headline measures.

Mr Stokes added: “Bedale High School has changed enormously, and that transformation is now secure. Families can choose Bedale knowing their children will attend a successful and ambitious school where they will be known, supported and challenged to achieve their very best.

“I would like to thank our outstanding staff for their expertise and commitment, our parents and carers for their support, and, most importantly, the Class of 2026. We are incredibly proud of them and excited to see what they achieve next.”

The academic improvements have been accompanied by more than £750,000 of investment in the school’s facilities, curriculum and learning environment, alongside strengthened expectations for teaching, behaviour and attendance.

Students will now progress to sixth-form study, college courses, apprenticeships and employment, equipped with the qualifications and confidence needed to take their next steps.

Mill House Riding Centre, in Fishburn, said a livery pony at the yard has contracted strangles – an extremely contagious illness that affects the horse’s upper respiratory tract.

The riding centre has since suspended all horse movements on and off the site following veterinary advice, while the affected pony is being cared for in isolation.

Strict biosecurity measures have also been introduced at the yard in a bid to prevent the disease from spreading.

In a statement posted on August 20, Mill House Riding Centre said: “Sadly, we are sharing this information to alert local yards, horse owners and anyone who may have had recent contact with our yard.

“We have unfortunately had a confirmed case of strangles. The affected pony is a DIY livery and is currently being managed in isolation under veterinary guidance.”

The centre has introduced a traffic light system for horses at the yard.

The confirmed case has been placed in the red category, while several horses that shared a field with the affected pony have been classified as amber.

Staff said those horses are currently well but are being closely monitored, with strict measures in place.

The riding school horses have been placed in the green category after having no contact with the affected pony. They are considered “low risk” and are also being monitored daily.

The centre added: “Strangles is highly contagious and can spread indirectly via people, clothing, footwear, equipment, buckets and water. Horses can also spread infection before showing obvious signs.

“Movement on and off the yard for all horses is currently suspended in line with veterinary advice.

“We appreciate everyone’s understanding during an awful time.”

Strangles is caused by the bacterium Streptococcus equi and can lead to a fever, nasal discharge, coughing, loss of appetite and swelling of lymph nodes around the head and neck. The swollen glands can develop into abscesses.

The infection can spread through direct contact between horses, and indirectly through contaminated hands, clothing, footwear, equipment, buckets and water.

The riding centre has not yet confirmed when movement restrictions will be lifted.

Three people have admitted being involved in an arson attack at the offices of a Persian media organisation in north-west London.

On 15 April, police were called to the offices of Volant Media in Park Royal, the parent company of Persian news channel Iran International, after an “ignited container” was thrown towards the site.

Appearing at the Old Bailey, Nathan Dunn, 19, pleaded guilty to arson being “reckless as to whether life is endangered”, while a 17-year-old boy denied that same charge but admitted the lesser alternative offence of arson. This was not accepted by the prosecution, and he will stand trial on 1 February 2027.

Oisin McGuinness, 21, previously pleaded guilty to arson.

He also admitted dangerous driving and possession of the Class A drug cocaine, with those pleas being accepted by the court.

No-one was injured in the attack, with the fire immediately going out after the container landed in a car park.

McGuinness and Dunn, both from Watford, Hertfordshire, were remanded in custody.

The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was remanded into local authority care.

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An investigation is ongoing

A car crashed into a wall near a shop before the driver made off. The incident happened just before midnight on Tuesday at Bryn Carwyn, Dowlais.

Councillor Dean Barrett for the Pant and Dowlais ward of Merthyr Tydfil shared a picture of the aftermath of the crash. The picture shows a wall near the Londis shop badly damaged and crumbling.

Cllr Barrett told WalesOnline he is amazed at how the incident happened. He said: “How it happened amazes us to be honest because they must have been coming up there at some speed to cause that much damage. There’s not even a long length of road leading up to it. And then they’ve abandoned the car.”

Cllr Barrett said the police tape was still in situ as of Friday morning. Always keep on top of the latest Welsh news with our newsletter

A spokesman for South Wales Police said: “South Wales Police was called at 11:50pm on Tuesday, August 18 to a car having driven into a wall on Bryn Carwyn in Dowlais.

“The driver of the car had fled the scene before officers arrived. Investigations into the incident are ongoing.”

EXCLUSIVE: The daughter of a terminal cancer patient has revealed her mum’s heartbreaking final diaries after a catastrophic NHS error left her crying in pain for five days

In the final months of her life, 67-year-old Tracy Cliff wrote candidly about her determination to squeeze every drop of joy out of her remaining time – amidst her despair at leaving her daughters behind.

