Jamie McIvor
BBC Scotland education correspondent

This has been a results day like no other.

The results are based on estimates by teachers - not, of course, exams. Pass rates are up in National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers but they are still similar to the pass rates in previous years. This is crucial - dramatic rises could have undermined the achievements of learners.

Around a quarter of teachers’ estimated grades were adjusted by the SQA - mostly downwards. Some candidates or teachers will be disappointed by this but this highlights the importance of the appeals system. Where a grade is adjusted down, appeals can be made but supporting evidence will be needed

This is crucial to the integrity of the system.

After a year without exams, pass rates have risen from last year.

The National 5 pass rate was 81.1%, the Higher pass rate was 78.9% and the Advanced Higher pass rate was 84.9%.

In 2019, the National 5 pass rate was 78.2%, the Higher pass rate was 74.8% and the Advanced Higher rate was 79.4%.

However, approximately a quarter of results had to be adjusted from initial estimates - the majority of them downwards. 96% of all adjusted grades were changed by one grade.

BBC Breakfast

The head teacher at Holyrood Secondary in Glasgow, Sharon Watson, says it has been a "challenging" time for staff, pupils and parents.

She told the BBC that staff used "everything they knew" about their pupils to help decide their grades.

Ms Watson was watching some of her pupils as they were sent their results by text message.

"It's really great to be here," she said. "You can’t not, as head teacher, be really excited and really proud of all the young people that are here, but also all the young people that are at home, and opening their results just now.

"So well done to all of you from me. You deserve it, you’ve done everything you should have."

Image source, Getty Images

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus outbreak this Tuesday morning.

1. Testing and tracing 'key to schools returning'

2. Scotland's pupils get results after exam-free year

3. GCSE students allowed to drop topics in 2021 exams

4. Motorist fined £90 after drive-through Covid test

5. How has giving birth changed during the pandemic?

Read more on all these subjects here.

Mornings with Stephen Jardine
BBC Radio Scotland

For 138,000 Scottish school pupils, today is results day. Normally they would be based on exam performance in the Nationals, Highers and Advanced Higher courses but of course this is no normal year.

With coronavirus forcing the cancellation of exams for the first time in history, results this year will instead be based on estimates by teachers. Pupils have been receiving them over the course of the past hour.

It's always a tense time for families but especially this year when so much uncertainty is involved. So how are you feeling about results day 2020?

That's the question Stephen Jardine is asking on Mornings on BBC Radio Scotland, which is just getting under way now.

Call 08085 929500 or text 80295 if you'd like to contribute to the discussion.

Or just tune in...

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Gillian McCartney, headteacher at Linwood High School, told the BBC that the early signs were that pupils were receiving roughly the grades they were expecting.

"The young people we have had in school this morning have been very pleased with their results.

"They've been anxious, but they had a sense of where they wanted to be and where they should be, and that's what they've got."

BBC Breakfast

Pupils from Scotland's largest school - Holyrood Secondary in Glasgow - have been receiving their results after a tense few months waiting.

Highers student Dionne said she "didn't know what to expect" from her results, which have been based on past work rather than exams this year because of the pandemic.

“I got exactly what I was hoping for, so it means I’m going to university and I’m just so happy. I can’t believe it," she said.

Her father said he was "so proud" of his daughter.

“She’s done so much better than I could have ever done at school," he told BBC Breakfast.

"It’s been such a time of uncertainty and it’s a massive wait over now."

Another pupil at the school, Peter said he was "just delighted" to get five As in his subjects.

“I was hoping for it because I got that in my prelims, so I would have been a wee bit disappointed if I hadn’t - but I’m really happy and relieved now," he said.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, EIS

EIS teaching union spokeswoman Susan Quinn says using a school's previous record is not always a fair assessment of current pupils' standards.

"The estimates submitted by teachers are not based on a single day in time. They are based on the work that the young people have done and the knowledge that the teachers have (of them).

"The SQA spoke about having to consider a school's prior attainment over previous years rather than just looking at this year's work. For some young people, that would be very unfair ."

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Susan Quinn, of the EIS teachers' union, says teachers are concerned that their grading estimates for pupils could be changed to match up with "SQA procedures" and national averaging.

