d&t coursework

9705 D&T coursework examples

Topic outline.

A range of coursework submissions (for both components) for this Syllabus have been included here along with a breakdown of the marks awarded, and a moderator commentary explaining how the marks were decided. You should always refer to the syllabus for specific details about the requirements for and assessment of coursework. Additionally, the Cambridge Handbook sets out the process and requirements for submitting coursework for moderation by Cambridge International.

• Select activity Component 2 Component 2
• Select activity Component 4 Component 4

Programmes & Qualifications

Cambridge igcse design & technology (0445).

• Syllabus overview

The Cambridge IGCSE Design and Technology syllabus enables learners to identify, consider and solve problems through creative thinking, planning and design, and by working with different media, materials and tools. As a result, learners gain greater technical and design awareness, while developing skills such as initiative, resourcefulness, enquiry and ingenuity. They also develop the communication skills central to design making and evaluation.

Cambridge IGCSE Design and Technology provides an ideal basis for further study, and prepares learners for their future within a rapidly changing technological society.

The syllabus year refers to the year in which the examination will be taken.

• -->2023 Electrical and electronic symbols list (PDF, 447KB)
• -->2023 Syllabus Update (PDF, 166KB)
• -->2024-2026 Syllabus Update (PDF, 167KB)

Syllabus support

• -->Support for Design & Technology (PDF, 891KB)

Important notices

Please note that if you make an entry for the A*-G grading scale, it is not then possible to switch to the 9-1 grading scale once the entries deadline has passed. If you find that you have accidentally made an entry for the A*-G syllabus, you must withdraw and re-enter before the entries deadline.

For some subjects, we publish grade descriptions to help understand the level of performance candidates’ grades represent.

We paused the publication of grade descriptions in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the temporary changes to the awarding standard in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

As the awarding standard has now returned to the pre-pandemic standard, we are working to produce up-to-date grade descriptions for most of our general qualifications. These will be based on the awarding standards in place from June 2023 onwards.

School Support Hub

Teachers at registered Cambridge schools can unlock over 30 000 teaching and learning resources to help plan and deliver Cambridge programmes and qualifications, including Schemes of work, Example candidate responses, Past papers, Specimen paper answers, as well as digital and multimedia resources.

Schemes of work

Example responses, past papers, specimen paper answers.

Register your interest in becoming a Cambridge School

Stay up to date

Sign up for updates about changes to the syllabuses you teach

• Past papers, examiner reports and specimen papers
• Published resources

D&T Association E-Learning

Welcome to the d&t association e-learning site.

Please explore our range of digital CPD opportunities

Our D&T E-Learning courses

View our current online CPD courses for D&T

How to implement Electrical systems and Electronics in the primary D&T curriculum

This course aims to provide D&T teachers with inspiration and practical advice to implement Electrical systems and Electronics into their primary D&T curriculum. Improve your confidence and knowledge in this area of D&T.

Prototyping Bundle

Two great prototyping courses to help upskill you and your students. Learning tips, tricks and techniques along with briefs for your students to access, this course bundle represents great value.

Masterclass - Jude Pullen

This 'Prototyping' Masterclass with Jude Pullen is designed to support D&T teachers with with hands-on skills and knowledge of how, when and why to use prototyping in design and technology, and the importance of protytyping and model-making.

Masterclass - Seymourpowell

This 'Sketching & Rendering in Concept Design' masterclass, takes D&T teachers through the process of concept design at Seymourpowell. With a focus on sketching and rendering you will see how they present ideas from paper to digital to show clients.

Embedding sustainable practice in design and technology

Sustainability should be a fundamental aspect of any D&T curriculum. This course provides a number of practical applications of how to not only incorporate sustainability into your curriculum, but how to embed it and make it core to your approach.

How to implement Structures in the primary D&T curriculum

This course aims to provide D&T teachers with inspiration and practical advice to implement Structures into their primary D&T curriculum. With videos and downloadable resources to help, improve your confidence and knowledge in this area of D&T.

Flexible Learning

Develop and upskill at a time that suits you.

We recognise that whilst training is important, it's not always easy to fit it in within your busy teaching day, or indeed to get time away from your class. Our D&T E-Learning is CPD where you want, at a time that suits you. Improve your skills, confidence and understanding to help you develop design and technology in your school.

You have 6 months from purchasing the course to sign in and complete it. Once you have signed up to a course, you can dip in and out of it at times to suit you, saving your progress as you advance. Resources can be downloaded and used indefinitely.

Yes. Everyone that successfully completes the courses will receive a certificate and digital badge issued by Credential.net

Yes! We are working hard to make sure we have a range of courses to meet all your needs. These may take a little time, but they are coming soon! If there are any areas you would like covered, please get in touch.

DT House - DT Made Easy

dt-house.org

DT Resources Trusted by Top Students Around the World

Now free for all students. login to access all resources, trusted by students world wide 🌍, your guide to a*.

- Developed by  Top in Hong Kong DT graduate -

Full mark DT Coursework Sample

A* exemplar coursework shows you exactly what to write and what structure to follow to hit all the top brands in the mark scheme to score full mark.

"How to ACE Paper 1" Video Course

This short video course will teach you how to prepare practically all your answers to the paper before seeing the question by revealing the hidden patterns and fixed mark scheme responses. All comes with summary notes!

Resistant Material Revision Notes

Most comprehensive revision notes that concisely summarise all the key concepts you need to know in the IGCSE DT syllabus. And don't forget to test yourself with Quizlets!

3 Full Paper 1 Solutions

Learn from A* full mark sample answers that you can 'copy & paste' into your final example. This comes with walkthrough videos.

Personalised Coursework Guidance Session

Want to score top in-country and perfect your coursework? Jolyn's students has scored 100% and top in their school for their coursework. Email [email protected] , wechat: jolyny or Whatsapp +852 5528 4872 for trial lessons.

Sonia K. 🇲🇾

In our first session, Jolyn told me that my coursework was hardly meeting any requirements of the assessment. But she helped me stay optimistic and motivated. With her help, I managed to completely rework my coursework under short deadlines and got an A.

A - N2020 - Taylor's International School Puchong

Senny F. 🇭🇰

Jolyn is very professional and knowledgeable about the coursework criteria. She can always quickly pin point my weakness for further improvement. Without her amazing support, I would not have achieved my A*.

A* - M2021 - Yew Chung International School of Hong Kong

Prady S. 🇸🇦

After series of feedback sessions with Jolyn, I was able to finalise my coursework and score a perfect 100%.

I am grateful for the detailed and personalised suggestions. Not to mention to phenomenal website.

A* - M2021 - Saudi Arabia

Meet your Tutor!

Jolyn is passionate about design and technology. She is involved in many cool venture projects from pitching apps, planning TEDx events to directing promotional videos.

She is an accomplished tutor with insider knowledge on the subject. She is the recipient of 'Outstanding Cambridge Learner award, Top in Hong Kong for IGCSE Design and Technology" in June 2019.

Top in Hong Kong for IGCSE DT Performance

Years of expertise in igcse dt, hours of tutoring experience, book an 1 on 1 lesson with her now.

Personalised tutoring session to Boost your grade to an A*

Check out our resources!

Resistant material a* notes.

The most comprehensive & updated revision note.

100% Coursework Sample

Full Mark A* sample to model your coursework after.

How to Ace Paper 1 video course

Watch & learn the unspoken tricks of A* students.

See what makes a

Paper 1 A* Sample solutions

Questions/tutor ing whatsapp: +852 9718 4910 i nstagram: dt_house_tutoring wechat: jolyny email: [email protected].

• International
• Education Jobs
• Schools directory
• Resources Education Jobs Schools directory News Search

Cambridge IGCSE D&T exemplar folder

Subject: Design, engineering and technology

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Unit of work

Last updated

6 December 2020

• Share through email
• Share through twitter
• Share through linkedin
• Share through facebook
• Share through pinterest

This is my own take on what I believe an A* folder could look like for the new Cambridge IGCSE in Design and Technology. Supplied as both self-running Powerpoint Show and printable PDF file, there are around 40 slides in the folder each with a commentary, summary and checklist at the end of each component as well as extra slides at the end to support the process. In total there are now over 70 slides here but the extra slides are for the benefit of the teacher, or to explain and justify the marks awarded.

There is evidence in the folder of SketchUp, Solidworks, Photoshop and the use of CNC equipment and 3D printing. It is not endorsed by any examination board but can inspire you in your approach to teaching the IGCSE in your school to a very high standard.

I worked as an examiner and moderator for the AQA for 20 years with 27 years D&T teaching and leadership experience where many students achieved 100% for their coursework. This is based on that experience and a culmination of assessing thousands of folders coupled with industry design experience. Additionally, I have consulted for DATA, TES, V&A, Routledge, PGOnline, Doddle and the BBC.

Tes paid licence How can I reuse this?

Get this resource as part of a bundle and save up to 36%

A bundle is a package of resources grouped together to teach a particular topic, or a series of lessons, in one place.

Cambridge IGCSE D&T complete teacher toolkit

This is a bundle of all the IGCSE resources for Design and Technology Resistant Materials. It contains all the theory presentations and associated trackers, exemplar folder and student guide. Some additional lessons and supporting materials are also included. This provides you with all you need to teach, assess and track the theory content and support the practical component for the course and the written examinations.

Cambridge IGCSE Design and Technology toolkit

This bundle consists of all you need to support the teaching of the IGCSE in Design and Technology with a focus on resistant materials/product design: An comprehensive A* level exemplar folder with over 30 extra sheets of supporting information and graphics A 36 page illustrated student guide Detailed tracking and assessment spreadsheets for the 9-1 and A-E syllabus.

Your rating is required to reflect your happiness.

It's good to leave some feedback.

Something went wrong, please try again later.

This resource hasn't been reviewed yet

To ensure quality for our reviews, only customers who have purchased this resource can review it

Report this resource to let us know if it violates our terms and conditions. Our customer service team will review your report and will be in touch.

Not quite what you were looking for? Search by keyword to find the right resource:

Training and Events

Book one of the many events: refresher courses, legislation updates, networking meetings and CPD training to build on your existing knowledge.

Primary D&T Workshop Collection

Understanding the design cycle for primary d&t, masterclass with seymourpowell - sketching and rendering in concept design, implementing computer aided design (cad) in primary d&t, embedding sustainable practice in design and technology, teaching electronics in ks3 d&t, units not projects - a learning-first approach to d&t, writing a scheme of learning in d&t: putting pedagogy first, promoting d&t in the school and wider community, secondary d&t workshop collection, modelmaking, prototyping and conceptual models training bundle, delivering d&t through various methods (no more chalk and talk), how to implement structures in the primary d&t curriculum, (re)introducing d&t to your primary curriculum., why and how to use e-portfolios in d&t, how to implement electrical systems and electronics in the primary d&t curriculum, prototyping and conceptual models for ks3 & ks4, surviving your ect years, how to implement mechanisms in the primary d&t curriculum, masterclass with jude pullen - prototyping.

• Omsk, Omsk Oblast /
• Fast food restaurants

Best fast food restaurants in Omsk

• Current location
• Point on map

Attacks on Walz’s Military Record

By Robert Farley , D'Angelo Gore and Eugene Kiely

Posted on August 8, 2024 | Updated on August 12, 2024 | Corrected on August 9, 2024

Este artículo estará disponible en español en El Tiempo Latino .

In introducing her pick for vice presidential running mate, Kamala Harris has prominently touted Tim Walz’s 24 years of service in the Army National Guard. Now, however, GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance and the Trump campaign are attacking Walz on his military record, accusing the Minnesota governor of “stolen valor.”

We’ll sort through the facts surrounding the three main attacks on Walz’s military record and let readers decide their merit. The claims include:

• Vance claimed that Walz “dropped out” of the National Guard when he learned his battalion was slated to be deployed to Iraq. Walz retired to focus on a run for Congress two months before his unit got official word of impending deployment, though the possibility had been rumored for months.
• Vance also accused Walz of having once claimed to have served in combat, when he did not. While advocating a ban on assault-style weapons, Walz said, “We can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.” Update, Aug. 12: The Harris campaign says that Walz “misspoke.”
• The Republican National Committee has criticized Walz for misrepresenting his military rank in campaign materials. The Harris campaign website salutes Walz for “rising to the rank of Command Sergeant Major.” Walz did rise to that rank, but he retired as a master sergeant because he had not completed the requirements of a command sergeant major.

A native of West Point, Nebraska, Walz joined the Nebraska Army National Guard in April 1981, two days after his 17th birthday. When Walz and his wife moved to Minnesota in 1996, he transferred to the Minnesota National Guard, where he served in 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery.

“While serving in Minnesota, his military occupational specialties were 13B – a cannon crewmember who operates and maintains cannons and 13Z -field artillery senior sergeant,” according to a statement released by Army Lt. Col. Kristen Augé, the Minnesota National Guard’s state public affairs officer.

According to MPR News , Walz suffered some hearing impairment related to exposure to cannon booms during training over the years, and he underwent some corrective surgery to address it.

On Aug. 3, 2003, “Walz mobilized with the Minnesota National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery … to support Operation Enduring Freedom. The battalion supported security missions at various locations in Europe and Turkey. Governor Walz was stationed at Vicenza, Italy, during his deployment,” Augé stated. The deployment lasted about eight months.

“For 24 years I proudly wore the uniform of this nation,” Walz said at a rally in Philadelphia where he was announced as Harris’ running mate on Aug. 6. “The National Guard gave me purpose. It gave me the strength of a shared commitment to something greater than ourselves.”

Walz’s Retirement from the National Guard

In recent years, however, several of his fellow guard members have taken issue with the timing of Walz’s retirement from the National Guard in May 2005, claiming he left to avoid a deployment to Iraq.

Vance, who served a four-year active duty enlistment in the Marine Corps as a combat correspondent, serving in Iraq for six months in 2005, advanced that argument at a campaign event on Aug. 7.

“When the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it,” Vance said. “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him, a fact that he’s been criticized for aggressively by a lot of the people that he served with. I think it’s shameful to prepare your unit to go to Iraq, to make a promise that you’re going to follow through and then to drop out right before you actually have to go.”

In early 2005, Walz, then a high school geography teacher and football coach at Mankato West High School, decided to run for public office. In a 2009 interview Walz provided as part of the Library of Congress’ veterans oral history project, Walz said he made the decision to retire from the National Guard to “focus full time” on a run for the U.S. House of Representatives for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District (which he ultimately won in 2006). Walz said he was “really concerned” about trying to seek public office and serve in the National Guard at the same time without running afoul of the Hatch Act , which limits political speech by federal employees, including members of the National Guard.

Federal Election Commission records show that Walz filed to run for Congress on Feb. 10, 2005.

On March 20, 2005, Walz’s campaign put out a press release titled “Walz Still Planning to Run for Congress Despite Possible Call to Duty in Iraq.”

Three days prior, the release said, “the National Guard Public Affairs Office announced a possible partial mobilization of roughly 2,000 troops from the Minnesota National Guard. … The announcement from the National Guard PAO specified that all or a portion of Walz’s battalion could be mobilized to serve in Iraq within the next two years.”

According to the release, “When asked about his possible deployment to Iraq Walz said, ‘I do not yet know if my artillery unit will be part of this mobilization and I am unable to comment further on specifics of the deployment.’ Although his tour of duty in Iraq might coincide with his campaign for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional seat, Walz is determined to stay in the race. ‘As Command Sergeant Major I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on. I am dedicated to serving my country to the best of my ability, whether that is in Washington DC or in Iraq.'”

On March 23, 2005, the Pipestone County Star reported, “Detachments of the Minnesota National Guard have been ‘alerted’ of possible deployment to Iraq in mid-to-late 2006.”

“Major Kevin Olson of the Minnesota National Guard said a brigade-sized contingent of soldiers could be expected to be called to Iraq, but he was not, at this time, aware of which batteries would be called,” the story said. “All soldiers in the First Brigade combat team of the 34th Division, Minnesota National Guard, could be eligible for call-up. ‘We don’t know yet what the force is like’ he said. ‘It’s too early to speculate, if the (soldiers) do go.’

“He added: ‘We will have a major announcement if and when the alert order moves ahead.’”

ABC News spoke to Joseph Eustice, a retired command sergeant major who served with Walz, and he told the news organization this week that “he remembers Walz struggling with the timing of wanting to serve as a lawmaker but also avoiding asking for a deferment so he could do so.”

“He had a window of time,” Eustice told ABC News. “He had to decide. And in his deciding, we were not on notice to be deployed. There were rumors. There were lots of rumors, and we didn’t know where we were going until it was later that, early summer, I believe.”

Al Bonnifield, who served under Walz, also recalled Walz agonizing over the decision.

“It was a very long conversation behind closed doors,” Bonnifield told the Washington Post this week. “He was trying to decide where he could do better for soldiers, for veterans, for the country. He weighed that for a long time.”

In 2018, Bonnifield told MPR News that Walz worried in early 2005, “Would the soldier look down on him because he didn’t go with us? Would the common soldier say, ‘Hey, he didn’t go with us, he’s trying to skip out on a deployment?’ And he wasn’t. He talked with us for quite a while on that subject. He weighed that decision to run for Congress very heavy. He loved the military, he loved the guard, he loved the soldiers he worked with.”

But not all of Walz’s fellow Guard members felt that way.

In a paid letter to the West Central Tribune in Minnesota in November 2018, Thomas Behrends and Paul Herr — both retired command sergeants major in the Minnesota National Guard — wrote, “On May 16th, 2005 he [Walz] quit, leaving the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion and its Soldiers hanging; without its senior Non-Commissioned Officer, as the battalion prepared for war. His excuse to other leaders was that he needed to retire in order to run for congress. Which is false, according to a Department of Defense Directive, he could have run and requested permission from the Secretary of Defense before entering active duty; as many reservists have.”

“For Tim Walz to abandon his fellow soldiers and quit when they needed experienced leadership most is disheartening,” they wrote. “When the nation called, he quit.”

Walz retired on May 16, 2005. Walz’s brigade received alert orders for mobilization on July 14, 2005, according to the National Guard and MPR News . The official mobilization report came the following month, and the unit mobilized and trained through the fall. It was finally deployed to Iraq in the spring of 2006.

The unit was originally scheduled to return in February 2007, but its tour was extended four months as part of President George W. Bush’s “surge” strategy , the National Guard reported. In all, the soldiers were mobilized for 22 months.

Responding to Vance’s claim that Walz retired to avoid deploying to Iraq, the Harris-Walz campaign released a statement saying, “After 24 years of military service, Governor Walz retired in 2005 and ran for Congress, where he was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform – and as Vice President of the United States he will continue to be a relentless champion for our veterans and military families.”

Walz on Carrying a Weapon ‘in War’

Vance also called Walz “dishonest” for a claim that Walz made in 2018 while speaking to a group about gun control.

“He made this interesting comment that the Kamala Harris campaign put out there,” Vance said, referring to a video of Walz that the Harris campaign posted to X on Aug. 6. “He said, ‘We shouldn’t allow weapons that I used in war to be on America’s streets.’ Well, I wonder, Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? What was this weapon that you carried into war given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq and he has not spent a day in a combat zone.”

In the video , Walz, who was campaigning for governor at the time, talked about pushing back on the National Rifle Association and said: “I spent 25 years in the Army and I hunt. … I’ve been voting for common sense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks. We can do [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] research. We can make sure we don’t have reciprocal carry among states. And we can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.”

But, as Vance indicated, there is no evidence that Walz carried a weapon “in war.”

Update, Aug. 12: In an Aug. 10 statement to CNN, the Harris campaign told CNN that Walz “misspoke.”

“In making the case for why weapons of war should never be on our streets or in our classrooms, the Governor misspoke,” campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in the statement. “He did handle weapons of war and believes strongly that only military members trained to carry those deadly weapons should have access to them.”

As we said, Augé, in her statement, said Walz’s battalion deployed “to support Operation Enduring Freedom” on Aug. 3, 2003, and “supported security missions at various locations in Europe and Turkey.” During his deployment, Walz was stationed in Vicenza, Italy, and he returned to Minnesota in April 2004, Augé said. There was no mention of Walz serving in Afghanistan, Iraq or another combat zone.

In the 2009 interview for the veterans history project, Walz said he and members of his battalion initially thought they would “shoot artillery in Afghanistan,” as they had trained to do. That didn’t happen, he said, explaining that his group ended up helping with security and training while stationed at an Army base in Vicenza.

“I think in the beginning, many of my troops were disappointed,” Walz said in the interview. “I think they felt a little guilty, many of them, that they weren’t in the fight up front as this was happening.”

In an Aug. 8 statement addressing his claim about carrying weapons “in war,” the Harris campaign noted that Walz, whose military occupational specialties included field artillery senior sergeant, “fired and trained others to use weapons of war innumerable times” in his 24 years of service.

Walz’s National Guard Rank

The Republican National Committee has criticized Walz for saying “in campaign materials that he is a former ‘Command Sergeant Major’ in the Army National Guard despite not completing the requirements to hold the rank into retirement.”

Walz’s biography on the Harris campaign website correctly says that the governor “served for 24 years” in the National Guard, “rising to the rank of Command Sergeant Major.” 

Walz’s official biography on the Minnesota state website goes further, referring to the governor as “Command Sergeant Major Walz.”

“After 24 years in the Army National Guard, Command Sergeant Major Walz retired from the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion in 2005,” the state website says. 

Walz did serve as command sergeant major , but Walz did not complete the requirements to retire with the rank of command sergeant, Augé told us in an email. 

“He held multiple positions within field artillery such as firing battery chief, operations sergeant, first sergeant, and culminated his career serving as the command sergeant major for the battalion,” Augé said. “He retired as a master sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy.”

This isn’t the first time that Walz’s National Guard rank has come up in a campaign. 

In their 2018 paid letter to the West Central Tribune, when Walz was running for governor, the two Minnesota National Guard retired command sergeants major who criticized Walz for retiring before the Iraq deployment also wrote: “Yes, he served at that rank, but was never qualified at that rank, and will receive retirement benefits at one rank below. You be the judge.”

Correction, Aug. 9: We mistakenly said a 2007 “surge” strategy in Iraq occurred under President Barack Obama. It was President George W. Bush.

Editor’s note: In the interest of full disclosure, Harris campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt was an undergraduate intern at FactCheck.org from 2010 to 2011.

Editor’s note: FactCheck.org does not accept advertising. We rely on grants and individual donations from people like you. Please consider a donation. Credit card donations may be made through  our “Donate” page . If you prefer to give by check, send to: FactCheck.org, Annenberg Public Policy Center, 202 S. 36th St., Philadelphia, PA 19104. 

Category : en:Cities in Omsk Oblast

• Fundamental
•  » All languages
•  » English
•  » All topics
•  » Names
•  » Places
•  » Polities
•  » Cities
•  » Cities in Russia
•  » Cities in Omsk Oblast

English names of cities in Omsk Oblast, a federal subject ( oblast ) of Russia .

NOTE : This is a name category. It should contain names of specific cities in Omsk Oblast, not merely terms related to cities in Omsk Oblast, and should also not contain general terms for types of cities in Omsk Oblast.

Pages in category "en:Cities in Omsk Oblast"

This category contains only the following page.

• en:Cities in Russia
• en:Omsk Oblast
• en:Places in Omsk Oblast
• en:List of name categories
• Cities in Omsk Oblast
• Pages using DynamicPageList

Navigation menu

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Shopping
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Delegate Tracker
• AP & Elections
• 2024 Paris Olympic Games
• Auto Racing
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

Here’s a look at questions about Tim Walz’s military record

Walz’s military record under scrutiny as Vance, GOP question his service

FILE - Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, is pictured at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Aug. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

• Copy Link copied

CINCINNATI (AP) — Republicans are questioning Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s military record after Vice President Kamala Harris named him as her running mate this week.

Here’s a look at the issue:

He retired before his unit’s deployment to Iraq

Walz served a total of 24 years in various units and jobs in the Army National Guard. But it’s his retirement in 2005 that’s prompting criticism from some Republicans who are suggesting he abandoned his team to pursue a campaign for Congress.

As he ramped up for a congressional bid in 2005, Walz’s campaign in March issued a statement saying he still planned to run despite a possible mobilization of Minnesota National Guard soldiers to Iraq. According to the Guard, Walz retired from service in May of that year.

In August 2005, the Department of the Army issued a mobilization order for Walz’s unit. The unit mobilized in October of that year before it deployed to Iraq in March 2006 .

There is no evidence that Walz timed his departure with the intent of avoiding deployment. But the fact remains that he left ahead of his unit’s departure. In a statement, the Harris campaign pushed back on GOP characterizations of Walz’s service, and also noted that he advocated for veterans once he was elected to the U.S. House.

“After 24 years of military service, Governor Walz retired in 2005 and ran for Congress, where he chaired Veterans Affairs and was a tireless advocate for our men and women in uniform — and as Vice President of the United States he will continue to be a relentless champion for our veterans and military families,” the campaign said.

Before leaving Detroit, where she and Walz played up their support for organized labor , Harris on Thursday responded to a question about the criticism of her running mate’s record.

“Listen, I praise anyone who has presented themselves to serve our country,” she said. “And I think that we all should.”

Walz didn’t serve in a combat zone

Earlier this week Harris’ campaign circulated on X a 2018 clip of Walz speaking out against gun violence, and saying, “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.” That comment suggests that Walz portrayed himself as someone who spent time in a combat zone.

According to the Nebraska Army National Guard, Walz enlisted in April 1981 — just two days after his 17th birthday — and entered service as an infantryman, completing a 12-week Army infantry basic training course before graduating from high school.

While attending the University of Houston in 1985, he was reclassified as a field artillery cannoneer as a member of the Texas Army National Guard, later serving as an instructor with the Arkansas Army National Guard.

In 1987, Walz returned to Nebraska’s Guard detachment, continuing field artillery assignments while he completed a college degree. By 1996, he transferred to the Minnesota Army National Guard. In 2003, he deployed to Italy in a support position of active military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he was not in a combat zone himself.

“Do not pretend to be something that you’re not,” Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said Wednesday as he campaigned in Michigan. “I’d be ashamed if I was saying that I lied about my military service like you did.”

Vance enlisted in the Marine Corps after graduating high school, serving four years as a combat correspondent, a type of military journalist, and deploying to Iraq in that capacity in 2005.

What to know about the 2024 Election

• Today’s news: Follow live updates from the campaign trail from the AP.
• Ground Game: Sign up for AP’s weekly politics newsletter to get it in your inbox every Monday.
• AP’s Role: The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Learn more.

Neither Trump nor Harris has served in the U.S. military. Trump received a series of deferments during Vietnam, including one attained with a physician’s letter stating that he suffered from bone spurs in his feet.

The Harris campaign statement said Walz “would never insult or undermine any American’s service to this country” and “thanks Senator Vance for putting his life on the line for our country. It’s the American way.”

What about his rank?

Harris’ campaign has referred to Walz as a “retired Command Sergeant Major,” one of the top ranks for an enlisted soldier. He did in fact achieve that rank, but personnel files show he was reduced in rank months after retiring. That left him as a master sergeant for benefits purposes.

Minnesota National Guard officials have said that Walz retired before completing coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, along with other requirements associated with his promotion.

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Trenton Daniel and Richard Lardner contributed to this report.

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

Commentary | Ten suggestions for incoming college freshmen |…

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on X (Opens in new window)

Daily e-Edition

Evening e-Edition

• Endorsements
• Letters to the Editor

Commentary | Ten suggestions for incoming college freshmen | Opinion

1. College isn’t high school. If you managed to finesse your way through high school, staying up to all hours of the wee morning playing video games online, and you think you are going to continue this habit — forget it. You won’t make it. First of all, you need sleep to function in class. And second, the amount of study time required to get a good grade, especially in science technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses, exceeds anything you have attempted previously.

2. College requires sacrifice. Our campus is located in South Florida, a mile from the beach. While I have no problem with a student going to the beach for a few hours on the weekend, the fear of failure must loom larger than whatever it is your friends think is more important in the middle of the week than hitting the books. Learn to tell them “No” early on.

3. College requires time management. My assignments are date-sensitive; they open on a certain date and they close five days later. Once they’re closed that’s it — you’ll get a zero unless you have a valid excuse for missing a deadline.

4. College doesn’t give participation awards. In an era when everyone gets a trophy, sorry — you don’t get an award for simply showing up.

5. STEM courses require solving problems. My college physics teacher had a cartoon on his office door that showed a confused student explaining to his professor that he really understood the material, he just couldn’t do the problems. You cannot learn science by osmosis. Magic happens when the brain, eyes and hands all come together in beautiful synaptic choreography, guiding a pencil across a sheet of paper.

6. Put your cellphone away. When I went to college, there was no internet, no laptops and, of course, no cellphones. If we needed to look up a physical constant, we had the “CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics,” a tome that required two hands and a healthy back to lift. While the improvements in technology and instant access to information are largely positive for students, many are addicted to their cellphones and the instant gratification of likes on social media. If you want to impress your professors while succeeding in your coursework, put your cellphone away — at least during class — and learn how to use it as a study aid.

7. Date your books. Sorry, but as a freshman, you don’t have time to get involved with a boyfriend or a girlfriend let alone the emotional roller coaster that almost always accompanies these relationships. If you are serious about graduating with a degree, especially one in STEM, your love life can wait at least until you are an upperclassman.

