Do some of you here feel discouraged when you see everyone else's grades.

OP - I think it's really important to note that TSR is hardly representative of the student population as a whole. There are an awful lot more conscientious sorts on this forum than you'd be likely to find in the majority of comprehensive schools across the country, so the 'average grades' on TSR reflect that.

Plus, as others have said, the people who have a list of A-grades as long as your arm are likely to advertise their achievements in their signature; those who haven't got stellar grades seem to tend not to.

All in all, I don't think you're getting a very clear picture of 'average grades' on TSR, or 'average grades' across the population, really. So please don't undermine your own achievements based on that kind of misleading evidence: your grades are great.

lol you shouldav seen the oxford interviews!!! i was alright at GCSE but it was like everyone was walking round with 300/300 at AS an i only scraped my As. was a tad scared like!

Ditto. My head of teacher actually said that as long as I got 5 A*-Cs then my GCSEs wouldn't matter. To be honest, if I'd had an idea of what the top candidates would be achieving then I'd probably have been motivated through my semi-competitiveness.

I'm pretty much the same. But ah well, don't feel too discouraged - there's not an awful lot we can do now except try our very best (which you're probably doing).

And I bet you couldn't give a **** now

I don't really mind. The only thing I try to concentrate on is doing my best, and I'm very happy with my grades.

I've just decided recently I'm really going to push myself now.

It upsets me when people treat me differentely because of my grades.

the worst thing is when people here have something like mostly A*/As and 1 or 2 B grades and say they've done "really crap" and should have done better.
no offence, but go to hell.

Yeah, it's a good idea to push yourself if you can feel you can do more. I'm teaching myself C3 and C4 for fun.

It's quite shocking people treat you differently because of your grades.

I mean when people say "oh, I got a couple of Bs, how crap, I should have done better and got A*s". I can't see why people can't just be happy with what they have and have to strive for unrealistic perfection all the bloody time.

the worst thing is when people here have something like mostly A*s and 1 or 2 A or B grades and say they've done "really crap" and should have done better.
no offence, but die.
there's something horrible going on if only getting A & B grades at GCSE is considered "crap".
and the person on the last page who had an amalgamation of A*s + As and said they felt disheartened meeting people with 15 A*s? Get over it, there's always going to be someone better than you. Harsh but true.

Maybe so, but why should it matter?

As you say: there's always going to be someone better, earning more, at a more prestigious university...

I still chide myself for achieving five 'A*'s; not because I sought to do better than anybody else, but because I lapsed two grades in what should've been my sixth. I chide myself for 'AAB' because I was capable of 'AAA'. Notwithstanding the potential, practical repercussions of either: my re-applying to Bristol for English Literature (were I so inclined) with 'AAB' would, given the current climate, be an exercise in futility.
But then, were I remotely ambitious to begin with, the requisite motivation would've been inherent; as it is, I revised three subjects for GCSE, none at A-Level, and that was that. (Speaking as someone for whom 'perfection', had I aspired to it, would not have been deemed unrealistic.)

As you say: there's always going to be someone better, earning more, at a more prestigious university; but when you aspire to what they have, and feel that the difference between you is one of luck, it's difficult not to feel disenfranchised.