Results Day Advice: What To Do If You Don’t Get The Grades

The nail-biting wait has begun. Start to prepare yourself with advice from Bernard Canetti, Principal of Brampton College, London’s highest achieving sixth form college for the 18^th year.

When results day finally arrives, it may appear from friends and social media that everyone has secured the grades they wanted. This can make it incredibly tough if you haven’t achieved your desired results and are now faced with reconsidering your future options.  

Mr Canetti’s Results Day Advice

1. Dont Panic

The first step is not to panic and to take some time to carefully consider your alternatives. If you’ve already been accepted by your first or even second choice university then not having achieved your required grades may not unduly concern you.

In recent years, universities, including some leading Russell Group universities, have been more accepting of students who have not attained all their predicted grades. Having offered you a place, they’ve already recognised your potential and gaining a B rather than an A won’t necessarily change their original decision.

2. Slow and Steady

If you’ve missed the mark by more than a couple of grades, you may want to re-take your A levels regardless of whether the university you applied to is still willing to offer you a place. At Brampton we have many students whose confidence and aspirations improve during their time with us and who decide to apply to a university or course that they previously considered out of reach. 

At Brampton we often accept those who previously hadn’t realised re-taking was a viable option. Others often won’t consider it due to the length of time involved and desire to start university at the same time as their friends. These are, of course, factors to consider, and it may be the case that if you’ve missed out on the opportunity to study Medicine you’re still enthusiastic about accepting a place for Biology or Pharmacy elsewhere. However, last year six of our students who re-sat their A levels achieved a place at university to read Medicine.

3. Think Outside The Box

In the eventuality that you haven’t been accepted to university, you could consider clearing. Clearing can be a useful way to gain a place for the coming year if you’re happy to accept an offer to a course or university, different to those that you originally applied for.

Crucially, however, clearing is never something that you should rush into. Think very carefully about what you are willing to compromise on and take advice from your school careers advisor, who can help thoroughly review your situation before making a decision.

I have one final piece of advice: don’t be willing to settle for second best! If you have a dream and an achievable way to reach it do so. There may be bumps in the road but this doesn’t mean it isn’t worth pursuing.

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