8. Do every assignment, even the extra credit. Missed assignments become zeroes. And you never know when a few extra points will come in handy. More often than not, a student with a borderline grade would have been bumped up to the next letter had he or she just completed all of the assignments.

9. Don’t wait until it is too late to ask for additional help. Swallow your pride. College is hard. It is not an admission of intellectual weakness if you need to spend time with a peer tutor or come by the professor’s office for additional help. At Palm Beach Atlantic, we are a small enough university that I can offer generous office hours to reach out to struggling students. Take advantage.

10. Show me that you really care about my class. I go out of my way to help promising students who struggle with the material. However, if you frequently cut my class, blow off assignments and do none of the extra credit, don’t you dare come to my office in April sobbing, “What can I do to pass your class?” My response at that point will be, “Take it over.”

If you want to avoid just squeaking by, here’s your first assignment: Commit these suggestions to memory and put them into practice every day. You will be tested on them frequently throughout your next four years.

Gregory J. Rummo is a lecturer of chemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences at Palm Beach Atlantic University and an adjunct scholar at the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation. He is the author of “The View from the Grass Roots,” “The View from the Grass Roots — Another Look,” and several other volumes in the series.

More in Commentary

Commentary | Python trapper: The annual Python Challenge does more harm than good | Opinion

Commentary | DeSantis veto protects property rights and local decision making | Opinion

Commentary | Our tax code rewards corporate price gouging. Next year, we can change that | Opinion

Commentary | Long live our flag — and long live the Olympic spirit | Opinion

GD&T Fundamentals

10-12 hours, 35+ lessons.

Need to train your whole team? Contact us for your group pricing discount.

Learn More About This Course:

Course description.

GD&T Fundamentals teaches a simple framework that allows students to not only understand how Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing is used, but also why GD&T improves the manufacturing process. The course is focused on practical knowledge and uses real-world examples from our clients as instructional tools. GD&T Fundamentals doesn’t overwhelm students with every GD&T concept – the lessons are curated to teach students only the concepts and terminology necessary to do their jobs better and improve your manufacturing operation.

Course Objectives

By the time you complete this course, you’ll be able to:

• Gain a mental framework and understanding that simplifies 95% of all GD&T  
• Understand the main requirements and terminology of the ASME Y14.5 Standard in terms of plain English 
• Learn all 14 major GD&T symbols and understand how to apply the symbols that are useful and to avoid the ones that aren’t  
• Understand GD&T Feature Control Frames and how they affect manufacturing and inspection 
• Know how Max Material Condition creates bonus tolerance while maintaining a functional part  
• Understand datums and how they are applied on drawings for design, manufacturing, and inspection  
• Understand how Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing is applied on physical parts and real-world drawings  
• Know best practices and have a realistic approach for using GD&T in your job 

You’ll leave this course equipped to read, interpret, and understand GD&T on real engineering drawings—and empowered to work more confidently, communicate more clearly, and produce parts more efficiently.

Who it is for

The GD&T Fundamentals course takes our print reading course to the next step – by showing how Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing is used, interpreted, and applied across a part’s life cycle. This course is designed to be very approachable and geared towards everyone from entry-level to those with intermediate experience. To take this training, you should have some experience in a design, production or inspection environment working with engineering drawings. You should also be able to understand how parts are represented and viewed on a print. No prior GD&T knowledge is required, though! 

Our GD&T Fundamentals course is ideal for:

• Inspectors and Inspection Planners
• Sales and Purchasing Professionals
• Drafters/Designers
• Machinists and Operators
• Tooling Engineers
• Managers and Supervisors
• Production Associates
• And anyone else who works with prints with GD&T

Don’t forget the rest of your crew! Maximize your team’s GD&T proficiency and align the whole production line by training your entire team together. Contact us for group pricing discounts and customized training programs designed around your company’s specific needs.

Requirements (Materials and Classes)

• Print Reading & Tolerancing course is recommended before taking the GD&T Fundamentals, but not required
• No prior GD&T experience needed
• No additional materials to purchase – everything you’ll need is included (see below)

What is Included

• 24/7 access to our online course on any device for 3-12 months, depending on the training program chosen:
• 3-month access with live training
• 6-month access for individuals with online training
• 12-month access for groups with online training
• Direct instructor email support with access to pre-recorded video answers
• Live and pre-recorded webinars offering design, production, and inspection walk-throughs
• Helpful charts, drawing examples, practice exercise worksheets, and other printable handouts
• Quizzes and knowledge checks to gauge progress throughout the course
• Certificate of course completion along with a LinkedIn Skills Endorsement 

Available Formats (Learning Methods)

Learn how to interpret GD&T whenever, wherever, and however is most convenient for you. Our GD&T Fundamentals course is available in the following formats:

• On-Site Training , where an instructor visits your facility to provide customized hands-on training for your team
• Virtual Training , where an instructor provides customized training for your team through live video conferencing
• Online Course , where you access quizzes and videos-on-demand to progress through training at your own pace—either alone or along with your team
• Hybrid Learning , where you combine the self-paced online course with customized consulting to reinforce your print reading competence

Whether you prefer to learn on your own or with a live instructor, in a group, online, or in-person, we can design a training plan tailored to meet your needs.

Download the course syllabus for GD&T Fundamentals  HERE .

Course Pricing

Gd&t fundamentals course.

Individual Course

• Single Course - GD&T Fundamentals
• 6-Month Access to Online Training
• 35+ GD&T Lessons
• Quizzes, Charts, Examples and More
• Access to Bonus Webinars & Materials
• 100% Completion Certificate

Drawing Basics Bundle

*After $100 2-Course Bundle Discount!

• Print Reading + GD&T Fundamentals
• 12-Month Access to Online Training
• 25+ Print Reading Lessons
• 2 Completion Certificates

GD&T Professional Bundle

• GD&T Fundamentals + GD&T Advanced
• 3+ Advanced GD&T Concepts

Engineering Expert Bundle

*After $200 3-Course Bundle Discount!

• Print Reading + GD&T Fundamentals + GD&T Advanced
• 65+ GD&T Lessons
• 3 Completion Certificates

Attention Groups!

Save even more when you enroll your whole team together. Contact us to tailor a group training program that will boost your company’s print reading proficiency.

Testimonials

Why Students Love GD&T Fundamentals

Learning so much. I like your style. The presentations are thorough. The quizzes feel non-threatening and help cement the ideas.

Great intro course. Retaking the final 3 times to pass it really drove home the concepts. Better than the course the Univ at Buffalo teaches for GD&T.

Very step by step instructions, makes understanding GD&T quite accessible for the average person. Was able to understand the information in the format provided quite easily. Previously I had purchased a book on GD&T to get a better understanding of it, the book was not helpful as it would just state something without having explained the foundation of what it meant. Would highly recommend this class.

This course offers a great overview of all the key concepts of GD&T. I teach CNC machining at a technical school and found this course to be an excellent refresher on the topics I had encountered before in the workplace. The course taught me several new things about conditions and cases I had never experienced or considered, and cleared up some common misconceptions I had about GD&T practices. The material is delivered at a level that is accessible to all skill levels, from machinist apprentices to senior design engineers. The course is well formatted, contains excellent graphics and animations, and provides clear explanations for tricky topics. After just a few weeks, the GD&T Basics Fundamentals course can teach you everything you need to know to read and use GD&T in a manufacturing workplace.

Take the Quiz!

Are you a gd&t novice, master, or somewhere in between.

Test your GD&T knowledge with this quiz!

