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• Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville says there will be a "direct right of appeal" for pupils when Higher and National 5 results come out in August.
• Grounds for appeal will include disagreement with the "academic judgement" behind grades, administrative or procedural errors or appeals related to the Equality Act, including assessment arrangements.
• Grades could be potentially lowered as a result of appealing but the minister says past experience shows this will happen rarely
• Ms Somerville insisted the system was fair, despite claims from opposition politicians that there has been widespread variation in the way pupils have been assessed.
• Finance Secretary Kate Forbes says more money has been allocated for financial support of taxi drivers, with drivers who previously received a £1,500 grant getting a second payment this month
• Ms Forbes says an extra £12m of support will be offered to businesses in areas that are remaining in level two next week.

Scottish ministers have been too slow in their response to supporting the business community through Covid, opposition MSPs claim.

Tory MSP Liz Smith says "many businesses are still seriously struggling and desperately in need of support" more than a year after the pandemic started.

Ms Smith says "certainty and stability" are required.

Labour MSP Daniel Johnson says the "shockwaves of Covid 19 are far wider" than the case rates and hospitalisation rates that currently dominate the news agenda.

Mr Johnson says the "pace of the Scottish government response to businesses has been painfully slow at points" and adds that economic recovery needs to push up the agenda.

Kate Forbes says details will be published later today of up to £12m of support for businesses in the local authorities which will not be moving from level two of lockdown restrictions.

"Businesses who were expecting to open or see reduced restrictions as a result of moving to level one....will receive weekly support similar to the Strategic Framework Business Fund."

Ms Forbes adds that there will also be "additional discretionary funding".

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Ms Forbes says the Scottish government has allocated up to a further £62m of financial support for taxi drivers and operators, "bringing the total support for the taxi sector throughout the pandemic to more than £90m".

She adds that all drivers who previously received a £1,500 grant will receive a second payment this month.

Taxi operators will then be contacted by their local authorities and receive tiered grants, which Ms Forbes says will take their total support up to £10,000.

Some of the larger operators will receive up to £15,000.

Ms Forbes says that while the Scottish economy grew by 2.1% in March, it remains 5.4% below the level of February 2020.

She says: "While the latest output figures indicated that we are taking tentative steps towards recovery, some sectors have clearly been hit harder than others."

Ms Forbes adds that output from Scotland's accommodation and food sectors remains 70% below pre-pandemic levels.

Moving on to other matters, the parliament is hearing about support being offered for businesses hit by the pandemic

Kate Forbes - the cabinet secretary for the economy - leads a debate on economic recovery.

Ms Forbes starts by thanking businesses and workers "for their sacrifices" since the first lockdown.

She says: "Their livelihoods have been on the line for over a year. The essential restrictions have saved lives - but not without cost."

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Labour MSP Claire Baker asks if pupils hoping to go to college or university can be confident they will get any appeal result in time.

Ms Somerville explains that people filling in the appeal forms will be given the chance to explain a further or higher education place is contingent on the grade.

She said: "We will ensure it is done on a priority basis so those who are waiting for a place at a college or a university will be given a priority."

The SNP minister said pupils can expect provisional assessment results at the end of June and then “conversations can start with schools" about those grades.

Pam Gosel, from the Scottish Conservatives, asks Shirley-Anne Somerville if the new appeals process will give colleges and universities enough time to prepare for additional students.

The Tory MSP asks for an assurance that the Scottish government will work with educational institutions to provide a route map for reopening.

Ms Somerville says she is working closely with the sector to ensure that universities can reopen safely for students and staff, "bearing in mind the public health limitations that we are under".

SNP MSP Clare Adamson asks how the government "can ensure equity and quality control over different assessment models".

The education secretary says the system allows schools and colleges to have " a wide discretion" about the types of assessment that can be undertaken.

"That is to ensure that they are fit for purpose for their learners", Ms Somerville adds.

"For example (that includes) looking at the range and the timing of the tasks that are available. I think, with that in place, we can be reassured that there is equity and there is absolutely quality control...to ensure that young people get the grades they are entitled to at the end of this process."

Concern over grades being revised down as well as uppublished at 14:49 British Summer Time 2 June 2021

14:49 BST 2 June 2021

Lucy Whyte
BBC Scotland education correspondent

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Appeals are always part of the exams system in Scotland but arguably the role they play this year is much more important.

Normally appeals are made through schools and for a limited number of reasons, usually a pupil has to have been given a worse grade in the final exam than their teacher predicted.

Allowing pupils to appeal directly to the SQA and for a wider range of reasons will be welcomed by young people. What will not be as welcome is the fact that grades can be revised down as well as up.

This is normal practice, but many argue that this year that option should be off the table to account for the disruption young people have faced and that this could be seen as downgrading teacher judgement.

