The dreaded results day may be looming in the back of your mind but try to dismiss any thought of it, that’s what I did. Your exams are done and you can’t change it, so what is to gain from obsessing over it. Enjoy your long, and well deserved, summer. Leave any worry and panic to actual results day. But I know it is difficult with the dreaded results day is ever looming in the back of your mind.

My results day experience was actually quite relaxed because I was lucky to have an unconditional offer to my first choice university. However, even though I already knew I had my place at Manchester Metropolitan I still had grades in mind that I was hoping to get and I worked hard during my A Levels to try and get these.

I had been completely relaxed about it all summer but as the day crept closer I found myself getting a bit more concerned and flash backs to my traumatising results of the previous year filled my head.  My year 12 results day had been an unfortunate day for me and it didn’t leave me feeling very confident for my final year at school, but it did give me the kick I needed to improve.

I remember I approached the school with a few friends, all of them worried about their places at their chosen universities, all doubting  whether they had done enough to get in. I knew better than to join in as it would have been followed by them all saying, “You don’t need to be nervous you’ve got your place already”, so instead I offered words of encouragement and support. I was still anxious about not getting the grades I wanted though.

We all made jokes about probably failing that one subject we had struggled with all year, and joking about how we didn’t really care, if all else fails we can do this that and the other, but we all knew deep down it meant a lot to all of us.

In the end it was a mix, some of my friends got the grades they wanted and got into their first choice, some didn’t get the grades they wanted but got in anyway. Some ended up at one of their other choices, some didn’t get in at all. Nevertheless, now that I am looking back a year on and seeing where we all are now, we are all happy and doing things we enjoy. No matter what we all got in our envelopes it has basically worked out for the best for each of us. So think positively.

The biggest piece of advice that I can give is,  be prepared beforehand for the different grade scenarios that might unfold on results day and have list of universities clearing phone numbers, just in case you don’t get the results you need and you go into clearing. Make sure they are for universities that you could see yourself studying at for your degree, because 3 years is a long time! This preparation will make you feel more at ease and if you do need them, which I hope you don’t, having them on hand will save you time and keep you relatively calmer. Best of luck to everyone that is getting their results next week!