Debby strengthens to Category 1 hurricane, moves closer to Florida's Big Bend: Updates

Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news about Hurricane Debby for Sunday, Aug. 4. For the latest on the storm , view USA TODAY's live updates file for Monday, Aug. 5 .

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. −  Debby  strengthened into a hurricane late Sunday, moving closer to Florida's Big Bend and potentially bringing the threat of life-threatening storm surge  and rain totals that could reach 30 inches in parts of the Southeast by week's end.  show less

Debby, which formed Saturday and became the fourth named storm of the season, strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center announced late Sunday. The storm is located about 100 miles west-northwest of Tampa, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.

The hurricane, fueled by warm waters of the Gulf, was moving northward at about 12 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center said. Hurricane force winds extended up to 45 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 140 miles from the center.

"This potentially historic rainfall may result in areas of catastrophic flooding," Richard Pasch, a senior hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center, wrote in a public advisory that warned of a "life-threatening situation."

Floridians were bracing for the state's first hurricane strike this year in a season that forecasters say could become one of the worst on record . Mandatory evacuations were being ordered ahead of Debby in parts of multiple counties. Leon County, home to Tallahassee, was  opening up six shelters  in schools around the county.

A lack of strong steering currents in the atmosphere means Debby will take a slow, soaking stroll after a Florida landfall through the Southeast, making it a multi-state threat. “After landfall, it’s going to slow to a crawl,”  Michael Brennan, hurricane center director, said Sunday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Sunday that the Florida National Guard and Florida State Guard were activated to support humanitarian assistance and search and rescue missions. He warned that hazards such as strong winds, storm surge and tornadoes can occur before landfall, even outside the forecasted "cone." Sustained winds could reach up to 95 mph, he said

President Joe Biden declared an emergency across Florida, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts for the "purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population."

Developments:

∎ The National Weather Services issued a series of flash flood warnings . Warnings are in effect for Manatee and Western Sarasota counties until 11:30 p.m.; Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas have warnings until 11:15 p.m. 

∎ NWS officials issued a tornado watch for much of Northern Florida and Southeast Georgia Sunday evening. The watch covers an area where nearly 12 million people live and is in effect until 6 a.m. Monday. The Storm Prediction Center shared reports of six tornadoes across Florida by around 11 p.m. Sunday.

∎ Nearly 2,000 flights had been canceled and close to 6,300 were delayed as of 5 p.m. ET, according to flight tracking site  FlightAware . American Airlines and JetBlue saw the highest cancellation numbers among major carriers, both scrapping 17% of their schedules.

∎ Carnival Cruise Line’s  Carnival Elation rescheduled its return to Jacksonville for Sunday, rather than Monday as planned. The ship departed from the Florida city for a Bahamas cruise on Thursday,  according to CruiseMapper .

∎ South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency Sunday afternoon ahead of any potential impact by Debby. He warned that heavy rainfall early in the week could bring flash foods and that residents should begin storm preparations immediately.

∎ The number of power outages reported throughout Florida climbed to over 75,000 by 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, according to USA TODAY's outage tracker . Over 15% of customers in Levy County reported outages.

'Impacts are going to be from water': Debby shows there's more to a storm than wind scale

Debby aims for Florida's Big Bend

The hurricane center forecasts landfall Monday morning in Florida’s Big Bend − where the state's panhandle meets its peninsula − somewhere between the Suwannee River south of Tallahassee and the Ochlockonee River in the Panhandle west of Tallahassee. Debby will make landfall with a maximum sustained winds of 74 to 95 miles per hour, according to AccuWeather Senior Director of Forecasting Operations Dan DePodwin.

Forecasters issued a hurricane warning for the Florida Gulf Coast from Yankeetown to Indian Pass. They issued a tropical storm warning for the area south of Yankeetown to Boca Grande, west of Indian Pass to Mexico Beach; and Ponte Vedra Beach to South Santee River, South Carolina.

The area between the Suwanee and Ochlockonee Rivers could flood with up to 10 feet of water, the hurricane center reported . Accuweather forecasted even greater surges for the Big Bend region of up to 15 feet.

Road closures in Florida due to flooding

Officials across Southwest Florida began reporting roads closed due to flooding Sunday afternoon ahead of Debby’s expected landfall Monday.

Sheriff Carmine Marceno of Lee County deployed the agency's " swamp buggy ," a 5,000-pound vehicle that can move through waters up to four feet deep to pick up people stranded by the storm, according to public information officer Todd Olmer.

Marceno said roads throughout Fort Myers Beach were flooded . 

Sarasota County officials warned that several roads in the area were shut down due to flooding. The North Casey Key Road was closed, leaving residents unable to get on or off the key ; erosion caused by the storm undermined roads leading into Caspersen Beach near the city of Venice; and rocks used for shoreline stabilization were washed onto the Manasota Key Road by flooding that left the area underwater . 

Sandra Tapfumaneyi, chief of the county’s Emergency Management Agency, urged residents to stay home, call 311 for help and, if on the road, " turn around, don’t drown ."

Areas from Sarasota north through Tampa and Tarpon Springs have already seen an impressive 4 to 8 inches of rainfall, the Weather Prediction Center reported . Forecasters expect the rate of rain falling could increase to 2 to 3 inches per hour and add up to 6 more inches of rain to the total, according to the WPC .

Winds around Tampa Bay became so severe that at 10 p.m. the Florida Highway Patrol announced they were closing the Skyway Bridge .

What makes Debby so dangerous?

Debby is big and slow, making the storm particularly dangerous, especially along the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina. The size and increase in the wind speed as Debby gets organized and potentially becomes a hurricane creates a high risk of life-threatening storm surges along the Florida coast early Monday. The surge will be the highest where the storm crosses the coast.

The hurricane center is forecasting that Debby could rapidly intensify, which could put its winds as high as 90 mph at landfall. That could help push a wall of water 6-10 feet above ground level. The higher level would occur if the storm approaches at high tide.

Clouds ahead of the storm already were reaching across much of Florida on Sunday, and the storm’s center is forecast to move near Savannah on Tuesday night and drag along the South Carolina Coast on Thursday night.

"Multiple days of very, very heavy rainfall" are possible, Brennan said.

The National Weather Service estimates rainfall totals could reach up to 30 inches or more in isolated locations along the coast through Friday. The weather service office in Charleston, South Carolina, called it a "potentially historic rainfall."

Mayor warns residents: Don't rely on first responders

The storm arrived less than three months after a tornado outbreak that brought widespread destruction to Tallahassee. Mayor John Dailey said mutual-aid workers were arriving later in the day from Louisiana and Alabama to help with power restoration and that other crews were ready to respond from across Florida.

“Downed trees are expected,” Dailey said. “Power outages are expected. Localized flooding is expected. Please prepare your household, knowing that there could be a time when first responders cannot reach you.”

− Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat

Storm could trigger tornadoes in Florida, Georgia

A hurricane warning has been issued for the Big Bend region, according to the National Weather Service . That warning stretches west along the Gulf Coast toward the Ochlockonee River. A storm surge warning was issued from Longboat Key to Tampa Bay.

A few tornadoes are possible through Monday morning, mainly over western and northern Florida and southern Georgia, the hurricane center said.

The weather service's Storm Prediction Center shared reports of six tornadoes on Sunday. The reports came from Hardee, Polk, Pinellas, Union and Columbia counties. The reported tornado in Pinellas damaged a fence and a trailer around 10 p.m.

Swells generated by Debby are expected to affect much of the Gulf coast of Florida through Monday, reach the Southeast U.S. coast on Monday, and continue through the middle of the week.

"These conditions are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions," Pasch warned.

