The swearing in ceremony follows last week's election which saw the SNP win a landslide victory -- falling just one seat short of an overall majority.

Here are the highlights so far:

• Nicola Sturgeon was the first to make an affirmation in this sixth session of the Scottish Parliament
• Outgoing Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh declared the sixth session duly constituted first - he will oversee the election of his successor after lunch
• Ms Sturgeon was closely followed by the five other party leader (remember Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater are co-leaders of the Scottish Greens)
• Ms Slater became the first new MSP to take the affirmation
• A record number of women have been elected to the parliament with 58 female MSPs taking the affirmation or oath today
• Labour's Pam Duncan-Glancy becomes the first permanent wheelchair user elected to the Scottish Parliament
• Tory MSP Pam Gosal becomes the first Sikh and the first woman of colour to take the oath and she takes it in Punjabi
• SNP MSP Christine Grahame becomes the mother of the house

Image source, Getty Images

SNP MSP Christine Grahame makes an affirmation and becomes the "mother of the house", having achieved the honour of being the oldest MSP coming back to Holyrood.

Her SNP colleague Neil Gray became a minor celebrity during the election count, but he didn't milk it!

He hit the headlines after his wife tweeted a message urging him to pick up some milk following his win.

The new MSP gives the affirmation in Orcadian.

Rachel Hamilton, the Tory MSP, makes her oath in Welsh.

SNP MSP Craig Hoy gives the oath, another new face and name to learn!

Image source, Getty Images

Ariane Burgess is one of the new intake of MSPs, and one of the Scottish Greens' record eight elected members.

Ms Burgess was elected for the party to represent Highlands and Island.

Joining Ms Burgess in the chamber will be Stephanie Callaghan for the SNP, who was elected after winning Uddingston and Bellshill.

Image source, Getty Images

Another new Green MSP is Maggie Chapman, who repeats her affirmation in Zimbabwean Shona.

Before her affirmation, like her colleague Ms Burgess, Ms Chapman declares the Scottish people sovereign and says she is giving this affirmation under protest.

New Labour MSP Katie Clark says: "The people of this country should be citizens not subjects".

Baroness Clark of Kilwinning has served in the Lords and as an MP.

The new MSP for Renfrewshire North and West is the SNP's Natalie Don and she too gives an affirmation.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, PA Media

The first women of colour have been elected to the Scottish Parliament in its 22-year history.

Kaukab Stewart of the SNP was elected to represent the Glasgow Kelvin constituency.

And Pam Gosal is now a Conservative MSP for the West of Scotland region.

Prior to the 2021 election campaign, there had been a total of four MSPs from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds - all of them men of Scots-Pakistani heritage.

• Read more here
• Full details of the results from across Scotland, external
• Scottish election results A-Z, external
• The women who hoped to break the mould of Scottish politics

Image source, Reuters

Pam Gosal makes two bits of history, being the first Sikh to be elected to Holyrood and the first woman of colour to take the oath.

Ms Gosal, who makes the oath in Punjabi, told the Sunday Show she was very proud to be the first Indian Sikh to be elected to the parliament.

She was elected as a Conservative MSP for the West of Scotland region.

Along with Kaukab Stewart of the SNP, who was elected to represent the Glasgow Kelvin constituency, they were the first women of colour to be elected to the Scottish Parliament in its 22-year history.

Labour MSP for Glasgow, Pam Duncan-Glancy, gives her affirmation.

Ms Duncan-Glancy becomes the first permanent wheelchair user elected to the Scottish Parliament.

Image source, Getty Images

Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh welcomes the second group of newly-elected MSPs to the sixth session of the parliament.

Veteran MSP James Dornan is first and makes his affirmation without the need of the clerk preceding him.

The SNP MSP's expertise is praised by the presiding officer to much laughter.

Mr Dornan is followed by new hand Sharon Dowey who was elected on the South of Scotland list for the Scottish Conservatives.

Fellow new MSP Jackie Dunbar, elected to represent Aberdeen Donside for the SNP, gives the affirmation and repeats it in Doric.

Image source, Getty Images

Outgoing Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh is presiding over all the oath-taking proceedings.

Due to social distancing the maximum capacity of the chamber currently stands at 66 seats on the floor and 27 seats in the galleries.

MSPs began being sworn in at 09:00. That will continue in groups until 12:40 this afternoon.

Image source, Getty Images

Two days after the Holyrood election result was announced, preparations were already under way for the new parliamentary term.

MSPs were being inducted into the Scottish Parliament building on Monday and Tuesday, ahead of today's formal swearing-in ceremony.

