Results Day!
Results day has rolled around once more, and social media sites are live with the buzzing of anxious students, dreading the day, spreading rumours about impossible grade boundaries, and making jokes about how to deal with their future when they fail- which every student is deeming to be the inevitable.
I laugh at them now, but I know how they're feeling and what they're going through. This time last year, I was going through the same thing. I even wrote a blog post about my feelings- it was my first ever blog post and it conveyed my own nerves about my results. However, looking back on the year I've had since then, and how little impact my results have had on my life so far, I wanted to take this opportunity to reassure everybody who is panicking right now about what their future holds.
Relax. Breathe. It will all be okay!
AS Levels.
When I started A Levels, someone said to me "Don't even bother with AS results Flo- everyone f*cks them up and then gets A* at A2, it's just what happens". As it happened, I didn't fuss too much over my AS levels. I didn't even revise for my exams (Excluding Communication and Culture which I loved and desperately wanted to do well in). I hated two of my AS Levels, Business Studies and Critical Thinking, and couldn't wait to drop them at A2, so didn't bother with them at all. Product Design was going to be a flop as our teaching hadn't been excellent, so I was relying on my coursework to pull me through. English Lit/Lang came naturally to me, and, as I said, I tried hard for Comms.
When results day came around, my sheet looked a little like this:
Communication and Culture: C/W A, Exam B
English Literature and Language: C/W A, Exam B
Business Studies: C
Product Design D
Critical Thinking: E
So not appalling, and not fab- just okay. I was surprised that I had done better in Business than in Product Design, my preferred subject of the two, but I wasn't upset over my results and everything worked out fine. Nothing bad can happen at AS Level- unless you fail every single exam and your school kick you out (which happened to my boyfriend, who now runs his own business...but that's another story), but usually a school will just take away your free periods and make you retake your AS Levels. Not too bad, and definitely not the end of the world. So Year 12's, you can relax.
A2 Levels.
Okay, so at A2 obviously the pressure is on a bit more, as your results mean the difference between you getting into your first choice university and ending up lost with nothing to do- so it seems at the time, anyway!
You really don't need to panic. If you don't get your expected grades, there is always your second choice university and, if worst comes to worst, clearing/appeals. The absolute worst case scenario is that you don't get into a single university...but then you can always try again the following year, after retaking your exams. Several people do this, it's not uncommon or unheard of and will not ruin your life.
At A2, my exam results looked like this:
Communication and Culture: B
English Literature and Language: B
Product Design: D
I was so happy, the two subjects that I wanted to use in future had good grades, and the subject I took for "fun" didn't have a great grade, but I didn't intend on using it so I wasn't too fussed. I went home and celebrated, and this is what I urge all of you to do when you receive your results.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that exam results don't matter one jot, because in some cases they do. If you want to be a doctor, or dentist, for example, they will look at how well you did in Science, because it will be very crucial to you having a successful career. But if you don't get the grades you were hoping for, it really, really, really isn't the end of the world, the end of your life or your future, and I can not stress this enough.
There are so many other ways to get a career now- online courses, youth schemes, internships, apprenticeships, college courses and, of course, going straight into work. Whilst I was accepted into my first choice university, my path changed quite drastically. I was going to study photography in London...I took a gap year to study a course in Visual Arts, which ended up being a Creative Business course, began doing work experience and internships in the media industry on a random whim and bam decided to drop out of my university placement, study a journalism course online come September and have a job in my desired field, based in London.
I'm not saying that everyone's lives will work out in a straightforward way, with you getting what you want fairly soon after you finish education, and I'm not saying if you fail every single exam you take you'll end up a millionaire (see below)
It might for some, it might not for others. What I'm trying to say though is your results really are not the be all and end all...your path in life will change unexpectedly, you'll do things you never expected to, things you hadn't planned. It's unlikely your exam results will come in to it at all. My grades haven't affected my career so far, and after doing a brief question/answer on Twitter, many people said the same- with some even saying it was the same case with their degree, with many not even in a career related to their degree.
So if you're sat tearing your hair out, crying and stressing- don't.
Your life is yours and you can do pretty much anything you want, if you put in the dedication, the hard work and the commitment. I went from wanting to be a musician, to radio dj, to photographer, to radio dj, to writer, now content creator (with radio dj still being a dream at the back of my mind!)...our lives are constantly changing, and more important than the grades is the journey you live. Enjoy it. Sometimes you'll make the right decision, sometimes you'll make the wrong one. It's all a part of the adventure we call life- an adventure that is incredibly short, and at the end of the day, school and grades are such a small portion of your life.
No matter the outcome- although I'm sure you'll all do fine- remember to celebrate your self when you open your results! Even if they aren't as great as you hope, or maybe even if they're better than you hope, celebrate the fact that you made it through school! You revised for hours on end, you sat those God awful exams and it's over. You did it! You deserve a small alcoholic beverage just for that!
I have fingers crossed for everyone tomorrow, but it's not the be all and end all. Everything happens for a reason in this life, I promise.
