19-year-old Emmanuella shared her memories of receiving her results.

She told us she was "too scared" to sign up for the SQA text message, so her mum broke the news about her grades over the phone.

After initially failing her National 5 maths, Emmanuella says she went on to pass when resitting the exam in sixth year.

BBC Radio Scotland

Parents organisation Connect has suggested a high number of appeals will be "inevitable" this year.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, executive director Eileen Prior encouraged pupils and parents to make contact with their school as soon as possible if they were not happy with their grades.

The exam body says it lowered 125,000 grades that had been estimated by teachers to "maintain credibility".

Image source, PA ME

Aiden from Falkirk said he had been predicted to get three As and a B in his Highers but was given a B and 3Cs, and has been encouraged by his teachers to appeal.

The 17-year-old told the PA news agency that he believes he was penalised for being from a less affluent area.

He added: "I was very proud of the Scottish education system but after this I am really disappointed.

"If they look at schools and what they've attained in the past 15-20 years - I wasn't born 20 years ago.

"I don't know how they can give me a B in modern studies because someone in my area got a B in modern studies at a similar level years ago, I just don't think that's fair."

The teenager also said he felt pupils and teachers had been "left in the dark" about how results had been awarded by the SQA, and what the appeals process was.

Andrew Black
BBC Scotland Business Presenter

Image source, Diageo

The world's biggest drinks company wants an end to the 25% US scotch whisky export charge, brought in amid a row over EU plane-building subsidies.

Johnnie Walker-maker Diageo made its position clear after UK Trade Secretary Liz Truss flew to the US at the weekend to try to break the deadlock.

Diageo's global supply chain president Ewan Andrew told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "We're very concerned about the impact on smaller producers. We don't want it to put jobs at risk - and that would happen."

His comments came as Diageo announced annual sales were down 8.7% to £11.8bn, while profits fell 47% to £2.1bn as the effect of coronavirus hit the industry.

BBC Radio Scotland

Barry Black, a researcher in education at the University of Glasgow, explains the moderation by SQA has been based on previous school performance.

"What we've seen is the poorest young people have been downgraded from a pass to the fail at over twice the rate of their more affluent peers," he says.

Mr Black says SQA were warned using school data would disproportionately impact those from deprived areas.

"The SQA appeals service is going to be inundated and it's going to have to be robust. Frankly it's going to have to be more robust and more transparent a process than the process of awarding grades has been."

Twitter users have been sharing their journeys through education and employment via the #NoWrongPath hashtag. The campaign aims to highlight to young people that there are many different way to get where you want to be.

Image source, Supplied

An Aberdeen hospitality firm has closed its bars with immediate effect in response to "the ongoing Covid-19 situation" in the city.

PB Devco owns a number of businesses in Aberdeen, including Soul Bar, where crowds were pictured gathering outside at the weekend.

Owner and director Stuart Clarkson said the bars would close until "we feel safe to reopen".

Mr Clarkson said: "As soon as we heard someone who had tested positive had visited Soul, we immediately sought advice and followed the guidance of the government, NHS and Track and Trace.

"However, we feel we now need to take the situation into our own hands to help limit the spread of the virus, as these are unprecedented times and things are escalating quickly."

The first minister has warned the number of coronavirus cases linked to an Aberdeen pub is expected to rise from its current total of 27.

Nicola Sturgeon also revealed 15 of Scotland's new 23 positive cases were detected by NHS Grampian.

The cluster, linked to people who visited the Hawthorn Bar on 26 July, emerged on Sunday.

During her daily media briefing Ms Sturgeon said: "Let me be clear, I would expect that number to rise."

She confirmed 120 contacts have been identified through the test and protect system.

The incident management team, which is led by NHS Grampian, will meet again on Tuesday afternoon.

Read more here.

• There have been 23 additional positive cases in Scotland, which accounts for 0.9% of people newly tested.
• Provisional information is that 15 of the 23 new cases are in the Grampian health board area.
• Ms Sturgeon says she expects the number of associated cases in the Aberdeen cluster to rise. It currently stands at 27.
• No deaths were registered in the last 24 hours of people who tested positive, for the 19th day in a row. That total remains at 2,491.
• A Scottish version of a UK-wide survey to track the virus is to be launched.
• Pupils can be confident their results will "stand the test of the time" and were awarded in a "fair and robust manner", says John Swinney.
• Without moderation, rates of attainment in National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers would have brought year-on-year change "on a scale never seen in Scottish exam results", says the education secretary.

• Nicola Sturgeon says PM Boris Johnson is "enthusiastic" about a four-nations statement on Covid-19 and hopes one can be agreed soon.

