Scottish exam results day 2026: What time will grades come out?

More than 148,000 people across Scotland are set to receive their exam results.

The results for Nationals, Highers, Advanced Highers and Skills for Work Awards will be issued from 08:00 on Tuesday.

The system is now run by new exams body Qualifications Scotland, which took over from the SQA after a number of controversies in previous years.

Advice lines offering support and guidance will be open from 08:00.

The results are being issued for Nationals, Highers and Advanced Highers - as well as the more vocational National Progression Awards, Skills for Work Awards, and National Certificates.

More than 131,000 learners sat exams in more than 460 schools, colleges and training centres this year, while 17,000 will receive their results for vocational courses.

The results are sent out by first-class post but many students have opted to receive their grades digitally.

Text messages and emails are due to be sent to the 67,000 candidates who have an activated My Qualifications Scotland, external account from 08:00 onwards.

Every learner will also receive their results by post, but it will depend on when their mail normally arrives.

Ryley Bowman tells us what we need to know about exam results day in Scotland.

Courses at National 5, Higher, and Advanced Higher are graded A-D.

National 2, National 3, and National 4 courses are not graded - the units that make up these courses are assessed as pass or fail.

Grade boundaries vary from year to year and the exact percentages for 2026 won't be published until results day.

However, the qualifications body sets initial grade boundaries for their assessments at 50% for a C, 70% for an A, and 85% for an Upper A.

This is the starting point for deciding the final grade boundaries, which are set at meetings in June and July after marking has been completed.

If you receive a grade D result this usually means you scored between 40 and 49% in the course assessment.

Candidates who score less than 40% are not awarded a national course and will receive a no award result.

The number of pupils achieving an A, B or C grade at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher increased last year.

The National 5 qualifications figure rose from 77.2% in 2024 to 78.4% in 2025.

The rate for Higher increased from 74.9% to 75.9%, and the rate for Advanced Higher rose from 75.3% to 76.7%.

Figures released earlier this year showed that the attainment gap between Scotland's richest and poorest school pupils remains wider than it was before the pandemic.

There is lots of support available if you don't get the results you are hoping for.