The first week of August is always a time of butterflies for pupils, teachers and school leaders. Whether by email, text or the traditional way, exam results will appear on Tuesday, and hopes will be met, exceeded or shattered.

This will be the first time in four years that the results won’t include those of my daughter - I’ve seen at first hand both the elation and the disappointment that these certificates can bring the moment they arrive.

Those who are disappointed need reassurance that what happens now does not define them - there are a number of opportunities to follow different pathways. There will be staff on hand in schools up and down the country to help students understand the impact of their results - what it might mean for them in terms of getting on to the course they desire, for example, or whether they might need to rethink the subjects they are going to do in their sixth and final year at secondary school. Schools are helped greatly by partners such as Skills Development Scotland at this time.

Subject teachers, school leaders and headteachers will be looking first and foremost at the results of individuals, wanting to make sure that young people have achieved the grades they were capable of. They will be keen to see if the predictions have proved to be true; perhaps hoping that the results are at least a little bit better than those predicted, that some young people will have upped their game to improve upon their results in prelims (Scotland’s equivalent term to mock exams).

A regular dilemma is how to celebrate the successes of individual students. Those who have, for example, achieved five As in one sitting have achieved what many see as the pinnacle of academic success. I know that I have been keen to highlight this kind of success in the local press. However, for those who have fared less well, but have perhaps achieved the very best that they could, is this fair? For some, two Bs, 2 Cs and a D can be just as great an achievement as someone who sails through straight As.

Individual stories aside, school leaders will also have a very careful eye on overall percentages. The success of a school, and its reputation, can very much depend upon the quality of its exam results. There will be much number crunching going on in schools across the country, to at least give an idea of how well the school as a whole will have performed - this will have a very direct impact on the rating a school achieves in the “raising attainment and achievement” quality indicator. A frustration for many is that it will be a few weeks before data from Insight - an online benchmarking tool in Scotland - is produced. It is really only then when a school can judge, against a “virtual comparator” school, how well it has done. By then, of course, it is too late to make a difference for those young people who have come and gone, but the figures produced can provide vital information to a school and its departments on what is working well and what might need further improvement.

For many, it is time to enjoy the moment. Futures are mapped out, and the satisfaction that months of hard work have paid off is keenly felt. The flurry of interest in exam results passes (at least for a while). But soon enough, the whole merry-go-round starts again - before long, students and staff start will be working extremely hard for the exam diet in May 2019...

David Barnett is headteacher at Elgin Academy and president of School Leaders Scotland