Image source, PA Media

The first minister says any decisions on local lockdowns or other restrictions in the future may be necessary to protect schools as they come back.

It's possible that if we were to announce further restrictions in a particular area, this might be to allow schools to open or stop them having to close again, Ms Sturgeon explains.

Image source, getty

David Bol from The Herald says hospital admissions appear to have increased in the last few days for the first time in recent weeks.

Ms Sturgeon says today's increase was five but it is important not to read too much into one day. She explains slight upticks in recent days seem to be connected to local clusters and outbreaks, rather than a broader increase.

However she adds: "This virus is still a real threat and it's still out there."

The first minister says, while daily changes must not be overstated, it is important to pay attention to the fine changes so the government can act before an outbreak runs out of control

Image source, NHS Grampian

Christine Lavelle from The Sun says NHS Grampian's deputy director of public health alluded to the potential for curfews and lockdown if further cases are found in Aberdeen.

Is this being considered and at what point would a local lockdown be imposed, she asks.

Ms Sturgeon says discussions about the cluster are ongoing and judgements will be made about whether the government needs to step in. Any moves will be precautionary but not disproportionate, she adds.

Dr Gregor Smith adds there have been clear chains of transmission between the cases identified so far. He explains that, if these chains cannot be identified, it may be evidence the incident management team does not have the outbreak in hand.

Image source, PA Media

The Telegraph asks what progress has been made on plans for a four-nations statement on tackling Covid-19, a week on from when the issue was first raised

Nicola Sturgeon says she is hopeful of getting an agreement. The Scottish government has provided draft wording, the first minister says, and discussions with the other three nations are ongoing.

"I would hope they conclude positively and we would see something published soon," she says.

When the four nations discussed the issue last Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was "certainly enthusiastic about the idea", she says.

Ms Sturgeon adds she put forward the suggestion because she thinks it would help if there was a four-nations commitment to the "elimination of Covid, driving it to the lowest possible levels and keeping it there, to provide the best foundation for rebuilding our economy".

Image source, Getty Images

Ciaran Jenkins from Channel 4 News asks about the fairness of the SQA moderation system, given that pupils from more deprived backgrounds seem to have had their grades lowered more than those from the least deprived backgrounds.

The first minister says this attainment gap already existed and the moderation system is not the cause.

Without that moderation, we would be saying 85% of young people in the most deprived areas had passed this year – compared to 65% last year, she explains. This, Ms Sturgeon suggests, would raise questions about the credibility of the system.

Mr Swinney says the moderation system has made the results fairer for all learners, but has not addressed the attainment gap. However, he adds any pupil with specific concerns about their grade being too low should contact their school to consider seeking appeal.

Oliver Dickinson at STV wonders about making the handing over of contact information at venues mandatory.

Ms Sturgeon says the vast majority of people are willing to provide their information and places are collecting it, but the government will consider whether to make it compulsory.

The interim chief medical officer, Dr Gregor Smith, adds there is some concern about complacency.

“I can’t emphasis enough the public health basis as to why we are asking people to do this,” he says, asking how else can people be told they may be at risk and may be putting loved ones at risk.

David Shanks from BBC Scotland says the Aberdeen cluster originated in one bar, but another bar and golf club have notified customers that someone who has tested positive has visited their premises.

Shouldn’t we be hearing officially, rather than from the social media, of businesses involved, he asks.

Ms Sturgeon says the incident management team is leading the investigation and response, and decisions on public notifications will be taken within the context of overall management.

We will continue to act on a precautionary basis, she insists.

Image source, PA Media

The education secretary explains the SQA methodology for deciding results was designed to ensure standards of qualification were maintained.

Today’s results show an increase in attainment of grades A to C for National 5s of 2.9%, Highers of 4.2% and Advanced Highers of 5.5%.

By any measure, this should be considered a “very good set of results”, Mr Swinney says.

Young people can be confident their results will "stand the test of the time" and have been awarded in a "fair and robust manner".

Mr Swinney says that while national moderation has played an important role, around three-quarters of estimates had no need of any moderation.

Without moderation, the rate of attainment of grades A to C compared to last year would have increased by 10.4% for National 5s, 14% for Highers and 13.4% for Advanced Highers, he points out.

"Year-on-year change on this scale has never been seen in Scottish exam results,” he adds.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney reminds us that this is the first year exams were not possible in Scotland for more than 130 years.

The education secretary says the achievements of the 2020 cohort had to be "rightly and fairly recognised" so they could "hold their heads high" and gain the qualifications and awards they deserve after many years of hard work.

He offers "special thanks" to teachers and lecturers for their "exceptional efforts" in assessing pupils, to ensure that the alternative certification model was fair.