After the A-Level results many will not have received the results they wanted. With this in mind, below is some advice from three psychologists on how to cope with disappointment.
Dr Frances Greenstreet, Lead Educational Psychologist at Alpine Psychology: "Exam results mark a key transition point in life. They can determine what immediate options lie ahead or which route you might take next.
If your A-Level results were not what you were hoping for, it is ok to feel sad, frustrated or disappointed. Remember, there are lots of young people in the same boat as you. