Do the online results come up on the day that they're sent out, or are they online first?

They should go up on the day they are posted. So if the results are online on a Monday, you'll get the certificates etc in the post on Tuesday.

Yes, that is certainly what happened in the last 2 sessions. This session I was waiting for a grade 8 result. (always an important time!) Usually I receive an Email alerting me to the fact that the results are on line. This time I got the Email only after I had received the certificate and mark sheet! I had already logged on to the online results though, just in case, and they had been published. I just hadn't been sent the customary Email. Maybe they have changed the system slightly.

A lot of people seem to find that they don't always (or often, or on time) get the email, so it's worth checking before the email arrives.

I don't think the system's working very well this term. My first lot of results didn't appear online until after I'd received them in the post. The 2nd lot were online 1st, but I haven't received any emails at all. Now waiting for one more lot. When the online system 1st started, it seemed to be more efficient. I always received the email & they were there several days before the postal results came.

My e-mail notification came so long after the practical results that I started getting stupidly hopeful that it was for the theory - but no such luck.

Ditto. Or my second lot of practical exams.

I obviously was lucky with the notification email - mine only arrived about 7 or 8 hours after the results were online........