Ahead of that, some of the parties' more experienced politicians reflected on the result.

Click here to find out their musings.

Siobhan Brown won an incredibly tight contest with former Tory MSP John Scott, to take Ayr.

It is now Scotland's most marginal seat with her victory secured by just 170 votes.

Siobhan Brown was brought up in Australia until moving to Scotland in 1999.

Our political correspondent Philip Sim has more details on the numbers that matter from the Scottish Parliament election 2021.

A record number of women have been elected to the Scottish Parliament, with 58 female MSPs winning seats in the Holyrood election.

Women now represent 45% of Scotland's 129 MSPs.

There were 45 women in the last Scottish Parliament, with several parties fielding female candidates to replace MSPs standing down.

The SNP now has 34 women, Labour have 10, the Conservatives have eight, the Scottish Greens have five and the Lib Dems have one female MSP.

• Read more here
• Scottish election results in maps and charts
• Sturgeon celebrates 'extraordinary' SNP triumph

The new member for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, the SNP's Karen Adam makes her affirmation in sign language.

In her previous life as a councillor, Ms Adam worked to improve services for the disabled at Aberdeenshire Council.

However, a number of the newly elected MSPs will take the oath or affirmation in a language other than English today.

They include the SNP MSPs Clare Adamson and Alasdair Allan, who opt to repeat them in Scots and Gaelic respectively.

Ariane Burgess and Donald Cameron also use Gaelic.

Is this Scotland's most diverse parliament yet?published at 09:48 British Summer Time 13 May 2021

09:48 BST 13 May 2021

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Holyrood's diverse representation had somewhat stalled in recent years - but that has all changed now.

The class of 2021 includes a record number of 58 female MSPs. The SNP now has 34 women, Labour have 10, the Conservatives have eight, the Scottish Greens have five and the Lib Dems have one female MSP.

It has chiefly been driven by the SNP's policy of having all-women shortlists for many seats where male MSPs were retiring - meaning a lot of older male MSPs have effectively been replaced by younger women.

Among those are the first women of colour elected to Holyrood, the SNP's Kaukab Stewart and Pam Gosal of the Scottish Tories.

Labour's Pam Duncan-Glancy became the first wheelchair user returned to Holyrood, in what may be the most diverse parliament to date.

See the Scottish election results in maps and charts

Image source, Reuters

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and member for North East Fife, Willie Rennie is the last party leader to take the oath.

Born and raised in Fife, Mr Rennie has been leader of the party since 2011, previously managing election campaigns in England in the 1990s before serving as the chief executive of the party in Scotland.

A keen runner, he has developed a reputation as an energetic campaigner and has become known for his colourful photo-calls on the election trail.

Lorna Slater, fresh from her election as a regional MSP for Lothian, asserts that she believes "the Scottish people to be sovereign" ahead of making her affirmation.

The new Green co-leader told BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show that she was leaving her job as an engineering project manager in renewable energy for the "huge privilege" of a seat at Holyrood.

Image source, PA Media

It's safe to say that it's been an election like no other.

The votes are counted and the final results are in - take a look back at some of the moments from the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

• Scottish election 2021: The numbers behind the result

Video by Morgan Spence

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie, also a member for Glasgow, chooses to make an affirmation.

Before the affirmation, he tells the chamber that his party's allegiance is to the people of Scotland.

Mr Harvie has been an MSP since 2003. He is a member of Holyrood's Finance and Standards committees.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Mr Sarwar was elected as the new leader of Scottish Labour on 27 February this year, replacing Richard Leonard who had led the party for three years.

The Glasgow MSP became a member of the Scottish Labour Party at the age of 16.

His father, Mohammad Sarwar, was the UK's first ever Muslim MP and held the Glasgow Central seat for Labour between 1997 and 2010 - until his son Anas succeeded him.

Mr Sarwar graduated from the University of Glasgow and worked as a dentist in Paisley for five years prior to becoming an MP.

Image source, Reuters

Douglas Ross is up next and opts to take the oath.

The Scottish Conservative leader says he has no intention of standing down as an MP, after being elected to Holyrood as an MSP via the Highlands and Islands regional list.

Mr Ross, the MP for Moray since 2017, says he wants to be a "strong, passionate voice" for Scotland in both parliaments and dismisses concerns others may need to deputise for him in Holyrood if he has to attend votes in Westminster.

There are a number of changes to this swearing in ceremony, brought about due to the pandemic.

MSPs are taking the oath from their desks to abide by social distancing rules.