I vividly remember nervously opening my GCSE results at school in front of friends and teachers - they were less than expected. I was supposed to get all As, but that was the summer I discovered boys and alcohol and I invested significantly more time in them than studying, so I left with mostly Cs.
Luckily, my results didn’t impact my post-16 plans and my parents were supportive, if a little disheartened at my lacklustre performance. Times have changed now. My children all received their GCSE, A-Level, BTEC and even university degree results over email, both good news and bad read via a screen sitting in their home. I’m not sure if this approach is better, but it provides privacy to grieve if the results are not what they hoped, or worse, it takes away the camaraderie of the day and support from their peers. Many schools and colleges still offer students the ability to collect results in person, and even if they are sent via email, most schools will be open for students to visit and speak to their teachers and careers advisors about the next steps, especially if results aren’t as expected.