Following a rectal cancer diagnosis, Tracy underwent surgery at Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital in March 2022 to fit a colostomy bag. But surgeons mistakenly stapled the wrong end of her bowel closed, causing a complete obstruction that went undetected for five days.

Writing in her diary during her final months, Tracy, a mother-of-three from Tiverton, Devon, channeled her inner strength, alongside admitting her deepest fears: “I’m dying, and as I can’t change that, I am going to have as much fun as possible doing it!”

In another entry, she confessed: “I am getting more and more anxious as each day goes by. I don’t want to leave this world; I don’t want to leave my girls.”

The error left Tracy in excruciating pain and forced her to undergo a second major operation, later described by expert evidence as “entirely avoidable”.

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Her recovery was further blighted by hospital-acquired pneumonia, a nasogastric tube and further tests. She died from terminal rectal cancer 16 months later, on 18 July 2023 – her 67th birthday.

Her daughter, Jade Farrow, pursued a successful legal claim following her mum’s death. Recalling the horrific aftermath of the initial surgery, Jade told the Daily Mirror: “What upset me the most was how long she was left in pain before they identified what had happened.

“I had her calling me in tears because she was in so much pain, but I read her notes and they recorded her at pain level two. That just didn’t match what I was hearing from her.

“I’m not a medical professional, but the first time I spoke to her I knew something was very wrong. I still struggle to understand how a whole team of medical professionals didn’t.”

The case was recently settled for £10,000 after Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust admitted negligence over the operation, though it disputed that the error affected Tracy’s overall cancer prognosis.

For Jade, however, it’s never been about the money; it was about securing accountability for her caring, quick-witted mum, who kept her “wicked” sense of humour to the end.

Jade said: “She insisted on playing ‘Girl on Fire’ by Alicia Keys for her cremation. It was tasteless as hell and I think she did it to embarrass me, but she insisted on it.”

When December rolled around, knowing it would be her last Christmas, Tracy transformed her home into a grotto, “decorating the hell out of it and burying the Christmas tree in presents.”

Reading her mum’s diaries after death brought fresh waves of heartbreak, as Jade discovered her mum regretted choosing radiotherapy alone over a combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy regime.

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Following the pain she endured caused by the surgical error, an exhausted Tracy felt unable to cope with the added side effects of chemotherapy. By the time she sought to change her mind, she had already received her maximum lifetime dose of radiotherapy.

“I read the diary the same night she died, when I came home from the hospice,” Jade said. “It absolutely broke my heart that she regretted it. She had previously believed there was only a 5% chance with combined treatment. I only found out through the legal case that it was 60%.”

Jade says fighting the negligence claim took a heavy toll, describing the three years since her mum’s death as “an emotional power cut.”

She said: “It won’t ever get easier, but I’m slowly getting myself back. I wasn’t depressed, it was more like I was just absent. There was nothing going on. I was just roleplaying my life. “

“You [end up] thinking: ‘Okay, this is me now. My life is essentially over, because I’m dead inside.’”

But her mum’s entries gave her the emotional strength to carry on, said Jade: “Over and over again, she was writing about ‘My girls, I’m so proud of my girls’ and saying how much she would see us and how grateful she was.

“If the only thing she’s sad about is having left her girls, it just proves she wasn’t not self-pitying.”

One entry said: “I have all I want and need, I see my girls loads and I’m mostly happy and in a fantastic, upbeat mood. I think I will go smiling.”

Amina Ali, Partner and Head of Clinical Negligence at Veritas Solicitors, said: “By the time Tracy’s surgical error was identified, five days had passed and she needed another major operation which expert evidence found was entirely avoidable. For someone already facing treatment for terminal cancer, that was an enormous amount to go through.

“Tracy still had major decisions to make about her cancer treatment after leaving hospital. Jade has always believed that what her mum went through played a part in the choices she made afterwards. Although the Trust did not accept that, it was an important part of the case and something we felt needed to be properly investigated.

“The admission of negligence answered one part of the case, but Jade still wanted to understand why the error wasn’t identified for five days and what followed from it. A settlement brings the legal case to an end, but it shouldn’t mean those questions are forgotten.”

Since the case was settled, Jade feels like she can finally move on with her life. “I’ve spent three years unrecognisable to my friends and I think that’s because there wasn’t any closure”

A spokesperson for the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: “The legal claim in this case has been settled, and an admission of sub-standard care was made, and an apology provided, as part of the Trust’s response to the allegations.