She told Good Morning Scotland: "We would have hoped that, were there any questions about the estimates that were submitted, there would have been a conversation between schools and the SQA.

"As far as we are concerned, that has absolutely not happened."

Angie Brown
Edinburgh and East reporter

Image source, Frankie Benham

The two-hour extended opening times given to pubs during the Edinburgh Festival have been cancelled this summer by licensing officials.

The late licences usually come into operation automatically in August, allowing pubs to stay open until 03:00 and nightclubs until 05:00 while the city hosts the international festival.

Pub owners told the BBC they were disappointed by the decision, saying it would have helped recoup some of their lockdown losses.

Find out what some of them had to say here.

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Image source, SQA

In light of the new, previously untried system coming into place, the SQA has said all appeals will be free this year.

But Scottish Tory MSP Jamie Greene says that is going to create "a huge workload for teachers".

"They are the first point of call for concerned parents and pupils who will be in touch with them in those crucial days when we're trying to prepare to reopen schools.

"A lot of this could have been avoided if the SQA had better engaged with teachers during the grading process."

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

Having spoken to teachers who have been given early sight of their pupils' grades, Ross Greer predicts there will be an "overwhelming number of appeals" from pupils who do not believe they have been marked fairly.

The Scottish Greens MSP said: "Anecdotally, it seems that pupils who are just on that line between a pass and a fail mark have had their grades lowered.

"Teachers are going to be contacted today by pupils who are upset - and of course that happens every year. But this year they are not going to be able to explain why they got the grade that they did, because it won't be the one they submitted and they won't know why it has been changed."

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

The Scottish Conservatives' education spokesman Jamie Greene tells Good Morning Scotland he and other MSPs have been raising concerns with the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) "for many months".

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland's class of 2020 are getting their results, but for the first time in history they will not be based on exams.

The coronavirus pandemic led to the closure of schools and an abrupt end to the 2019/2020 academic year.

Pupils in Scotland will be the first in the UK to find out their grades.

So how have these results been worked out - and what can pupils do if they are unhappy with what they get?

Get the full picture here

Good Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland

About 180,000 school pupils in Scotland are set to receive their results after the Covid-19 pandemic forced exams to be cancelled for the first time in history.

There is concern among some about the process used to calculate the grades.

The Scottish Greens' education spokesman Ross Greer described the marking system, which will see previous results from a pupil's school taken into account, as "secret and unfair".

He told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "I'm massively concerned that changing the grades of an individual pupil based on stuff that is nothing to do with them is grossly unfair - particularly to young people in disadvantaged communities."

Image source, Getty Images

Shaun Friel from the charity Childline says it is bound to be an anxious day both for pupils and parents.

For some pupils who find formal examinations very stressful, the reliance on teacher assessment may work in their favour, he told Good Morning Scotland.

For others, their coursework may not have been going so well, and they missed out on the chance to turn things around in the exams.

Despite the unusual circumstances, the mix of emotions will be similar to previous years, he said.

Image source, PA

Scotland's school pupils are receiving their results after the Covid-19 pandemic forced exams to be cancelled for the first time in history.

About 138,000 students are finding out their grades in Nationals, Highers and Advanced Higher courses.

This year's results will be based on estimates from their teachers.

Those who signed up for text or email alerts will receive their grades from 0800 onwards, while certificates will arrive in the post during the day.

Exams were cancelled across the UK as schools closed and the country went into lockdown in March.

Read more

Image source, PA media

• On Monday the focus was on clusters and new cases. The main points were:
• A total of 18 new positive cases recorded - 11 of those in the Grampian area
• But there were no deaths of people who had tested positive for an 18th successive day.
• NHS Grampian said the number of cases linked to the Aberdeen Covid cluster was now 27 in total, up from 13.
• One more person tested positive for coronavirus linked to a cluster in Inverclyde, which now has 14 cases.
• Nicola Sturgeon said she wouldn't hesitate to reintroduce lockdown restrictions if Covid-19 started to get "out of control", with measures "up to and including" shutting pubs and restaurants.
• The first minister said pictures on social media of gatherings outside pubs this weekend made her "want to cry".
• Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said Scotland would receive its share of new 90-minute Covid tests, but needed to be sure they were as reliable as the current tests being used first.
• The health secretary also announced an additional £50m for social care.