Log In
A few handy tips to get you through results day on Thursday 23rd August.
1. Get a good night’s sleep
A standard piece of advice really, but one that is particularly important the night before Results Day. It’s a bit like trying to get a full eight hours on Christmas Eve, only worse because this is actually real.* Sleep will help keep your already ragged emotions in check when reading your results for the first time. Speaking from personal experience, you do not want to be that person sobbing their eyes out in front of the rest of the year because you’ve managed to pass French: not a good look.
*Santa isn’t real. If you are only finding this out now, then exam marks are the least of your problems.
2. You are the boss
Remember, this is your day. You have been the one putting in all the hard work for the last few months. All those late night cramming sessions, all those times you turned down socialising to read your text book, they are down to you. The results that you are about to receive are yours and yours alone, so it is completely down to you how you receive them. If you want your friends and family by your side as you tear into the envelope, fine. If you order your mum to wait in the car while you go off to a quiet place alone, up to you. If you want to open your results in front of a news crew, meaning the whole nation can watch in glee as your future collapses around you, then good luck to you.
3. Breathe
The envelope is open. The piece of paper is in your hands. There they are, those few numbers that are a representation of your entire academic career to date. Maybe they are better than expected, maybe not. Breathe.
In the few moments it took for you to read through your results the earth kept spinning, the people around you kept talking, and the building you are in remained standing. These results may seem like the most important moment of your life so far, but they are only numbers: they do not define you. You may not appreciate it now but there is so much more to life than academic grades. So whatever your results, take a moment to breathe and reflect. No matter what happens, there’s always love island.
4. Plan your next move.
No matter your results, go and celebrate the amount of work you have put in this summer. If your results went the way you wanted, then you can head off into the sunset until September. If you still have a few issues with your marks, then there are a couple of things you can do.
Review of Marking and Moderation. So the person marking your exam clearly didn’t understand your brilliant argument about how Big Narstie is the modern day William Shakespeare. This isn’t your fault, they must have marked it wrong. If this sounds familiar then you may benefit from the famous “Review of Marking and Moderation,” which requires the exam board to have another look at your paper to ensure it was marked properly. Be careful though, as your mark can either go up or down from your original. Also, some exam boards will charge for this service, so be sure to check out prices (see links below).
The Retake. You admit it, you didn’t have your best day. You didn’t get any sleep, your lucky pants were in the wash, the wrong questions came up etc. You know you can do better and want to prove it. Luckily you can retake your exams to gain the grade you know you deserve. If it is English Language or Maths you are after, then you can do a retake as early as November. For all other subjects you will have to wait until June 2019. Whenever the retake though, be sure to download a few Audiopi podcasts beforehand to help boost your grade!
Exam Board Information
AQA - https://www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/results-days/post-results
OCR - https://www.ocr.org.uk/administration/stage-5-post-results-services/reviews-of-results/
WJEC - http://www.wjec.co.uk/exam-officers/post-results-service/
