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Exam Result Worries: Coping With the Wait and What to Do Next

Magdalena García — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 09:20:39 +0000

Waiting for your A-level or GCSE results can be incredibly stressful. There’s pressure from all sides — social media, school, teachers, family — and often, from ourselves. You may have already made plans based on predicted grades, and ambitions for next year may feel like they hang in the balance.

So how do we manage the emotional ups and downs of waiting? What if results don’t turn out as expected? And how can parents and carers offer the right support?

Coping With The Wait:

1. Talk and listen

Bottling things up doesn’t help. Whether you’re a young person or someone supporting them, open, honest conversations make a huge difference.

It’s tempting to say, “Don’t worry! Everything will be fine” — but this can unintentionally dismiss how someone is really feeling. Instead, try naming the emotions: anxiety, fear of failure, uncertainty about the future. These feelings are completely normal (and expected when you’re waiting on results!).

By acknowledging them, we help ourselves and others feel seen and understood — creating space for reassurance, resilience, and self-belief.

2. Plan Healthy Distractions

When you’re waiting for something important, time can move painfully slowly. A good distraction doesn’t mean ignoring the issue — it simply gives the mind a break from overthinking.

Here are some helpful ideas:

Go for walks or explore a new area
Have a games night, film marathon or takeaway evening
Meet friends for a meal, or invite them over
Try something creative — baking, journalling, crafts
Start a new book, podcast or series

Even small changes in environment can lift your mood. Just remember: everyone copes differently. Some people need quiet, others prefer company — both are okay.

3. Prepare for different outcomes

Sometimes exams don’t go to plan — and that’s okay. It doesn’t mean you’ve failed, and it doesn’t mean your future is ruined.

Doing a bit of research ahead of results day can help reduce anxiety:

Know how and when to collect your results
Understand the process for appeals or resits
Look into alternatives: college, apprenticeships, gap years, vocational training
Reach out to a teacher, careers adviser, or UCAS for guidance

Having a Plan B doesn’t mean you’re giving up on Plan A — it means you’re prepared, whatever happens.

4. Parents and carers: reassure and be present

If you’re supporting a young person, remind them regularly that exam results do not define their worth — and they don’t define your pride in them either.

That pressure to “not let anyone down” can feel overwhelming. Reassurance from a trusted adult helps to lift that burden.

And if they’re not ready to talk? Respect that — but make sure they know you’re there when they are.

It might seem obvious, but sometimes young people really do need to hear it again: they are loved and valued for who they are, not what they achieve.

On Results Day:

1. Don’t be alone

Whether you’re feeling hopeful or nervous, it helps to have someone by your side — someone who can offer comfort, perspective, or celebration.

2. Set your own boundaries

There’s often pressure to open results in front of others or post them online. But you don’t have to share anything you’re not ready to. Take your time. It’s your news.

3. Avoid comparisons

Social media can make it feel like everyone else is doing better. But other people’s success doesn’t take away from your own.

If scrolling doesn’t help, take a break — protect your peace.

If the Results Aren’t What You Expected:

When results day finally arrives, emotions can run high. If things don’t go to plan, it’s easy to feel like everything’s falling apart. But this is where reassurance, perspective, and practical steps really help.

1. Give yourself time to process

Disappointment is completely valid. Give emotions time to settle before rushing into next steps.

Whether that’s talking, walking, crying, or just sitting quietly — honour the time needed to process.

2. Explore the options

There are always other ways forward — even if Plan A doesn’t work out:

Appeals or resits
University clearing or alternative course choices
Apprenticeships and vocational routes
Taking a gap year to reassess or gain experience

Talk to teachers, advisers, or helplines. You haven’t hit a dead end — just a different route.

3. Focus on strengths, not just grades

Results show how someone performed on specific days — not who they are. They don’t reflect your values, your growth, or your potential. They don’t define you.

Resilience, kindness, creativity, curiosity — none of those fit on a results slip.

Remind yourself (or the young person you’re supporting) of everything else that makes them unique and valuable. Help them remember their strengths, their progress, and the qualities they have that no grade can capture.

We are all more important than tha grades we achieve.

Final Thoughts:

This time of year can feel overwhelming. There’s pressure, fear and uncertainty — but also hope, growth and new beginnings.

Whether your results are what you hoped for or not, the most important thing is this:

You are not defined by grades.
You are not alone.
There is always a way forward — even if the path looks different from what you imagined.

