Image copyright PA

Grades for cancelled GCSEs and A-level exams in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will now be published on their original planned results days.

Grades are going to be decided by teachers' assessments - with an initial suggestion that results could be issued earlier than usual this year.

But A-level results will be published on 13 August and GCSEs on 20 August.

England's School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said it would give pupils some "reassurance and clarity".

In Wales, Minister for Education Kirsty Williams, said the confirmation of dates would allow students "to make future plans with a little more confidence, although I recognise this continues to be a time of great uncertainty".

After schools were closed by the coronavirus, exams due to be taken this summer were cancelled.

As a replacement, exam boards are gathering assessments from teachers about what they expected pupils to achieve and these predictions will be moderated so the overall national results and shares of grades are in line with previous years.

Teachers' predictions will be based on an overall professional judgement, using the evidence of previous exams, coursework, essays, homework and mock exams.

For those pupils in England who think they would have done better in an exam, there is the promise of another exam that can be taken in the autumn.

But for A-level students planning to use their results to go to university, or deciding whether to defer a year, it is still uncertain whether university campuses will reopen in the autumn or will be teaching online.