21/08/2024
Good morning everyone ☺️
As some of you may know, tomorrow is GCSE results day. Tomorrow will be both an exciting and extremely nerve wracking day for 15/16 year olds across the country.
I thought I’d share my GCSE results day experience, for those who may already feel they haven’t got the grades they would like, hopefully to provide a bit of comfort before tomorrow…
Throughout school I was getting top grades in English, I was relatively confident in the subject as much as I was in the subjects I preferred such as science and maths. When Year 11 hit, the system changed from A’s to E’s to 1-9 for English and Maths (we were the trial year). In theory, this should not have made a difference to my ability, although in my assessments I had gone from achieving A’s & A*’s to 2’s & 3’s (fails) in my assessments including my mock exams. Time and time again I asked for help from my teacher at the time, but whatever I tried my grade remained at a 2. Any confidence I had in my own English ability had ceased to exist, but I continued to try regardless because I had no other choice. When it was time to sit my English exam, I walked out fearing that I would yet again be graded a 2. Admittedly, I spent the morning of results day so anxious because I assumed I had failed like I had throughout the year. When I opened my results, I had been awarded a 6 in English language and an 8 English literature, at this point I was speechless.
The reason I have shared this is to show you really cannot predict the outcome until you open that envelope to see what you have achieved. I was convinced I had failed because all the evidence from my year 11 studies would indicate I would - but I didn’t.
I appreciate this is one person’s experience and people will receive results tomorrow that they wished were better. More than anyone I know it is easier said than done, but for tonight and tomorrow try to keep it in mind that you don’t know that end result until you open that envelope! Most importantly, there are so many routes to get where you want to be if you don’t get those results, so don’t give up!
Good luck everyone 🤞