Author: Magdalena García

Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist

The post Exam Result Worries: Coping With the Wait and What to Do Next appeared first on TRC | London | Midlands | Edinburgh | Riyadh.

ADHD and Exams: Study Strategies

Charlotte Kennedy — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 08:57:40 +0000

Begin revision by reviewing all subject syllabi and traffic lighting topics accordingly: red for no understanding or knowledge; orange for understanding but low knowledge; green for strong understanding and knowledge. This approach gives you a clear strategy to start your revision with, which makes starting the revision process less daunting. Reviewing the whole course content in this way also helps to provide you with a clear ‘landscape’ to support understanding and context.

Identify what time you have available for your revision. How much realistically can you achieve per day? What time chunks do you think you work best in? Smaller chunks frequently help prevent procrastination – sitting down for 20 minutes at a time is far more appealing than sitting down to do 2 hrs of something that you don’t enjoy.

Match the length of your study periods with your interest levels. If you know you can sit down for an hour to concentrate on one subject, then great. Take advantage of this. If you know however that having an hour of chemistry scheduled is going to make you run to the hills, schedule 10-minute slots instead. Having 5 of these scattered throughout the day will be considerably more productive than sitting down for an hour and staring out of the window. The pomodoro technique is great for this – once you’ve established what duration of chunks works best for you.

Does a structured study schedule best support you or does this trigger your defiance? If the former, ensure that you have a task itemised revision timetable ready to go to hold you accountable. If this approach is not for you and you prefer more flexibility, compile a complete list of everything that you must cover. Every evening, review your list and plan what you want to complete the next day. If you’re not in the mood to do as planned, you can then easily switch things around while still being productive and in control of your time.

Some people work better with time chunks, others work better with task chunks – trial both, to see which you prefer.

A reward at the end of the day or week can help with motivation. Do you have sufficient self-accountability to manage this yourself? Would it be helpful to discuss this with your parents to see if they can help incentivise you?

Use pastel coloured paper and/or flashcards to create notes – colour helps to add that little bit more excitement and stimulation to a task. Similarly with coloured pens. Just try not to get side tracked with how pretty your revision looks and remember to focus on the course content!

If there are specific quotes or formulae you are struggling to remember, put them up in different places in your house. Review them every time you walk past (i.e. fridge door, bathroom mirror, bedroom door). Not only will this take the ‘chore’ out of the required repetition, but it will also give you physical ‘hangers’ which will help with recall when you are in an exam, i.e. It was by the front door, let me try and visualise it.

Listening can be just as effective for revision as reading and writing and provide a new and shiny way to access information – key for ADHD. Can you record some of your English quotes / history dates / poems etc. and then play them back? How about watching the plays or listening to audiobook novels if you are finding it a struggle to work through a book.

Ensure that your environment is conducive to learning – light but not too bright; warm enough but not sleep inducing; do you need a level of noise to enable you to focus? A clear desk with few distractions is key and if you can’t handle putting your phone out of the room while you’re studying, ensure that it is on flight mode.

Try body doubling: arrange to meet a friend for study sessions to make revision more fun, with the added benefit of accountability. Again, this doesn’t work for everyone – some people find studying with others makes them self-conscious which distracts them from the task in hand. If you are the latter, it might be better for you to stick to solo studying.

Before you start studying, blast some loud music and dance around your room. This will provide a dopamine hit and help with motivation. Ensure that you the use this motivation and sit straight down to study, rather than channelling your energy burst elsewhere!

Ensure that you include sport and downtime into your schedule to create balance and help prevent burnout.

Remember to eat. Schedule mealtimes so that they are not forgotten. Ensure that you are including sufficient protein into your diet and avoiding too much sugar.

Sleep is a key component of efficient revision – not only does it allow toxins to be cleared from the brain while you sleep, but it also has a direct impact on motivation levels. Try to prioritise sleep and be conscious of not letting bedtime slip into the early hours as you try to claw back some ‘me-time’.

Remember, there is no hard and fast rule as to how to revise. It is about trialling techniques and finding out what works for you. Be kind to yourself!

Author: Charlotte Kennedy

ADHD Coach

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How to manage exam stress without burning out

Sarah Withey — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 09:31:05 +0000

We all remember that one person in class who never seemed stressed about upcoming exams or even if they were, managed to hide what they really felt. But the fact is that it’s normal and natural to be stressed before an exam whether it’s a class test, your SATS, your driving test or defending your PhD thesis and, honestly, I’d be much more worried if you weren’t. Why? Because stress is the body’s natural response to pressure and, when at manageable levels, can help you get on task, help keep you focused and help you get things accomplished. The problem comes when your reaction to that level of stress stops being helpful and instead you become overwhelmed and incapable of functioning.