“We recognise that on this occasion our care was not as expected, and we are very sorry for the distress that this caused Ms Cliff and her family.”

Football hooligans Mackenzie Graham and John Smith were caught on camera during the shameful scenes which erupted after Celtic’s Scottish Cup win in March.

Two Rangers thugs have been banned from every football stadium in the UK for their part in the shameful disorder which marred the Scottish Cup Old Firm clash at Ibrox.

Mackenzie Graham and John Smith were separately caught on camera during the chaotic scenes which erupted after Celtic knocked Rangers out of the competition on penalties in March.

Graham, 21, from Glasgow, was filmed jumping over a fence and leading a group of supporters onto the pitch, repeatedly encouraging others to join him.

He can seen in footage wearing all black and leading other Ultras on to the grass, while stewards chase them.

Smith, 19, from Peterhead, was captured throwing a bottle into the Celtic support before he was apprehended by police officers in the stands.

The disorder came as both sets of supporters stormed onto the pitch at the end of the quarter-final, with police, stewards and players assaulted and flares thrown.

Other fans, including children and disabled supporters, had to be ushered to safety during the violence as officers battled to regain control.

The scenes were later described in an independent review as involving a period of “life-threatening violence”, with concerns raised that somebody could have been killed.

Police Scotland has so far made more than 37 arrests in connection with the disorder under Operation Moonglint.

Both men admitted the charges against them previously at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

Graham and Smith have now both been handed five-year Football Banning Orders, preventing them from entering any football ground in the UK or travelling to matches to support a team.

Graham was also given a two-year Community Payback Order along with an Electronic Monitoring Order, while Smith was sentenced to a 12-month Community Payback Order and a four-month Restriction of Liberty Order.

Fraser Gibson, Procurator Fiscal for Glasgow and Strathkelvin, said: “The behaviour of these two men contributed to mayhem at a major sporting event.

“It caused fear and distress amongst football fans and members of the public.

“Peaceful supporters, children and disabled people were caught up in the chaos and had to be shepherded to safety.

“Football-related crime is a blight on Scotland’s communities. It will not be tolerated.

“It should be understood that anyone who chooses to contribute to football-related disorder can expect to be held accountable by COPFS, Police Scotland and the courts.”

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A new study challenges the conception that “every move counts” for brain health after researchers found that the context of physical activity makes a difference in lowering the risk of dementia.

The new USC research suggests that it’s not just the amount of physical activity but also whether it’s for work or leisure.

A meta-analysis of more than 4.2 million people revealed that recreational exercise—such as walking, cycling, running, swimming, or playing sports—is linked to a substantially lower risk of dementia. Physical activity performed as part of employment appears to be associated with a higher risk of developing the condition.

Published in The Lancet Public Health, the findings are the first to systematically investigate whether the so-called “physical activity paradox” applies to dementia. The paradox, previously documented in cardiovascular research, describes the unexpected observation that physically demanding jobs fail to deliver the same health benefits as voluntary exercise and may even heighten disease risk.

“The findings challenge the long-held assumption that ‘every move counts’ for brain health,” said Natan Feter, the study’s first author, postdoctoral fellow in Raichlen’s Evolutionary Biology of Physical Activity Lab at USC and researcher in the Graduate Program of Epidemiology at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

The research team was led by David Raichlen, professor of biological sciences and anthropology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Investigators analyzed data from 74 cohort and case-control studies involving more than 4.2 million participants aged 45 to 93 years across 30 countries. Participants were monitored for a median of 10 years, during which researchers tracked diagnoses of all-cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.

Overall, individuals engaging in higher levels of leisure-time physical activity had a 24% lower risk of dementia compared with the least active participants. Household physical activity also showed potential benefits, though evidence was limited to a single study. In contrast, occupational physical activity was linked to a 20% higher dementia risk, while active commuting was associated with a modest increase in risk based on two studies.

Researchers explained that leisure exercise is typically self-directed, set at an enjoyable intensity, and often paired with social interaction or stress reduction. In contrast, physically demanding jobs frequently involve repetitive tasks, prolonged standing, heavy lifting, restricted recovery time, and exposure to workplace hazards.

The authors suggest that the negative health impacts tied to occupational activity are unlikely to stem from physical movement itself. Instead, they may stem from the broader social and environmental conditions that often accompany manual labor.

“Improving access to safe parks, walking trails and recreational facilities, ensuring people have adequate leisure time for exercise, and reducing harmful workplace exposures may ultimately prove as important as promoting physical activity itself,” Raichlen said.

With reporting by City News Service