A tech platform used by Scotland’s national qualifications body has distributed emails to students across the country without their exam results.
Students who signed up to receive their grades by email via the MySQA service – run by the Scottish Qualifications Authority – saw a blank space instead.
In a statement on X, the national body said it was aware of the tech issue this morning and was working urgently on a fix, but said the alternative text message service was not affected.
It wrote: “We know there is an issue impacting candidates who signed up to receive their results by email only.
”We are working urgently to resolve the issue. Texts are not impacted and the vast majority of learners who signed up to MySQA are receiving their results as expected.
”All learners across Scotland will also receive their physical certificate today via post.”
Users quickly turned to the platform, however, to voice their criticism. One said they were on holiday and thatwe are going crazy’, with some bemoaning a lack of an apology on the social media site from the SQA.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said it was aware of the “technical issue” but said it had now “been resolved”.
A spokesperson for SQA said: “The MySQA service delivers results to activated accounts by text and/or email on National 4, National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses.
“We swiftly resolved the technical issue that had impacted some candidates yesterday who had signed up to receive their results by email only. Texts were not impacted and the vast majority of learners who signed up to MySQA received their results as expected. All learners also received their results by post.
“Initial investigations suggest that the issue related to data not being aligned. We regret the impact this may have had on the learners involved.”
The IT glitch occurred on ‘results day’, where around 145,000 students across the country received their grades for National 5, Highers, Advanced Highers and SQA Awards.
According to the 2024 data, 77.2 per cent of National 5 entrants received an A-C grade, compared to 78.8 per cent last year. For Highers, 74.9 per cent of students received an A-C grade this year, compared to 77.1 per cent in 2023. And for Advanced Highers, the results showed 75.3 per cent of students received an A-C this year compared to 79.8 per cent in 2023. In summary, all major exam categories saw a downward trend this year.
However, a record 90,045 vocational and technical qualifications have been awarded this year, an increase of almost 25 per cent on 2024.
The data also shows the poverty-related attainment gap at National 5 and Higher has returned to levels broadly similar to 2019 – the last year of pre-pandemic results.
Education secretary Jenny Gilruth said: “Congratulations to all of Scotland’s young people receiving their results for this year. Their resilience is remarkable, and their achievements all the more impressive given the significant disruption to learning due to the pandemic at the end of primary school and start of the secondary school journey. Today is a chance to celebrate the full breadth of achievements attained by Scotland’s young people.
“I also want to give my thanks to the teachers, lecturers and staff in our schools and colleges – and, importantly, Scotland’s parents and carers – for supporting each individual young person.
“Among those achievements, I’m really heartened to see a record high 90,045 vocational or technical qualifications have been awarded this year, up almost a quarter on 2023’s results.”
Other developments within a ‘curriculum improvement cycle’ include a prioritisation of numeracy and mathematics, and the appointment of a ‘national specialist in mathematics’.
In the coming weeks, a new Behaviour Action Plan is also due to be published following concerns about classroom behaviour and attendance, as well as detail about qualifications reform.
Gilruth added: “I am also conscious that there is a wide degree of variation in results between our 32 local authorities. To that end, I will be meeting with all local authority Directors of Education, the Chief Examiner and the interim Chief Inspector to consider the context of these results and how the Scottish Government can work with our councils to drive the improvements we all want to see.”