‘It’s been an emotional rollercoaster’
Thomas Atkins, 16, Sheffield
Thomas Atkins said the weeks leading up to his exam results had been an “emotional rollercoaster”, and said he was “terrified” after he was told that all sixth-form students at his school had been downgraded.
“There was a lot of pacing up and down. I was terrified because it’s probably the next three or four years of my life that those grades dictate,” Thomas said. “I thought, if that’s how they treat 18-year-olds who can vote, how will they treat us? Scotland changed their minds, then Wales and Northern Ireland, why did it take our government so long?”
Thomas received a mixture of four, five and six grades, and said he was pleased with some, but felt he could have done better in subjects such as maths had he sat the exams. He is still waiting on one grade from his BTec in Drama, before he goes on to study A-levels in sociology, English language and geography.
“Waiting for my BTec result isn’t too bad, as drama isn’t something I’m studying further, but it is weird to still have one result that even after all this, they can’t give me,” he said.
‘I was worried my school would be badly downgraded, so I’m very relieved’
Mia Norman, 16, Newport
“I go to a state comprehensive which hasn’t performed very well, particularly in the last two years, so I was extremely anxious that my results would be downgraded,” said Mia Norman, who achieved the equivalent of 11 A* grades on GCSE results day, with one A.
Mia said she was worried about the impact downgraded marks would have on her mental health, and had nightmares on Wednesday night ahead of results being released.
“I’ve always found it difficult in disconnecting self-worth from my grades, so it’s made me see things in a new light, and forced my lifelong control freak self to realise that sometimes things are out of our control and that’s OK,” she said. “In that sense I think it’s definitely going to have a positive impact on me.”
Mia said she was “feeling great” that her hard work had paid off, and did better than she expected in some subjects.
‘I feared a repeat of the A-level fiasco, so I’m very relieved’
Hannah, 16, Eastbourne
Hannah received predominantly eight and nine grades in her GCSEs. “I am pleased with the process,” she said. “Because even though there was going to be another way of calculating the grades, the government listened to what the students wanted and corrected it.”
Hannah said that prior to results day, the A-levels row had made her nervous about her grades.
“The A-level grades were in the news quite a lot which brought up a lot of uncertainty about grades, my college position and whether I would be able to do the A-level courses I originally hoped for,” she said. “I was nervous as well as they had caused many different problems for those students, which made it feel like the same would happen with my grades and the algorithm wouldn’t represent the work I put in or the grades I deserved.”
‘I had a sleepless night, but it’s all been worth it’
Mashhood Ahmed, 16, London
Mashhood Ahmed achieved 11 grade nines in his GCSE results from his comprehensive school in London, with one further nine achieved in an exam sat last year.
Mashhood said the past few weeks had been turbulent as he followed the government’s changing policy on results.
“I was really worried ahead of results, I think it was mostly about the way the government handled it. [The assessment criteria] kept changing every week or so, there were loads of U-turns,” he said. “We saw what happened with A-levels, and it seemed that people in poorer areas were disproportionately [affected]. We were worried that could happen to us.”
He is on a waiting list for a selective grammar school and hopes his grades will secure a place. “I feel amazing, though it’s mostly relief. I’ve put lots of hard work into the past two years, and it’s all paid off.”
‘It’s boosted my self-confidence’
Brooklyn Gimoh, 16, London
“I’m feeling very happy, because after seeing what happened with A-levels, I was worried there’d be a repeat, even thought I knew I’d put in the work,” said Brooklyn Gimoh. He received predominantly eights and nines in his results, with some six and seven grades.
Brooklyn said that while some of his grades were not as high as he hoped, the results had taken “a huge weight off my shoulders”.
“I couldn’t sleep very well, and I woke up at 3am,” he said. “I started shouting when I got my results. It’s definitely given me a boost in confidence, and now I want to go on to Oxbridge or Harvard to study something to do with physics.
“My family are very proud. We’re definitely going to celebrate.”
