Things to do the night before results day

The last thing you do is sit around and mope tonight. I know what I am talking about. I have been through three results days; GCSEs, AS levels and A levels last week. Sitting around worrying the night before just makes matters worse and actually caused me to be physically ill last week.

These are my tips.

1. Decide what time you are going to go in tomorrow but don't delay it. On my results day I was tempted to go in later out of fear but it would have just delayed the inevitable. Finding out my results ASAP was actually a huge relief. Even if my results had been lower than i had hoped i would have preferred to have known and come to terms with it and figured out my next steps. At AS i got a grade that was much lower than I had hoped but going in early allowed me to discuss with my teachers whether to drop the subject or not for the A level exam.

2. Google the grade boundaries. When doing my A levels i found that Googling the grade boundaries actually made me feel better. I knew what i needed, 80% UMS for an A in some subjects, but found that the raw marks needed to obtain that UMS were a lot lower than i had originally thought. This was the best thing I could have done and made my goal grades seem much more realistic.

3.  Think realistically about the range of grades that you would be happy with. On my AS results day I was hoping for 4 As and convinced myself that this was the only positive outcome. I got 3 As and a B and was not happy with my results. I should have realised that this was a great result but because i was so fixed on the idea of 4 As it took my a while to accept this. If I had thought that i would be happy with a range of grades from 3 Bs and an A to 4 As I would have been a lot less anxious and happier with my results. 

4. Remember that whilst GCSE results are extremely important you still have time to develop academically. I only really began to understand and enjoy my school subjects in the second year of A levels because I was studying the subjects I really had a passion for. Revising for subjects like Maths and Chemistry at GCSEs was awful. As a result, of this I did a lot better in my A levels than in my GCSEs. 

Good luck to all the GCSE students tomorrow! Parents should remember to be understanding about results as the pressure on this generation is much greater as we face much higher levels of debt, linear A levels, a more competitive university application process, lesser job prospects and a dire political future with a Tory government, Brexit and Trump. 

Now that you have read the serious stuff just relax and get your mind off of results!