I’ve always said there are two types of people when it comes to receiving results and A-Levels are no different. There are those who are really eager to rip off the proverbial plaster in one quick, swift motion and continually refresh the results page 30 minutes before they’re posted in the hope that by some slip-of-the-hand the board have released them earlier. Then there are those who are the complete opposite, instead they elongate the process holding onto the pleasant idea that ignorance is bliss and wait till the last minute to pick up or open their results. I am most certainly the latter kind of person. But regardless of which camp you sit in, here is a guide for A-level results day.

So it’s results day, your stomach is probably in knots after a rough night of tossing and turning. In the background you can hear mum, dad or carer gently speaking to you, murmuring that it’s going to be okay. Regardless, you’re nervous. This is where I come in. To be nervous is natural, it shows you care about what results you get, it’s good to be nervous. What’s not good is when this takes over. So what’s the best way to overcome this nervousness? Well, everyone is different and so one method may not work for everyone. Deep breaths are a popular one or watching re-runs of your favourite sit-com to take your mind off it. For me, talking to my mum has always seemed to calm me down.

So with A-level results there are different ways to know what you’ve got and you must bear in mind that each school/college is different. There’s the traditional going into school and opening an envelope with your name on it or, if you want to find out if you got into your chosen uni, you can log into your UCAS account, which will tell you if you’ve met the conditions of your offer. If you have, then you can gauge what kind of grades you can expect to see on paper.

Right, now you’ve summed up the courage and checked your results, so what happens now? Well, hopefully you get into your first choice uni, if not there’s always your insurance. Alternatively, you may have to go through another route. Some of you may be familiar with the terms Clearing and Adjustment, but just in case, here’s a quick debriefing of what they mean. Clearing – this is a process that you go through when you haven’t met the necessary criteria for your unis. However, there’s a silver lining: you still have the opportunity to go to a different uni and study the same, or a similar type of degree, just by phoning up and seeing if they have any spaces left. The best thing about this is that you don’t have to go through the whole personal statement phase again! Hurrah!

The other type is Adjustment. This is when you actually get better grades than you expected which opens more doors and again you get yourself on a different course – again by calling the universities.

While all of this is happening you have to try and stay calm and level headed, after all there are some big decisions to make ahead, if you live on the south coast you might have to think about travelling time and costs if you make a spur of the moment decision to go to a uni up north. This is not to say this is the wrong thing to do, but only to make sure that you’ve thoroughly thought it out. But that’s enough from me!

Good Luck!

By Patricia Obawole