Post Exam Stress

1

After the exams I feel like I'm going to lose it. Looking at unofficial ms I think I'm going to achieve AAB, with my firm choice requiring ABB. But I know I could've at least got an A* in Math easily but made too many stupid minor mistakes that I would never make normally and I feel miserable that I won't get an A*. I honestly feel like resisting. Does anyone have any tips to cope with this?

Reply 1

Kikikeke

9

Looking at Unofficial mark schemes is really unhelpful, they're not even accurate and will just cause u so much unreasonable overthinking and stress. I'm assuming you've finished all your exams so it's best to just let go of everything. Once it's done it's done. Thinking about your exams and what you've written is not going to get u anywhere. Throw away and burn your A-level revision and notes, you don't need to focus on that anymore and focus on enjoying your summer instead. Thinking of your exams is only going to make you stress even more and it will wreck ur mental health, they're just exams and if you felt like u didn't do well enough, atleast you've tried and move forwards. I'm sure you've done better than how you thought u did. I hope you have a lovely summer and good luck on results day🤞

Reply 2

Kingston Reps

Official Rep

15

Original post by dawud6

After the exams I feel like I'm going to lose it. Looking at unofficial ms I think I'm going to achieve AAB, with my firm choice requiring ABB. But I know I could've at least got an A* in Math easily but made too many stupid minor mistakes that I would never make normally and I feel miserable that I won't get an A*. I honestly feel like resisting. Does anyone have any tips to cope with this?

Hi @dawud6,

I know it's difficult, but try and avoid looking up unofficial mark schemes or reading too much commentary/speculation on your papers. It's not uncommon for students to over-exaggerate how easy they found exams, which can cause others unnecessary stress - the only truly accurate grade boundaries you'll receive are going to be those on results day.

You've done all you can now, so relax and get your mind off exams rather than worry about future resits. Try and organise a few days out with friends, restart an old hobby/sport you haven't got the chance to work at in a while, pick up a part-time job for some extra spending cash - anything to get your mind away from the exam hall! 🙂

Best of luck for results day, and have fun on your break,
Eve (Kingston Rep).

Reply 3

Jasmine6789

13

Original post by dawud6

After the exams I feel like I'm going to lose it. Looking at unofficial ms I think I'm going to achieve AAB, with my firm choice requiring ABB. But I know I could've at least got an A* in Math easily but made too many stupid minor mistakes that I would never make normally and I feel miserable that I won't get an A*. I honestly feel like resisting. Does anyone have any tips to cope with this?

I’ve just finished my GCSEs but I honestly feel the same rn, I don’t think I will get as many 9s as I hoped to plus I was ill during a few of my exams. You still have got in your firm choice so you have still succeeded. Be proud of yourself as A levels are tough and most people get Cs and Ds. And most importantly think of the new experiences you will encounter this year, those are still very good results.
Hope that helps a bit

Reply 4

YSJstudents

Official Rep

15

Original post by dawud6

After the exams I feel like I'm going to lose it. Looking at unofficial ms I think I'm going to achieve AAB, with my firm choice requiring ABB. But I know I could've at least got an A* in Math easily but made too many stupid minor mistakes that I would never make normally and I feel miserable that I won't get an A*. I honestly feel like resisting. Does anyone have any tips to cope with this?

Hi,

Overthinking and worrying about the grades you may get, can be really unhelpful and can turn into a dark spiral. I'm guilty of overthink grades myself, especially in my third year of my undergraduate. I always thought I did a lot worse than I actually did after I submitted the assignments.

I've learnt recently that taking a step back and thinking of the 'bigger picture' of what it really means if I didn't get those high grades that I aimed for. It was difficult at first as I'm a perfectionist, but I realised that grade won't actually impact anything, just how I felt about the grade. I wish I had tried to change this mindset of sort of competing against myself and grade chasing earlier, as it would of saved me a lot of sleepless nights between hand in's and getting my grades back.

I have found going into my masters degree, that I have felt a lot less stressed over my grades, while still achieving the grades I want, by approaching it with the 'I can't change anything now, and worrying about it is only going to impact me, and not the grade' mindset.

I know it's difficult but comparing your grades to others really won't help either, students tend to over-exaggerate their grades. You will find at uni that some students will also over-exaggerate their grades as well. I'm not sure why people do this, as it really doesn't help anyone, and just causes more anxiety in general.

Good luck with your A level results
Suzan - Student Ambassador

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