A stormy season: Forecasters raise hurricane season prediction after record-breaking Beryl

Debby brought flooding to Puerto Rico

Debby formed in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico after moving westward as a tropical rainstorm during the week. The storm dropped heavy rain over Hispaniola and parts of the Bahamas, and causing flooding in Puerto Rico.

Tropical Storm Debby tracker

Spaghetti models: where tropical storm debby could make landfall.

Illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The hurricane center uses only the top four or five highest-performing models to help make its forecasts.

When is the Atlantic hurricane season?

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.

The peak of the season is Sept. 10, and the most activity usually happens between mid-August and mid-October, according to the hurricane center.

Contributing: Nathan Diller, Gabe Hauari, Doyle Rice, Anthony Robledo, and Jeanine Santucci of USA TODAY; Kim Luciani and Cheryl McCloud, USA TODAY Network-Florida .

Money blog: Aldi axing click and collect within days; Tesco reveals 'digital passport' plan; free stuff today if you show results

Welcome to the Money blog, a hub of personal finance and consumer news/tips. This morning's posts include a look at the discounts available to students and young people. Leave a comment on any of the stories we're covering in the box below - we round them up every Saturday.

Thursday 15 August 2024 11:22, UK

• Aldi axes click and collect
• Tesco launching 'passports' for its clothing
• UK inflation rises for first time since December - analysis

Essential reads

• Is this the end of the British pub?
• What's gone wrong at Asda?
• Best of the Money blog - an archive of features

Tips and advice

• All the discounts you get as a student or young person
• TV chef picks best cheap eats in London
• Savings Guide : Why you should now be checking T&Cs
• 'I cancelled swimming with weeks of notice - can they keep my money?'

Ask a question or make a comment

By Sarah Taaffe-Maguire , business reporter

Despite the Middle East and Russia-Ukraine tension, the benchmark oil price has come down from the highs of Monday to just over $80 a barrel, good news for motorists. 

The value of a pound is down from the highs of July but still better than most of the last six months, with £1 equal to $1.2856. Sterling has done worse against the euro with one pound buying €1.1663, less than could be bought for most of the last three months.

Following news that insurance company Admiral will up payments to shareholders, the price of its shares increased nearly 8%, the most of all the companies on the London Stock Exchange's benchmark index, the FTSE 100. 

As a whole, the FTSE 100 grew 0.06% while the larger and more UK-based FTSE 250 index of valuable London-listed companies grew 0.28%.

Whether or not results day goes to plan today, you can always console yourself with some free chicken, pizza and nachos. 

Major chains like Nando's, Pizza Express and Frankie & Benny's are offering some great freebies for students picking up their A-level results. Most you can get simply by showing a copy of your results to staff. Some have a few extra steps - but we've outlined this below, and most usually just involve signing up for some kind of free app or reward programme.

(And don't worry year 11, many of these offers will also be available when you receive your GCSE results next week).

Nandos: Chicken Bring your ID and results and you will get a free starter or quarter chicken, provided you also spend £7 or more.

Frankie & Benny's: Pizza Each restaurant is giving away 50 free pizzas - you just need to purchase a large soft drink (and show off your results).

Pizza Express: Dough balls You'll get one free portion of dough balls when you purchase a main - for this one you also need to present a valid UNiDAYS offer code.

Wagamama: Free side and drink You need to sign up to the Soul Club app to get this one, but you'll get a free side dish and free soft drink, or cider can, if you order between 11am and 3pm.

Bill's: Dessert To qualify for a free dessert you also need to purchase a main course, or brunch.

Banana Tree: Pad Thai You need to purchase one starter (excluding edamame) and a drink, but you then qualify for a free main meal. Just make sure you sign up  here  first.

Chiquito: Loaded nachos You have two options for this - Chicken & Chorizo or Pibil Pulled Jackfruit, as long as you order at least one large soft drink. There are only 600 available, so you'll want to head down early.

Bird & Blend: Drink Get a magical matcha, refreshing ice tea or a herbal brew if you present your results and your student ID between 11am and 5pm.

Showcase Cinema: Popcorn If you have a ticket for a film today, just show proof you received your results and you qualify for a free popcorn.

Starbucks: Cookie Grab a free cookie with any beverage today.

Bella Italia: 30% off Students get a very decent 30% off their food bill - but you will need to sign up here first.

TGI Fridays: 24% off your bill You need to be a free Stripes Reward member to get this one, and bring a copy of your results.

In a little over a month, hundreds of thousands of young people will once again descend on university towns across the UK - armed with maintenance loans and newly found financial freedoms.

With their arrival comes their business - and retailers and restaurants all fight for the chance to part students with their cash in the form of special discounts. 

It would be a pretty long post were we to list every single student discount, so for this guide we'll go through some of the most notable and our favourites. 

Let's start with the world's most valuable company, which offers various deals to students. 

Buying a new iPad or Mac will land you a gift card worth £120, while you're able to access a cheaper Apple Music plan with Apple TV+ included. 

It's available through discount portal UNiDAYS , or you can read more about the offers here .

Another student essential - bag yourself six months of free Amazon Prime (which offers next-day delivery on thousands of items and Prime Video).

Once that ends, students only need to pay half price for their membership (£4.49 a month). 

Check out the offer here .

If you didn't opt for the Apple Music offer outlined above, then getting 45% off your Spotify subscription might be worth it. 

It's this link to sign up. 

If you want 10% off clothes from one of the world's biggest online fashion retailers, you simply need to fill in this form . 

Another top tip: ASOS often drops prices, starts sales or increases discount when your student maintenance loans hit your account. 

It might be worth waiting for then to use your codes to maximise your savings - you'll get your first loan at the end of September/start of October, one at the start of January and the last will be at the start of April.

YouTube Premium and Music can be yours for £7.99 (plus a free trial month) - allowing you ad-free watching, downloads, background play and unlimited tunes. 

Click here for more. 

An unequivocal student essential. 

Railcards are a must while you're moving around the country visiting friends, family or just making your way home for Christmas. 

They cost just £30 and give you a third off expensive rail fares for the full year. 

More on that here . 

Nike and  Adidas

Two of the big players in sports fashion.

Bag the latest athleisure with 15% from Adidas and 10% off at Nike . 

If you don't like the trainers either Nike or Adidas provide, then take a look at Schuh.

The footwear brand offers 10% off full-price and  sale items - click here to find out how. 

Another top tip: if you like a pair of Nike or Adidas shoes, check out whether you could get them cheaper at Schuh with discounts, and factoring in delivery charges and sales.

Via discount portal StudentBeans, you can grab 15% off at Sephora. 

It's one of the biggest self-care and beauty brands anywhere on the planet, and 15% off will save you a decent chunk. 

Click here to find out more. 

Boots 

Being a student can save you 10% at Boots - sometimes more.

However, you will need to sign up for one of their (free) advantage cars, so maybe one you need to think about.

Check out the steps here .

Burger King

Students can enjoy a free Chicken or Vegan Royale with purchase of a Chicken or Vegan Royale via their StudentBeans portal.

This link has more.

The big night in vendor offers students up to 50% off. 

This is another one you'll need a StudentBeans discount portal login for, but you can get all the details here . 

Through UNiDAYS, you can get £10 off your first two orders (over £15) on Uber Eats.

They're not only offering takeaways, but grocery shopping too, so that's something to bear in mind. 

Details here .

There's 10% off at New Look for students - and you can bag a further 25% if you sign up to their mailing list.

Discount is in-store and online, so there's a bit of flexibility regarding where you shop.

