Strategies for Coping With Anxiety and Anticipation Leading up to Results Day

GCSE's and A-Levels are some the most significant sets of exams that you will ever take. In the months leading up to them, you may have felt intense pressure from your family, teachers, peers and even yourself. Naturally, you start to think these exams are the be-all and end-all; your whole life revolves around revising and practicing.

Regardless of how you think you did, the end of your exams can feel immensely freeing but, at the same time, anxiety inducing. Once those papers are sent off to be marked, you can’t do anything to improve your grades. You can’t revise more, do more questions, or practice more papers – you just have to wait and see if all your hard work paid off. While it can feel like there’s no escape from post-exam anxiety, there are many ways to cope with it.

The most effective, but difficult, method is to simply accept that you did the best you could and that whatever grade you get back is a testament to your hard work. Instead of stressing over what you could have done, appreciate everything that you did do and reflect on just how much it helped you improve. If you printed out papers or questions to practice, now may be a good time to look back at them all and know that each and every one was beneficial.

However, you shouldn’t spend too long looking back over work. Now that exams are over, it’s time to clear your life of anything revision-related! Physically removing all of your resources can help you mentally separate this new period of your life from the last. But this change isn’t limited to just your bedroom – ensure that, even when you’re out in the Summer Sun with friends and family, you don’t spend ages discussing every detail of every paper. Parents especially will be very interested in the details. It’s okay to talk about whether the paper was difficult or if there were any unexpected questions, but there’s no use trying to perfectly answer everything now. Your time and energy would be much better spent celebrating that the exams are finally over!

Your overall well-being may have been neglected while you were studying, so be sure to look after your physical and mental health. Repaying your sleep debt by going to bed early and waking up late instantly improves your mood and gives you the energy to go out and to things to distract yourself from exams. Eating good food and doing physical activity is also something you have more time for now, so try switching out your revision schedule for a regular football game with your mates or cooking new recipes. This helps add variety to your day now that every waking moment isn’t spent studying.

The next tip is to give yourself a new goal over the Summer – something that you really enjoy and that you could gladly spend hours on. The biggest cause of post-exam anxiety is not having anything to do, so you end up thinking back to the papers. Instead, by having something to work towards, you always have a reason to get out of bed (that isn’t studying!). This goal could be anything from reaching a certain level in a sport to playing a really difficult piece of music at a concert. Doing these things with friends will make you even more motivated and focused. You won’t even be waiting for results day to come around because you’ll constantly be looking forward to something else.

On that note, one of the most important things you can do to avoid getting bogged down in your past performance is to look to the future. Whether that be Sixth Form, College, University, getting a job, or anything else, being prepared for what comes next is essential. In this case, it’s okay to focus on the details of how you revised and performed because you’re reflecting on it. Acknowledge what went well and what you could have done differently and bring that into the next stage of your life. Did you find that short bursts of studying work for you? Did you find that you don’t respond to long to-do lists? Every person’s experience before GCSE's and A-Levels is different and there’s a lot to learn form each one. However, it’s imperative that you use these considerations to plan for the future. GCSE's and A-Levels aren’t just significant because of the grades – they’re the first major external exams you write and you learn a lot about yourself and your own style of working; those lessons, if applied correctly, will help you excel in your future.

The period after GCSE's and A-Levels can leave a lot of people anxious but, if you focus on the right things, the next few months will be fulfilling and productive. Pay attention to your physical and mental health and practice self-care where needed. Spend time with your friends and family discussing things other than exams. Give yourself clear goals to work towards. Most importantly, reflect on how you studied this time and bring those lessons to whatever you do next.