On Tuesday almost 137,000 young people across Scotland will receive the results for their Nationals, Highers, Advanced Highers, and a whole series of other courses, certificates, and awards.
These results reflect your skills, knowledge and understanding and whether you continue with your learning at school, or move on to further/higher education, training or employment, you and your parents/carers can be proud of your achievements.
You can also be confident that your results are credible and fair. You can find out more about the credibility of this year’s qualifications, and how the national standard was applied here.
GETTING YOUR RESULTS
When is Results Day and how will I receive my results?
Results Day is Tuesday 10 August 2021. You will receive a copy of your Scottish Qualifications Certificate delivered by first-class post to your home address. If you have signed up for MySQA, you will also receive your results via text and/or email from 8am onwards that morning.
I haven’t received my results certificate in the post — how can I get them?
If your post has been delivered and you haven’t received your certificate, contact your school, college or training provider immediately. They will be able to tell you your results and will work with us to find out what has happened to your certificate.
If you registered for and activated a MySQA account, you will receive your results by text and/or email from 8am onwards.
My MySQA text and/or email hasn’t arrived – what should I do?
All candidates will receive their results certificate by post on Tuesday 10 August. If your post has been delivered and you don’t receive your certificate, please contact your school, college or training provider who will be able to help you.
If you have created and activated a MySQA account, you will receive your results straight to your phone by email and/or text.
Please remember that text messages and emails are sent from 8am onwards. Delivery times can vary depending on your service provider and there are a lot to be issued, so you might not receive them until later that day. You should also check your spam or junk folder in case your email goes in there.
If you successfully created a MySQA account last year, then you will automatically receive your results by text and/or email again this year.
You can access your MySQA profile when the system re-opens on Wednesday 11 August 2021.
ABOUT YOUR RESULTS
Will my results on Tuesday be different from the ones I got in June?
Your teachers and lecturers should have given you your provisional results at the end of June and explained to you how they were reached. You can be confident that your results reflect the skills, knowledge and understanding you showed in your assessments.
SQA has not changed your provisional results. We have checked for any administrative errors that may have occurred when your school, college or training provider entered your provisional results into our system.
The results outlined in your Scottish Qualifications Certificate will only differ from the results your school or college or training provider gave you if an administrative error was found.
Information about your Scottish Qualifications Certificate is available here on our website.
Who should I contact if I have questions about my results?
If you have any questions about your results, or if there are results missing from your certificate that you are expecting to see, you should contact your school, college or training provider in the first instance.
What should I do if I don’t agree with the results I got?
Our Learner Appeals Booklet 2021 tells you what you need to know about the free appeals service for National 5, Higher, and Advanced Higher qualifications in 2021.
If you have already registered that you want to appeal one or more of your results, you should still have a further conversation with your teacher or lecturer and get their view if an appeal is in your best interests.
You can still register for an appeal directly on the SQA website until Thursday 12 August.
If you decide you want to appeal after Thursday 12 August, you can ask your school or college or training provider to submit an appeal for you. They will be able to do this until Tuesday 24 August for priority appeals and until Friday 27 August for all other appeals. The final decision to appeal is yours.
If you decide not to appeal, you can withdraw your request by Thursday 12 August by completing our withdraw an appeal form or contacting customer@sqa.org.uk.
YOUR SCOTTISH QUALIFICATIONS CERTIFICATE
Who do I contact if I have questions about my certificate?
You can find out what the information on your certificate means, and what else is inside your envelope, on our website.
Alternatively, you can contact SQA’s Candidate Advice Line on 0345 279 1000. The helpline runs from 8am – 6pm on Tuesday 10 August, and from 9am – 5pm Wednesday 11, Thursday 12, and Friday 13 August.
Who do I contact if there is an error on my certificate?
If there is an error on your certificate, such as your name has been spelled incorrectly, your school, college or training provider can request a new one for you.