Beatrice Wishart, of the Liberal Democrats, says views from her constituency have been that "assessment after assessment with no study leave" is the the worst model possible.

She says pupils have told her they have 16 assessments this week, "and it's a nightmare for teachers too".

Ms Wishart says "there are no excuses left" for the SQA, which the Lib Dems have repeatedly insisted must be reformed.

She asks the education secretary if she accepts the situation has increased stress levels among pupils and staff.

Ms Somerville says she understands the mental health issues, but she has listened carefully to all stakeholders "and I still believe that this is the fairest option out there".

She adds: "We can reassure young people that they will get the grades based on demonstrated attainment in a fair and credible way."

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Scotland Office minister David Duguid has tested positive for coronavirus and is self-isolating.

A UK government spokesperson said the Banff and Buchan Conservative MP, took a test as a precaution and had not been in contact with other UK government ministers for over a week.

It is understood Mr Duguid is feeling well and is asymptomatic and took the test as a precaution after recent cases at his children's school.

Mr Duguid was pictured with Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross at a socially distanced outdoors event in Peterhead on 31 May. Mr Ross is now self-isolating.

Ms Somerville defended the “symmetry” approach that could potentially see the grades of pupils appealing put down.

The education secretary said it would allow a “true judgement on a pupil’s attainment” by the experts considering the appeals and added that “without symmetry there would not be a full and fair review of the evidence”.

But Green MSP Ross Greer said the “lack of no detriment means schools and pupils will take a perverse gamble” in the appeals system.

He said: “Why would they have stronger evidence for an appeal that they choose not submit in the first place?”

Ms Somerville says that in the past the downgrading of marks has only happened rarely.

Ms Somerville responds to a question from Labour's Michael Marra about how the situation varies for schools in different council areas around Scotland.

There have been reports of widespread variation in the way pupils have been assessed, with complaints that some pupils have faced multiple assessments in a short space of time, while other areas have used systems similar to a normal exam diet.

The education secretary says: "We have variability to ensure that schools can best put in place what is right for them and, most particularly, for their pupils."

She adds that it is important that individual schools are supported "to ensure that there are national standards and national guidelines".

"There is nothing coming from the Scottish government or SQA that requires high-stake examinations. That is not how the system has been designed."

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Pupils will be able to submit direct appeals under this year’s assessment system, Ms Sommerville revealed.

For the first time a direct right of appeal will be allowed on the grounds of disagreeing with the judgement, procedural errors or any equalities issues with assessment arrangements.

Ms Sommerville said: “It is right in these exceptional times that there is a broad mechanism for those to appeal who consider they have not received the right result, and that this is free at the point of use.”

Those judging the appeals will have the power to put grades down, up or keep them the same.

Ms Somerville says she fully understands that there are some people who disagree with the model that has been put in place.

"But to those I say people that teachers, parents, learners and carers have been listened to and this model is the result of that."

The education secretary says awarding qualifications "will always be challenging" in these circumstances, but the model is the fairest solution in the interests of young people.

Education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville says this year's set-up is designed so the "hard work of learners can be fairly acknowledged".

In her opening remarks, the SNP minister said the key message to pupils was that "your grades will be judged by your teachers, based on your work".

She added: "At heart of the model are the professional judgments of teachers, it is those judgements alone that will determine what those pupils receive."

An investigation by BBC Radio Scotland's Lunchtime Live programme has found evidence that more than 6,500 pupils have been using a website set up to to cheat in this year's qualification assessments.

The "anti SQA" site has numerous photos of exam papers and answers, and is still active.

The Scottish government says it has already asked schools to take down such posts, and the SQA says they have taken any incidents very seriously and were in contact with schools and colleges to ensure posts were removed as soon as possible. The site is still active. More on this in a moment.

We reported earlier this month how exam questions were also being shared on TikTok

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Some pupils have previously told BBC Scotland that the system designed to replace formal exams after a year of disruption is causing more stress and anxiety than the usual qualification system.

Pupils, parents and teachers have described severe stress and even panic attacks over the assessment system currently under way in secondary schools across the country.

Pupils have said evidence of their knowledge was being gathered in a series of assessments under exam conditions.

But these come without the support of an exam set-up, and without study leave or an evenly-spread timetable.

Add to this the broken learning of the past 16 months and young people say they are at breaking point.

Read more here

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Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the education secretary's Holyrood statement on the appeals process for Highers and National 5s.

It will be Shirley-Anne Somerville's first major speech since taking over the education brief from John Swinney two weeks ago

Exams for senior-phase school pupils have been cancelled for the second year in a row due to Covid restrictions.

Grades are instead to be awarded on the basis of "teacher judgement of evidence of learner attainment".

You can watch the Holyrood session by clicking on the tab above.