6 February –Derek Mackay resigns asFinance Secretary hours before delivering his budget following reports that he messaged a sixteen-year-old boy on social media over a period of several months.[2]
4 August – TheScottish Qualifications Authority issues moderated grades to school pupils who have not been able to take examinations due to the COVID-19 pandemic;[11] on 10 August, Nicola Sturgeon publicly accepts that her government "did not get it right" over this procedure.[12]
11 August –Ruth Davidson is appointed Leader of the Scottish Conservatives in the Scottish Parliament byDouglas Ross, becoming the Leader of the Opposition again.[14]
25 November – Scotland becomes the first country in the world to make it a legal duty for period products to be available to anyone for free after thePeriod Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill is approved.[17]
11 February –Douglas Stuart's debut novelShuggie Bain, a story of growing up in 1980s Glasgow, is first published in the United States; it wins this year'sBooker Prize.[43]
