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This month, thousands of students across the country are receiving their exam results. Whether it's Highers, Standards, A Levels or GCSEs, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2's Student Essentials is on hand to help both students and parents.

Listeners can phone the National Exam Results Helpline on 0808 100 8000 (calls are free from most landlines; some networks and mobile operators will charge for these calls) or put a question to advisors via the Student Essentials messageboard on bbc.co.uk/radio2.

There's also the latest financial information online about tuition fees, loans and grants.

Plus there are old school photos of presenters including Jeremy Vine, Ken Bruce and David Jacobs, and audio of them talking about their school days and receiving those dreaded exam results in a special online audio gallery – Radio 2's School Of 2010.

Radio 2's Student Essentials runs throughout August and Drivetime will mark all the big results days over the month. Tomorrow (Wednesday 4 August) some students across Scotland will receive their Higher and Standard exam results by text and email. As part of Radio 2's Student Essentials, Drivetime's business guru, Pauline McCole, takes a look at this and other examples of how modern technology is being used to give people important information.

Producers/Carmela DiClemente and Andy Warrell for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

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Jamie Cullum continues to showcase his love for all types of jazz, and music rooted in jazz, from its heritage to the future.

New York based pianist and composer Vijay Iyer performs live in a session recorded at the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Maida Vale studios. He plays tracks from his new album, Solo, and talks about the difference between working alone and composing orchestral works, as well as his wide range of influences including the Indian classical and religious music of his youth.

Presenter/Jamie Cullum, Producer/Karen Pearson for Folded Wing

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Arthur Smith investigates, and rehabilitates, the ancient aspect of vocal gymnastics – yodelling.

Despite its reputation of being somewhat naff, people love the yodel. There's usually a current song that features one; for example, Waka Waka, Shakira's official football World Cup song, begins with a rousing yodel.

Arthur finds out that, as well as in the Alps, there are yodelling traditions in Africa – among pygmies, for instance – and that they love to yodel in Korea. Dutch DJ Bart Plantenga, who has written a guide to the secret history of yodelling around the world, recounts how the yodel reached America, becoming essential not just to country music but jazz (even Satchmo yodelled) and rock, and made its way back to Africa, where the Kipisa tribe sing the praises of rhythmic country yodeller Jimmie Rodgers, whom they revere.

Arthur discovers the connection between yodelling and dub reggae – it's all in the echo. Maria Schneider, an Australian operatic soprano, speaks about yodelling the classics and Frank Ifield reveals how he became a yodeller by Royal Appointment. British yodel aficionado Paul Hazell traces the development of speed yodelling as a competitive sport. And let's not forget avant-garde jazz yodeller Phil Minton, who has a novel idea about the origin of the yodel, involving the way people speak in Devon.

On the way Arthur talks to Jean Abithol, a leading French speech therapist who has observed what happens when people yodel by inserting miniature cameras through their noses. Jean gives Arthur a yodelling lesson – and Arthur tries yodelling to the crowd in the cabaret tent at the Glastonbury festival.

Like rhinestones glinting on the shirt of Yodelling Kenny Roberts – from whom Arthur also hears – the programme is decorated with bizarre and beautiful yodel facts: how a yodeller lost his radio show in the war because the authorities thought he was sending messages to the Nazis; how yodelling was once banned because it caused Swiss soldiers, far from home, to expire of nostalgia; and how Tarzan's yodel saved Johnny Weissmuller from Cuban revolutionaries.

And through it all Arthur plays a huge range of extraordinary and beautiful yodel music.

Presenter/Arthur Smith, Producer/Julian May for Goes Global

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Bill Kenwright brings more pop and rock of the late Fifties and early Sixties to the airwaves.

This week there's another 20-Second No. 1, We Did It Better and a favourite B-Side, Devoted To You from the harmonious Everly Brothers.

Plus there's another Mystery Record from producer Day Macaskill for Bill to enjoy – or not – and a new feature of Elvis Movie Songs, kicking off with Wild In The Country in which the King (who plays Glenn Tyler) gets into a fight with his drunken brother, then marries the girl next door.

Other tracks include Petula Clark's With All My Heart, Hushabye from The Mystics and Raindrops from Dee Clark.

Presenter/Bill Kenwright, Producer/Day Macaskill for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ PROMS 2010
Performance On 3 – Prom 23

Tuesday 3 August

7.30-10.15pm Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ RADIO 3

• Press pack

Violinist Nicola Benedetti performs The Lark Ascending

Donald Runnicles makes his first Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Proms appearance as Chief Conductor of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Scottish Symphony Orchestra in an all-British programme, presented by Katie Derham. Former Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Young Musician of the Year, violinist Nicola Benedetti, also features in her Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Prom debut performing one of Vaughan Williams's most celebrated works, The Lark Ascending.

Before that, listeners can hear Vaughan Williams's choral masterpiece Serenade To Music, written for 16 solo singers and orchestra as a tribute to Proms founder Henry Wood, who gave the piece its world première in 1938. Tonight's performance showcases singers from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

The concert comes to a powerful conclusion with Elgar's Symphony No. 1.

Presenter/Katie Derham, Producer/Lindsay Pell

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Journalist and author Max Hastings and historian Jenny Uglow join presenter Ian McMillan for performed extracts and discussion to mark 350 years since Samuel Pepys started the most influential diary in British history.

It's one of the most important sources for the English Restoration period, providing, from 1660 onwards, eyewitness accounts of great events such as the Plague of London, the Great Fire of London and the second Anglo-Dutch War.

Max, Jenny and Ian discuss why Pepys's work still connects across three-and-a-half centuries, whether because of the intimate confessions of his sexual misdemeanours, including being caught in flagrante by his wife; the frustrated insecurity about his career and need to work harder; or the fascinating timeless window on one man's inner self.

Jenny Uglow's recently published biography of Charles II's reign draws heavily on Pepys for the set-pieces of the age. Max Hastings has recommended reading Pepys at bedtime as a corrective to any ideas that our own age faces unprecedented disorder. They bring their own perspectives on Pepys to an audience at the Royal College of Music as part of the Proms Literary Festival, with The Verb's Ian McMillan as host.

Presenter/Ian McMillan, Producer/Zahid Warley

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Joan Bakewell is joined by a panel of experts to discuss the complex ethical issues around whether the NHS should pick up the pieces when private treatment goes wrong.

An NHS surgeon runs a busy service offering weight-loss surgery to obese patients. The NHS funds 200 procedures a year, but this doesn't meet the soaring demand. Patients are rigorously assessed so that the surgeon can select those most likely to benefit from surgery and lose weight.

Many obese people believe they don't stand a chance of an operation on the NHS. Desperate to lose weight, some spend thousands of pounds on weight-loss surgery at private clinics. Many have a gastric band fitted as it's the simplest and cheapest operation. But it doesn't suit everyone and, without adequate follow-up and support, bands can fail and patients can gain weight.

Over the past few years, the NHS surgeon has become concerned by the increasing number of patients he is being asked to see needing treatment after private surgery. They've often gone to great lengths to pay for their operation, and now can't afford any more care. Most weren't properly assessed beforehand and are now living with a weight-loss procedure that doesn't suit them.

When patients arrive at A&E with a serious complaint the surgeon treats them. But he's increasingly being asked by GPs to see patients with non-urgent problems. Each time he treats one, he denies another on the NHS waiting list. Given the rising obesity epidemic and the paucity of obesity surgery currently available on the NHS, he knows his dilemma is only going to become more acute.

Presenter/Joan Bakewell, Producer/Beth Eastwood for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

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In Living Memory Ep 1/4

Tuesday 3 August

11.00-11.30am Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ RADIO 4 (Schedule change 21 July)

In a new series of In Living Memory, Chris Ledgard recalls the first papal tour of Britain.

The visit by Pope John Paul II to England, Scotland and Wales in 1982 was a momentous occasion for British Catholics. This was the first time a Pope had set foot in Britain.

But the visit was very nearly cancelled at the last minute. As the Pope's arrival day in May 1982 drew closer, the crisis in the Falklands deepened. Many commentators suggested it would be impossible for the Pope to visit a nation at war with Argentina, a Catholic country. Argentine and British bishops flocked to Rome to press their case. In Liverpool, Bishop Vincent Malone was in the final planning meetings for the northern leg of the tour. As he waited for a call from his Archbishop in Rome, he firmly expected bad news. But when the phone went, the late Archbishop Derek Worlock confirmed that Pope John Paul II had defied the doubters and the trip was on.

In this programme, Chris speaks to Bishop Malone, other officials and people who were part of the huge crowds and congregations. The main organiser, Monsignor Ralph Brown, explains how he dealt with companies wanting to cash in on the souvenir trade by bringing in one of the world's biggest sports management companies, IMG to lead the church through the commercial side of the tour.

Presenter/Chris Ledgard, Producer/A&M Factual Bristol for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

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Professor Robert Winston continues his exploration into the relationship between the music and the medical conditions of composers who suffered mental and physical illness.

Beethoven famously lost his hearing while still a young man, becoming profoundly deaf by the time he composed his late masterpieces. However, he was also plagued by a catalogue of other chronic illnesses – stomach problems, asthma and pancreatitis made his life a misery.

Professor Winston investigates, with John Suchet, Stephen Johnson and Dr Francois Mai, how these daily torments may have been key to the transcendent spirit of Beethoven's music.

Presenter/Professor Robert Winston, Producer/Chris Taylor for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

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Lost In The Lanes Ep 1/3

Tuesday 3 to Thursday 5 August

3.30-3.45pm Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ RADIO 4

Lost In The Lanes are three stories from new writers to radio set in the Lanes of Brighton, and beyond.

Tuesday's tale, Absent Without Eve by Lizzie Enfield and read by Jan Ravens, tells the story of Eve, who imagined a new life after her children had left home. She thought she and her husband, David, would be free to spend Saturday mornings wandering the North Laine together, sipping leisurely cappuccinos and browsing second-hand bookshops. But David has other plans for himself and his recently acquired motorbike – plans that don't seem to include Eve.

