In March 2020, the unthinkable happened: schools closed, society locked down and my exams were cancelled. But I never could have imagined what would happen next.
Exams are scary, they are what keeps us up at night and dominate our teenage years, but for the last 18 months, the thing that is the most important in our lives has been beyond our control.
A week before I got my GCSE results, chaos broke loose: the algorithm disaster for A-level students. As a result, nearly 40 percent of students had their grades marked down in the moderation process.
This led to thousands of pupils crying, feeling angry, and, unfortunately, many missed out on university places that they felt they could have got had they sat their exams.
Meanwhile, I had just less than a week before my results day, so I had to deal with all the negative and despairing news. When it came to awarding GCSEs, the government decided not to give students algorithm grades, instead handing students Teacher Assessed Grades, but, the process still wasn't perfect.
Inevitably, lots of Year 11 students were still disappointed with the grades they received.
This year the government has decided on a different approach. GCSE grades are being based on teachers’ assessments of their students, using a variety of different techniques: mocks, in-class tests, homework and predicted grades - all of which are not perfect on their own.
So today, students will find out their GCSE grades. My advice is not to panic. Of course, there will be a lot of frustration and perhaps disappointment with the grades that some will get, but it's important to remember that our education has been shattered throughout this pandemic.
We've been through three lockdowns, had a lack of (and at times non-existent) face-to-face teaching, most of us have had to deal with our bubbles bursting and self-isolating as a precaution, then on top of that we were finally told the 2021 exams were cancelled.
Lockdown has also widened the gap between privileged and deprived students, and there are well-cited reports of BAME students being disadvantaged by predicted grades. This year's A-level results are a clear indication of that privilege gap.
The jump in A grades was 50 percent higher among private schools compared with state schools, while state Sixth Forms' Black students, free school meal students, and students from deprived areas were less likely to achieve the top A or A* grades.
Last year I made the horrible mistake of comparing myself to others. But when doing that we often miss out on important factors such as schools, privilege and tuition.
Social media will be inundated with posts on exam results day. To Gen Z, the Snapchat and Instagram generation, it's a place for them to share their thoughts, feelings, lives - and a platform which allows them to inject insecurities into others.
If you see someone showing off, ask yourself: what school did they go to? And did they get online lessons? It's not fair to compare yourself to others as everyone has been assessed differently and everyone has had different circumstances this past year.
Most students will be going into school to receive their exam results this morning. I urge them, regardless of what grades they get, to get support, reassurance and some comfort from school staff, something everyone needs.
But most importantly, young people should be celebrating that they have survived one of the worst years possible - and that is a huge achievement on its own, outweighing any exam results.
I have the utmost sympathy for students getting their exam results today, because, unlike most people, I was in the exact same position as them last year.
My advice would be, if you are feeling low, have a look out for posts by adults, particularly celebrities, talking about how irrelevant grades are these days, because grades don't define you or your future.
So good luck!
Qais Hussain is a 17-year-old A-Level student and Labour Party youth officer from Shipley, West Yorks.