Exam stress can affect anyone and it shows up in different ways for different people, including:

feeling anxious
getting irritable, angry or depressed
not being able to get to sleep or stay asleep
losing your appetite or over-eating
causing worry about the future
bringing on intrusive, unsettling thoughts
losing interest in things you usually enjoy
not being able to concentrate
feeling unwell: nausea, fatigue and headaches

So is there anything you can do to avoid that pre-exam burnout?

Thankfully, there are lots of recognised strategies that can help and here are some that I have found useful.

Create a Study Schedule

One of the most effective ways to manage your workload is by writing a study schedule as a predictable routine will help improve efficiency and reduce anxiety. Sticking to the schedule means you don’t have to waste cognitive energy making daily decisions because they have already been made. So instead those valuable resources can be focused on your revision.

Take Regular Breaks

One of the biggest mistakes people make when studying is to keep on going and keep on going: just to the end of this chapter, just for another hour, just till I deserve a break. By that time it’s too late, your focus will have gone and your won’t be taking anything in. So set a timer and stop when it goes off and, ideally, take a movement break. Taking regular breaks reduces stress, improves your memory, increases productivity and conserves your energy.

Prioritise Sleep

You have to sleep: your body needs it and your brain most definitely needs it. Pulling an all-nighter never works in the long run. If you’ve setup and acted on steps 1 and 2 then you should be building some good study habits and hopefully feeling the benefits. But if you don’t get enough good quality sleep then those benefits won’t stick. Sleep is crucial to maximise your cognitive abilities (focus, attention and memory) and it also decreases levels of stress hormones, restoring balance and reducing anxiety. So give yourself permission to go to bed at a sensible time and think about taking a ‘power nap’ during the day.

Stay Physically Active

With exams looming you may feel that something has to be dropped from your schedule and the easiest way to create more study time might be to drop that gym session, that swim or that yoga class. Don’t do it! Studying is all about quality rather than quantity and as exercise helps to oxygenate the brain and releases those all important feel good endorphins, then an exercise session will help keep you calm and improve your attention and focus. So make sure you write exercise into your schedule.

Eat Nutritious Meals

Your brain needs feeding as it is the most energy demanding organ in your body and that demand for fuel increases further during intense study periods. So eating well provides the necessary energy to maximise concentration and cognitive function. Also make hydration a priority to optimise your focus, attention, mood and motivation.

Practice Mindfulness or Relaxation Techniques

If you have some experience of mindfulness techniques or breathing exercise there couldn’t be a better time to use them on a regular basis as they can help calm your nervous system, reduce anxiety and improve concentration. And if these are new to you then it’s well worth finding a little time to learn about them and make them part of your study routine.

Stay connected

You may have locked yourself away in the run up to an exam but that just becomes a room full of stress with no outlet and the pressure in there is only going to build up. So make sure you find time for your friends even if it’s for a mutual moan about the upcoming exam. It might be even better to spend some time with someone who isn’t sharing that experience as a brief exposure to normality will help release that tension and keep you more grounded.

Stay unconnected

We are surrounded by electronics linking us to pretty much everything and we can easily become addicted to checking our socials or clicking on notifications for fear of missing out. But if your schedule says it’s learning time then make sure your phone is off and your laptop is in airplane mode so those intrusions don’t break that precious concentration stream. Don’t worry – you can check in between sessions.

When you’ve written your schedule, found time to add in your exercise slots and pencilled in your power-naps, do not be worried that your actual study time seems to be reduced. What you have achieved is that vital balance between quality and quantity. If you can enact everything discussed above, then the time you spend studying will have been fine-tuned and maximised and you will achieve much more in less time.

On the Day

You can only sit the exam if you get to the right place at the right time and can get into the right room. If you have any individual educational needs or issues with access make sure you have raised those issues with the powers that be well in advance. Do you need to be in a separate room if you struggle with noise or other people; do you need a laptop or a scribe; is there wheelchair access? Are you absolutely sure you know where the exam is being held, do you know how to get there and have you got transport organised? Make sure you have all the belongings you need ready because you don’t want to be rushing around on exam day morning trying to find your lucky socks or a biro that works!

You’ve done all the work; you’ve got a strategy for getting your head back on track when you suddenly think you’ve forgotten everything. Now take a deep breath because you’ve got this.

Author: Sarah Withey

Executive Function Coach

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