In Wednesday's story, Calling by Emma Darwin, read by Philip Voss, Tom goes on a mysterious journey of discovery. Twelve-year-old Tom and his sister first came to Brighton after they lost their father in the great storm of 1883. They left their mother at her new job in the big house, and walked to their lodgings in the Lanes. But when Tom hears their mother calling for them and tries to find her, he finds his own future.

In Thursday's story, Lost And Found, written by Graham Jameson and read by Sam Dale, Joseph has a much better day than he anticipated when he gets lost on a school trip to the seaside. Finding himself in a fascinating hidden world, he makes an exciting discovery and meets a glamorous look-a-like.

Readers/Jan Ravens, Philip Voss and Sam Dale, Producer/Celia de Wolff for Pier Productions

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Great Lives Ep 1/9

Tuesday 3 August

4.30-5.00pm Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ RADIO 4

Matthew Parris returns with the biographical series

Cultural commentator John Harris nominates John Lennon as his Great Life, as the biographical series returns. Matthew Parris asks what Lennon's legacy is 30 years after his death.

Journalist John Harris, author of books on music, politics and popular culture, was born just as The Beatles were splitting up, and was only 11 when John Lennon died. Yet Lennon's mischievous anti-establishment position, and the richness of his lyrics and music, makes him Harris's nomination for a Great Life.

Matthew tries to define what it is that makes this enigmatic, often difficult figure an inspiring subject for reflection. The expert witness is Barry Miles, in whose London gallery John first met Yoko Ono in the mid-Sixties.

Presenter/Matthew Parris, Producer/Christine Hall for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

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The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's security correspondent, Gordon Corera, uncovers the truth behind Israel's secret service.

The Mossad, or Institute of Special Tasks, is one of the most feared and fabled security services in the world. It has been lauded for daring operations and accused of cold-blooded murder. The Mossad is widely thought to have been behind the assassination of a leading member of the group Hamas earlier this year. Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's body was found in his luxury hotel room in Dubai. The room was locked on the inside and had a Do Not Disturb sign on the outside. First indications were that he had died from natural causes.

In this documentary, Gordon Corera talks to key figures from The Mossad, which was founded after the Arab-Israeli war in 1948. Their testimony is both revealing and intriguing: "They teach you how to steal and they teach you how to sometime kill and they teach you to do things which normal people don't do," says one.

"You follow people against their will, you open their mail against their will, you listen to them against their will," adds another.

"The reputation of The Mossad, no matter how high it is, doesn't compare to how good it really is," one contributor tells Gordon.

The programme includes interviews with Ephraim Halevy (former head of The Mossad and confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon) as well as Rafi Eitan (leader of the team which captured Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in the Sixties). Other former Mossad members talk about their recruitment and training as well as some of their covert operations in the Middle East. They maintain that their methods conform to a strict ethical code but are questioned by others (including Mabhouh's lawyer) who ask whether they are in breach of international law.

Presenter/Gordon Corera, Producer/Mark Savage

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Will Smith wrote and performs in Mr And Mrs Smith

After a disastrous weekend away to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, Annabelle has signed up her and husband Will for a course of marriage guidance.

In a new collaboration between Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio and Television, Happy Tuesdays showcases a series of new comedy pilots for Tuesday nights on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4, with some of the most exciting comedy talent around given the chance to try out new ideas and formats. Mr And Mrs Smith is written by comedian Will Smith.

A year into married life and already things are a little creaky for Will and Annabelle. So, following Will's unimaginative anniversary present, they embark on some marriage counselling.

The episode begins with Will and Annabelle talking to their counsellor, Guy. They discuss their disastrous weekend in a boutique hotel to celebrate their anniversary. The comedy butts back and forth between the counselling session, where Guy mediates the dispute, and the anniversary weekend itself, where both sides of the argument are heard – usually leaning more towards Annabelle's point of view.

In contrast to Will's uptight control-freakery, Guy is laconic and urbane – and clearly irritating to Will.

Will Smith plays Will; Sarah Hadland plays Annabelle; Paterson Joseph plays Guy, Darrell and the restaurant manager; Morwenna Banks plays Sally, the receptionist and the waitress; and Geoffrey Whitehead plays both John and the TV repairman.

Producer/Tilusha Ghelani for the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

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Ian Payne has all the day's sports news and reaction and, from 7.30pm, is joined by special guests for the Football League Show, looking ahead to the start of the season this weekend.

Presenter/Ian Payne, Producer/Patrick Nathenson

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Lauren Laverne is joined by the great hopes of Californian indie rock, Best Coast, for a live session in the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ 6 Music studios.

The band is fronted by singer Bethany Cosentino, an LA native who, after moving to the hipster NYC borough of Brooklyn to find her creative muse, swiftly turned back and headed home as she missed "the beach" – a subject that features prominently on the band's forthcoming debut album, Crazy For You.

Presenter/Lauren Laverne, Producer/Gary Bales

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Tonight's live archive comes from MGMT from South By South West in Austin, Texas, a couple of years ago; while Gideon Coe's archive session tracks are provided by the Beta Band, Alternative TV, Fuzz Against Junk and American-born, UK-based Piney Gir and her Country Road Show.

Presenter/Gideon Coe, Producer/Mark Sheldon

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