Hi there,
Thanks for your letter. It seems like you feel very stressed about your GCSE exams and the results which are due to come out soon. I want you to know that you are not alone in feeling this way and that many young people will be stressed about exam results and the effect this may have on their future.
From what you say, you are worried about your parents reactions. You dont tell me what your relationship with your parents is like and Im wondering what it would be like to speak to them about your concerns. By speaking to them, you could find out more about what their expectations are for you and how they might deal with things if you dont achieve your expected results. Maybe you could work out a plan with them of how to cope on results day.
You also mention that if you dont get good enough results and you cant get into college, then you dont know what to do. The people who could help you with this concern would be teachers at school and college. It could be that staff are available over the summer who can support you but if not, staff will definitely be around on results day to help you work through your options. It might be possible to do resits, or change to another course or college if the worst happens. It is important to remember that there are options.
It could be that your anxieties about your results are just normal worries and you will achieve the results you need. Sometimes, waiting and not knowing is the worst part. You might find the information about these worries on our Exam results page useful. Trying to cope with stress and anxiety is difficult and there are a few ideas on our Managing your anxiety page that you might like to try to help you manage things over the next few weeks.
You could also check out the message boards to see how other young people are coping as they wait for their exam results.
If you would like to talk things through some more, you could contact a ChildLine counsellor by phone, 1-2-1 chat or by sending them an email.
Take care for now,
Sam
You can talk privately to a counsellor online or call 0800 1111 for free.
You can ask me about anything you want, there's nothing too big or small. I read every single letter but I can only answer a few each week. My replies are published here on my page.
