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GCSE Results upset

GCSE results day was months ago now but I kind of wanted to share my story as I was one of those who ended results day in tears.
For over a year now I have been struggling with mental health and anorexia, which resulted in me constantly having to go out of school for CAHMs. On top of this, I struggled a lot with perfectionism and studied hard to get the top grades (9s in everything). I studied hard, harder than some people who did get nines and were bragging about them on Tik Tok. I did everything that past students recommended that I should do in order to get those grades. I got 9s in my mocks and I believed that I could get them again. That was why I was so distraught on results day when I opened my results paper to find no 9s at all. Not only that, but I also found grades I would never expect to get (5 In Spanish 6 in English lit. I was predicated 8s for both subjects and my teachers wanted me to get 9s). It fully took a toll on my health overall and even today, I feel useless and I am sometimes still distraught about those grades. I did get good grades though, apart from Spanish and English I got 8s in everything, however to me, an 8 does not feel good. An 8 still felt like a fail to me. It annoyed me even more when I found all these people on Tik Tok with their Rory Gilmore accounts bragging about their full set of 9s. I felt so jealous because I worked just as hard as they did and I deserved those grades. And yet when I look back I still need to understand my situation. I had a mental illness. I was always taking time off school for CAHMs sessions. I overworked at one point, studying until the early hours of the morning. The fact that I managed to achieve mostly 8s in my GCSEs despite everything that went on was a miracle. But I'm still struggling to cope with those grades to do this and it still upsets me. Does anyone have any coping strategies

Reply 1

charves14

hi
i had a similar situation where some of my grades were lower than what i was expecting, and i think the best thing i did for myself was realise GCSEs don’t matter, like at all. some elite uni courses (medicine, oxbridge etc) will judge based on GCSE results, but the majority don’t care as long as you’ve got a 5 in maths and English, any other grades are just like bonuses. think of GCSEs as stepping stones, you’ll do a levels/ btecs, and by the time you leave college GCSEs will be redundant, as you have a higher qualification. also, remember that no matter how much you stress about it, there’s nothing you can do to change it, so you’ll be much better off putting it to the back of your mind and focusing on what comes next, or any hobbies/ sports you enjoy.
moving forward, id recommend spending time trying different learning methods (e.g. visual, kinetic, audio) and different environments (at home or out, with music or not) so you can fine tune your revision methods, it’s all about what works for you, but even more than that it’s about looking after yourself and balance. There’s no use in working to the extent of burnout, so make sure to take time out of studying for relaxing things, maybe try a new hobby, watch some tv or spend time with family and friends
hope this helps you out, feel free to reply/ pm if you want to chat more,
C