If you’re missing results, or there are results listed that you weren’t expecting to see, contact your school, college or training provider. SQA will only send you an updated certificate once the school, college or training provider sends us the necessary information.
Why is there no grade on my certificate for my course?
Courses at National 5, Higher, and Advanced Higher are graded A-D. All other courses and awards are graded as pass or fail.
Ask your school, college or training provider which level you were entered for. If you’re missing a Skills for Work course, remember these courses are not graded — the units that make up the course are assessed as pass or fail.
If your certificate is missing a grade for a National 5, Higher or Advanced Higher course, you have not achieved a grade A-D.
For a small number of you, personal circumstances may mean that, through no fault of your own, you were unable to complete all the required course assessments for some of your courses by Friday 25 June.
It may have been agreed with your teacher or lecturer that you should complete your assessments later. In this instance, your school, college, or training provider has until Friday 3 September 2021 to send your provisional grades to SQA. You will receive your results certificate for these courses later this year. If this is the case, the subject you’re being assessed on later won’t appear in your certificate on Tuesday.
If you’re missing results, or there are results listed that you weren’t expecting to see, speak to you teachers or lecturers when you return to school, college or training.
What does ‘No Award’ mean?
Candidates who score less than 40% are not awarded a National Course and will receive a ‘No Award’ result.
Any National Units you have achieved will be recorded on a separate certificate within your envelope.
If you’re missing results, or there are results listed that you weren’t expecting to see, speak to your teachers or lecturers when you return to school, college or training.
What is the SCQF Profile?
Along with your SQA certificate, you get a sheet which includes your SCQF (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework) Profile.
Knowing a bit about the SCQF will help you to make sense of your exam certificate, and can help you plan your next steps, particularly if you didn’t receive the results you hoped for and need to change your plans. More information can be found on the SCQF website.
TAKING YOUR NEXT STEPS
Will I be able to progress to the next stage of my education or employment with the results I receive this year?
Yes. Your qualifications are fully recognised as they would be in any year. SQA has been in regular discussion with UCAS (the University and College Admission Service), Colleges Scotland, and Universities Scotland who will each help you to progress on to the next stage of your education.
Where can I find advice about a college/university place?
If you didn’t get the results you were hoping for, or you did better than you expected, the Universities & Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) will be happy to speak to you and give you some guidance on what to do next. Visit their website or call 0800 100 900.
Skills Development Scotland (SDS) Advisors can provide you with information on course vacancies at UK colleges and universities as well as on confirmation and clearing. The SDS Results Helpline is available from 8am on Results Day, Tuesday 10 August and will run until Wednesday 18 August. Visit their website or call 0808 100 8000.
Where can I find careers advice, including information about Apprenticeships?
The Skills Development Scotland (SDS) Results Helpline is available from 8am on Results Day, Tuesday 10 August and will run until Wednesday 18 August.
SDS Advisers can tell you about Foundation, Modern and Graduate Apprenticeships, jobs, volunteering or staying on at school.
Visit their website or call 0808 100 8000.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS DAY SUPPORT
Questions about your results:
- Contact your school, college or training provider in the first instance. If you have problems receiving your results on Tuesday 10 August, your school, college or training provider will be able to tell you your results.
Questions about your certificate:
- Contact our Candidate Advice Line on 0345 279 1000. The helpline runs from 8am – 6pm on Tuesday 10 August, and from 9am – 5pm Wednesday 11, Thursday 12, and Friday 13 August. Alternatively, search for sqa.org.uk/results for further information and support.
Questions about college/university applications:
- Contact UCAS on 0800 100 900. The helpline will be open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 5pm on Saturday for two weeks from 09 August to 20 August.
Questions about further education opportunities and careers:
- Contact SDS on 0808 100 8000. The helpline runs from 8am on Results Day, Tuesday 10 August and will run until Wednesday 18 August.
Support for your mental health and wellbeing
- Our support and resources webpage contains information to assist you as you plan your next steps, including links to organisations which are on hand to support your mental health and wellbeing.
