Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard adds his thoughts to those affected by the derailment at Aberdeenshire.

Mr Leonard moves on to talk about the SQA exams U-turn and asks why the first minister wants John Swinney "off the hook rather than out of office".

Ms Sturgeon replies people are going to have to make their own minds up about this, as Richard Leonard is giving the impression he is more interested in the politics of this rather than fixing the issue.

The first minister explains the cancellation of the exam diet had not happened in 100 years and there was no easy option to ministers here or in the rest of the UK.

She says the government asked the SQA to come up with an approach that protected standards, but has since reflected that was not the right approach.

Image source, PA Media

Ruth Davidson says the SQA should show its workings when it comes to marking exam papers.

She says exam papers should be returned to schools so teachers can see how they have been marked.

This "simple measure" would help teachers to close the attainment gap and restore confidence in the exams system.

Ms Sturgeon says the SQA has published its methodology and the SQA's chief executive has been giving evidence to a parliamentary committee this morning.

The Scottish government said it had prioritised standardisation in the system over the individual experiences of children and that it now recognised it was the wrong judgement and have set to put it right.

Ms Davidson reminds Ms Sturgeon that she was in opposition during 2000's SQA "fiasco", and she called for transparency then.

"The same thing needs to happen now", Ms Davidson says.

She asks for a guarantee that documents will be made available, and wants to know whether the education secretary formally backed the SQA's exam model.

Ms Sturgeon says she will make whatever parliament wants available to them.

"Now we are living through a global pandemic", she tells Ruth Davidson. She says scheduled exams couldn't go ahead and an alternative process had to be put in place.

The Scottish government asked the SQA to come up with a process that maintained comparable standards.

However, changes have now been made to this system because children should not feel their futures have been determined by an algorithm rather than their performance, the first minister says.

Ruth Davidson, who is leading FMQs for the Scottish Conservatives, adds her voice to those who say their thoughts are with anyone caught up in the train derailment in Stonehaven.

Ms Davidson is representing her party in Holyrood after former leader Jackson Carlaw stepped down and was replaced by the MP Douglas Ross.

Ms Davidson then asks Ms Sturgeon about the Scottish government's U-turn on school results.

She asks if the first minister will write to Scottish universities to ask them to make sure they honour conditional offers based on predicted grades. She cites an example of a school pupil whose offer has been withdrawn.

Ms Sturgeon says she is determined to make sure children who sat exams this year are not disadvantaged or "crowded out" of places.

The first minister says the situation in Aberdeen should serve as a reminder that for the country to make any progress out of lockdown, the virus must be suppressed.

"Ultimately we are all dependent on each other," she says.

The first minister as ever emphasises the importance of FACTS:

• Face coverings in enclosed spaces
• Avoid crowded places
• Clean hands and surfaces regularly
• Two metre distancing; and
• Self-isolate and book a test if you have symptoms.

The first minister reminds people that live in Aberdeen:

• they should not go into anyone else's house
• hospitality businesses like pubs and cafes must remain closed
• people who live in Aberdeen should not travel more than five miles unless they have to
• people from outside Aberdeen should hot travel into the city unless they have to

Ms Sturgeon says at present there will be no additional restrictions on people living in Aberdeenshire.

The Aberdeen restrictions will be reviewed in one week's time, she explains.

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Turning to the Aberdeen cluster of cases, the first minister says a total of 272 cases have been identified in the Grampian area since 26 July.

177 of these are thought to be linked to the cluster linked to Aberdeen pubs, with 940 contacts made.

In general there has been a slight fall in the number of new cases in Grampian and those directly associated with the cluster.

Despite this, cases are still far higher than in any other part of the country she explains.

"It is not yet possible to lift any of the restrictions that were put in place last week for Aberdeen."

The first minister wishes children returning to school well and thanks all teachers and school staff for all the work they have done.

Ms Sturgeon says schools are going back due to the success in suppressing the virus, but adds there is no room for complacency.

The first minister turns to the pandemic and confirms 19,126 people have now tested positive for Covid-19, an increase of 47 from yesterday.

That’s 1% of those that were newly tested yesterday.

The provisional information shows 24 of the 47 cases are in the Grampian health board area.

265 patients are in hospital with a confirmed case (down four)), with three being treated in intensive care .

Yet again no deaths were registered in the last 24 hours of people who tested positive, meaning the total remains at 2,491.

The just published NRS weekly figure of deaths linked with Covid shows the total number at 4,213.

Ms Sturgeon tells the chamber: "The Scottish government's resilience room is operational."

The first minister says she will chair a meeting this afternoon with partner organisations - with updates made available when possible.

The first minister begins by addressing the serious storms and of "most urgent concern is an extremely serious incident west of Stonehaven."

Ms Sturgeon says a Scotrail passenger derailed there earlier this morning and emergency services are currently on site.

"A major incident has been declared."

She says she has spoken to Network Rail and that she is afraid to say there are early reports of serious injuries.

The session begins with a one-minute silence to remember those who fought for our freedom to mark VJ day.

Updated analysis from the NRS stats covering the period from 1st March to 31st July show:

• Adjusting for age, people in the most deprived areas were two times more likely to die with COVID-19 than those living in the least deprived areas.
• Adjusting for age, people living in larger urban areas were over four times more likely to die with COVID-19 than those in remote locations.
• Of those who died with COVID-19 in March to July, 92% had at least one pre-existing condition. The most common main pre-existing condition among those who died with COVID-19 was dementia and Alzheimer’s disease representing 31%.
• Going forward, NRS will produce a monthly publication on mortality related to COVID-19, with the next report will be available on 16th September.
• Data on deaths from all causes, excess deaths and COVID-19 related deaths will continue to be made available on a weekly basis, through the Scottish Government’s COVID-19 dashboard, and through UK analysis from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

As at 9th August, 4,213 deaths have been registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was mentioned on the death certificate, according to statistics published by National Records of Scotland (NRS) today.

Between 3rd – 9th August, five deaths were registered that mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate, representing a decrease of two from last week.

This is the lowest weekly total for deaths involving COVID-19 since the first death was recorded in early March.

Asked about the contact the SQA had with the Scottish government while developing this year's certification process, Fiona Robertson says there were various stages to signing off the moderation system.

She said John Swinney had joined staff in a discussion in the middle of June to hear about some of the issues.

Ms Robertson told the committe she had presented Mr Swinney with the outcome of the approach on 30 July.

"I think it is really important to highlight that, given the operational independence of the SQA it was very important that there was that separation between the SQA and ministers in this context," she added.

Image source, PA Media

We'll shortly bring you the weekly statistics of deaths linked to Covid-19 from the NRS.

Then Nicola Sturgeon is expected to reveal the result of the review of Aberdeen's lockdown restrictions as she updates MSPs on the pandemic.

First minister's questions follows, with Ruth Davidson returning to the fray.