The moments leading up to getting your final A-level results are nerve-wracking to say the least. The grades that appear on those slips of paper could have a big impact on how young people spend the next few years. But it’s not just students who feel the heat, teachers too worry about what will come. So, ahead of the big day itself, we asked our community to give advice on beating results day butterflies. Here’s what they told us:
Tips for students
Repeat this mantra: no one knows what tomorrow will bring
@GuardianTeach not getting in and getting a place through clearing might be the best thing that ever happened to you! #bebrave #becalm
— Miss Jones (@Jones1Miss) August 6, 2015
And you should never let your exam scores define you anyway
@GuardianTeach https://t.co/Gp2KUGxSpN - I will tell them to go home and watch this - whatever their results are.
— Christine E Morgan (@Aprilhouse23) August 6, 2015
Go in on the day with a flexible outlook
Be flexible in your thinking. You might have got your heart set on one course at a specific university, but there are lots and lots of variants of courses that would offer very similar subject content. Look for courses with different, but similar titles. Don’t dismiss alternatives too quickly and think only one course is your destiny. The same goes for university. Of course it does depend on individual circumstances, but I would often think wherever you go is usually just a train ride from home.
– Bethany Kelly is a PGCE tutor for the University of Buckinghamshire
Exercise the night before to get rid of excess adrenaline
Keep productively busy – you will have been given preparation work for the A2 course, or your degree course over the summer. Get some of that done – give yourself reason to be optimistic. I also suggest doing exercise to get rid of excessive adrenaline from nerves and worry, spend time with friends and plan something enjoyable to do after you have got your results – give yourself something to look forward to.
– Gwen Nelson is A-level and GCSE English further education lecturer at Warwickshire College Group.
Tips for teachers
Take the advice you give to students: get an early night and eat a hearty breakfast
Now that the waiting is almost over take the advice that you give your students before they take an exam or get results – relax, go to bed early, eat a hearty breakfast and arrive early!
– Wendy Gore is an educational consultant and former teacher.
Read, go to the park – do anything to take you out of yourself
The mind needs to be kept busy and entertained – ideally with tasks that require 100% absorption. Reading, sport, film – whatever takes you out of yourself. Fourthly, counting my blessings – in life and more narrowly in the professional arena. What’s the worst that could happen? And what would I do if it did? And finally, consoling myself with the general rule that nothing is ever quite as bad as our worst fears. There are usually positives even when things don’t turn out as we would have hoped.
– Leo Winkley is headteacher at St Peter’s school.
If you’ve done all you can for your students then rest assured
@GuardianTeach remembering that you as the teacher have worked hard and done all you can, that in the end it's your students' responsibility
— Ryan Castle (@castle6_ryan) August 6, 2015
But if you do worry a bit, remember it just shows that you care
@GuardianTeach Good teachers never stop getting nervous on results' days.
— Christine Brookman (@Brook_lady) August 6, 2015
If that fails, allow yourself a fixed amount of worrying time
Given that worry is inevitable, I’ve developed some habits over the years to help deal with the nerves as results day approaches. The first is to ration the worrying: be disciplined and allow yourself a fixed amount of worrying time a day. It may sound odd but defining worrying time has helped me contain it. Secondly, trying to channel that worry into practical outcomes: what will I do if X happens. This helps to give a sense of purpose to what is otherwise a fruitless anxiety.
– Leo Winkley
Or alleviate any stress the only way teachers know how, with a bit of preparation
Be prepared! It sounds obvious, but make sure you have to hand records of your expectations, not just predicted grades, but evidence as to why your students should receive those grades. Anticipate potential problems. When unwelcome surprises occur you need to be able to pass on useful soundbites to the results day team, with clear reasons for their predictions and performance.
– Bethany Kelly