This one is through UNiDAYS, details here .

Grab yourself a free cheeseburger, mayo chicken or McFlurry when you buy selected menu items. 

Read the full list and T&Cs here . 

The delivery giant always offers student deals, but they're yet to make public this year's plans.

You can enter your email address into this link for updates on it. 

Savings on your sex life start at 20%.

This one is via UNiDAYS - more here .

MyProtein 

50% off protein at MyProtein for fitness-hungry students is one of several offers the company has put up. 

Again, via UNiDAYS, which has the full list of deals/offers here .

Sticking with health and fitness, several high-street value gym chains offer discounts, including  The Gym Group  and  PureGym . 

Blackwell's

We've done all the fun stuff like food and clothes - but you do have to study at some stage. 

That's where having 15% off at major book supplier Blackwell's can help. 

All the details are here . 

While we're on the more boring stuff - let's turn to furniture and cutlery. 

Over the years millions of students have descended on the Swedish giant to fill their new rooms and cupboards. 

Offers change every year - and they'll be updated here . 

If you are a regular reader of the Money blog, you will have seen us cover the topic of security tags before. 

We've noticed them on meat, cheese and baby milk , and now some chocolate treats are also getting the yellow security sticker treatment. 

We spotted the tags below at an Asda in Twickenham earlier this week. 

They were placed on a £2.50 box of Celebrations and Lindt Salted Caramel Lindors costing £5.

Also tagged were a £9.30 box of Maltesers Truffles, a £6.55 pack of Raffaello, a £10.50 tray of Ferrero Rocher and an £8.95 Thortons Classic box. 

An Asda spokesperson confirmed to the Money team that "individual stores may tag specific products at their own discretion as a precautionary measure". 

Earlier this year, it was revealed shoplifting had hit its highest level in 20 years. 

The number of offences increased by 37% to 430,104 in the year ending 31 December 2023, compared with 2022, the latest Crime Survey for England and Wales found. 

Several retailers have taken steps to curb the surge, including extra security and body-worn cameras. 

The UK economy grew 0.6% over three months to the end of June, official figures show. 

But there was no growth at all in June, the Office for National Statistics said, as businesses delayed purchases until after the general election.

"In a range of industries across the economy, businesses stated that customers were delaying placing orders until the outcome of the election was known," the ONS said, though added it's difficult to quantify the exact impact.

Gross domestic product (GDP) - the measure of everything produced in the UK - expanded from April to June.

That growth rate was the second highest among the G7 group of industrialised nations, only the United States performed better with 0.7%.

Two G7 countries, however, have yet to publish their GDP data for the period - Japan and Germany.

Follow our breaking story here ...

Aldi is axing its click and collect service within days, according to reports.

Customers will not be able to order groceries online from the supermarket beyond Sunday, said industry magazine The Grocer.

This follows Aldi's withdrawal of its limited home delivery service last year.

The decision was made to keep prices at their lowest possible, a spokesperson said.

"One of the ways we keep our prices low for customers is by running the most efficient supermarket business in Britain," they told The Grocer.

"As a result, we've made the decision to bring our click and collect service to an end so we can focus on doing just that."

Aldi launched the service in September 2020, eventually expanding to more than 200 stores.

Sky News has contacted Aldi for comment.

Tesco is launching "digital passports" across its clothing range ahead of new sustainability rules. 

The digital product passports will allow customers to see information about items in the F&F range, including where its materials were sourced. 

Tesco's Joe Little said the move represented "an important step forward, encouraging and promoting sustainable and circular practices". 

The pilot is being launched with tech company Fabacus, which is run by the founder of Nobody's Child - a sustainable clothing brand that has previously used DPPs on three of its collections. 

CEO and founder Andrew Xeni told the Money team that DPPs provided "a huge opportunity" for retailers to tell their story. 

He said legislation for fashion using DPPs was expected to begin in 2027 so "practical implementation must start immediately". 

What are DPPs and what do they do?  

DPPs show key information about what the product is made from, its origin, history and how to dispose of it properly.

They capture data about the environmental impact of an item and are being introduced across the EU to improve sustainability. 

Mr Xeni compared them to the nutritional information we see on food products, saying they will help people to make more informed decisions about what they are buying. 

It's not clear what form Tesco will present them in, but when Nobody's Child launched theirs, they came as a QR code on the clothing's care label that could be scanned with a smartphone.

By 2030, a range of businesses are expected to be required to provide detailed information on the materials used in their products, and their environmental impact. 

According to a  provisional agreement  from December, products with a high environmental impact will be prioritised as having to comply: 

• Batteries 
• Consumer electronics 
• Electronic devices 
• Construction products

"It's going to hold so many companies accountable," said Mr Xeni. 

Last year, the government's European Scrutiny Committee raised concerns that the scheme could conflict with regulations in Northern Ireland because of the Windsor Framework - the post-Brexit legal agreement between the EU and the UK. 

For Savings Guide this week,  Savings Champion   co-founder Anna Bowes looks at the best easy access accounts on the market.

Although variable-rate accounts like easy-access savings are likely to see rate cuts over the following days, weeks and months further to the base rate cut earlier this month, those who can't lock up their funds still need to seek the best rates.

In a rate-falling environment, it's really important to keep an eye on the interest you are earning and switch if you are no longer getting a competitive rate.

With easy access accounts this should be straightforward because, as the name suggests, you can get access to your money immediately.

But remember that a number of accounts may have restricted access, and if you have one of these, make sure you know what effect a further withdrawal will mean to your savings.

Most will simply allow you to close your account, even if you have made the maximum number of penalty-free withdrawals, but there are some that will not let you have any further access.

That's the case with the current top paying account -  Principality Building Society Online Bonus Triple Access Issue 2.

If you have already made three withdrawals, you will be unable to close the account and have access to your money until the following calendar year.

It's important to read all the terms and conditions when opening a savings account, so that you earn the interest and have the access that you are expecting.

Further to this, there is still some £252bn sitting in current accounts earning no interest at all.

Although inflation has ticked up slightly in the 12 months to July 2024 to 2.2%, there are still plenty of accounts, including easy access, paying an interest rate that is beating the current rising cost of living.

A "major breakthrough" which could signal the end of national rail strikes has been made in the long-running pay row involving drivers, according to the Department for Transport (DfT).

The department said the train drivers' union ASLEF had agreed to recommend a new pay proposal to its members after a series of "positive" talks led by the government. 

"The offer made to ASLEF is a 5% pay rise for 2022/23, 4.75% for 23/24, and 4.5% for 24/25," a spokesperson for the DfT said.

"The offer will now be put to ASLEF members in a referendum."

During the two-year pay dispute, drivers have taken 18 days of strike action, as well as refusing to work non-contractual overtime.

Mars is buying the food company Kellanova in a deal worth nearly $30bn (£23.3bn). 

The deal will see the business, which already owns several brands such as M&M's, Snickers and Skittles, take control of a huge portfolio of products, including Pringles, Pop Tarts and Cheez-Its.

Kellanova was created when the Kellogg Co split into three companies in 2022.

Based in Chicago, it had net sales of more than $13bn (£10bn) last year and has around 23,000 employees.

Mars Inc said it will pay $83.50 dollars (£65.02) per share in cash, putting the total value of the transaction at £35.9bn (£27.9bn).

The deal is expected to close in the first half of next year.

"The Kellanova brands significantly expand our snacking platform, allowing us to even more effectively meet consumer needs and drive profitable business growth," Andrew Clarke, global president of Mars Snacking, said in a statement.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free