The pass rate has fallen while the attainment gap has widened across all Scottish school qualifications after a chaotic start to the day when thousands of pupils received a blank email instead of their exam results.
The chief executive of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), Fiona Robertson, apologised to the estimated 7,000 young people affected, blaming a technical issue that was “resolved swiftly”, with the correct results emails sent out by 9.30am.