Love from,
Florence Grace
Please remember this is a reference to my own personal experience. I am not saying that every one will lead the same life I have done so far.
I laugh at them now, but I know how they're feeling and what they're going through. This time last year, I was going through the same thing. I even wrote a blog post about my feelings- it was my first ever blog post and it conveyed my own nerves about my results. However, looking back on the year I've had since then, and how little impact my results have had on my life so far, I wanted to take this opportunity to reassure everybody who is panicking right now about what their future holds.
Relax. Breathe. It will all be okay!
AS Levels.
When I started A Levels, someone said to me "Don't even bother with AS results Flo- everyone f*cks them up and then gets A* at A2, it's just what happens". As it happened, I didn't fuss too much over my AS levels. I didn't even revise for my exams (Excluding Communication and Culture which I loved and desperately wanted to do well in). I hated two of my AS Levels, Business Studies and Critical Thinking, and couldn't wait to drop them at A2, so didn't bother with them at all. Product Design was going to be a flop as our teaching hadn't been excellent, so I was relying on my coursework to pull me through. English Lit/Lang came naturally to me, and, as I said, I tried hard for Comms.
When results day came around, my sheet looked a little like this:
Communication and Culture: C/W A, Exam B
English Literature and Language: C/W A, Exam B
Business Studies: C
Product Design D
Critical Thinking: E
So not appalling, and not fab- just okay. I was surprised that I had done better in Business than in Product Design, my preferred subject of the two, but I wasn't upset over my results and everything worked out fine. Nothing bad can happen at AS Level- unless you fail every single exam and your school kick you out (which happened to my boyfriend, who now runs his own business...but that's another story), but usually a school will just take away your free periods and make you retake your AS Levels. Not too bad, and definitely not the end of the world. So Year 12's, you can relax.
A2 Levels.
Okay, so at A2 obviously the pressure is on a bit more, as your results mean the difference between you getting into your first choice university and ending up lost with nothing to do- so it seems at the time, anyway!
You really don't need to panic. If you don't get your expected grades, there is always your second choice university and, if worst comes to worst, clearing/appeals. The absolute worst case scenario is that you don't get into a single university...but then you can always try again the following year, after retaking your exams. Several people do this, it's not uncommon or unheard of and will not ruin your life.
At A2, my exam results looked like this:
Communication and Culture: B
English Literature and Language: B
Product Design: D
I was so happy, the two subjects that I wanted to use in future had good grades, and the subject I took for "fun" didn't have a great grade, but I didn't intend on using it so I wasn't too fussed. I went home and celebrated, and this is what I urge all of you to do when you receive your results.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that exam results don't matter one jot, because in some cases they do. If you want to be a doctor, or dentist, for example, they will look at how well you did in Science, because it will be very crucial to you having a successful career. But if you don't get the grades you were hoping for, it really, really, really isn't the end of the world, the end of your life or your future, and I can not stress this enough.
There are so many other ways to get a career now- online courses, youth schemes, internships, apprenticeships, college courses and, of course, going straight into work. Whilst I was accepted into my first choice university, my path changed quite drastically. I was going to study photography in London...I took a gap year to study a course in Visual Arts, which ended up being a Creative Business course, began doing work experience and internships in the media industry on a random whim and bam decided to drop out of my university placement, study a journalism course online come September and have a job in my desired field, based in London.
I'm not saying that everyone's lives will work out in a straightforward way, with you getting what you want fairly soon after you finish education, and I'm not saying if you fail every single exam you take you'll end up a millionaire (see below)
It might for some, it might not for others. What I'm trying to say though is your results really are not the be all and end all...your path in life will change unexpectedly, you'll do things you never expected to, things you hadn't planned. It's unlikely your exam results will come in to it at all. My grades haven't affected my career so far, and after doing a brief question/answer on Twitter, many people said the same- with some even saying it was the same case with their degree, with many not even in a career related to their degree.
So if you're sat tearing your hair out, crying and stressing- don't.
Your life is yours and you can do pretty much anything you want, if you put in the dedication, the hard work and the commitment. I went from wanting to be a musician, to radio dj, to photographer, to radio dj, to writer, now content creator (with radio dj still being a dream at the back of my mind!)...our lives are constantly changing, and more important than the grades is the journey you live. Enjoy it. Sometimes you'll make the right decision, sometimes you'll make the wrong one. It's all a part of the adventure we call life- an adventure that is incredibly short, and at the end of the day, school and grades are such a small portion of your life.
No matter the outcome- although I'm sure you'll all do fine- remember to celebrate your self when you open your results! Even if they aren't as great as you hope, or maybe even if they're better than you hope, celebrate the fact that you made it through school! You revised for hours on end, you sat those God awful exams and it's over. You did it! You deserve a small alcoholic beverage just for that!
I have fingers crossed for everyone tomorrow, but it's not the be all and end all. Everything happens for a reason in this life, I promise.
Love from,
Florence Grace
Please remember this is a reference to my own personal experience. I am not saying that every one will lead the same life I have done so far.
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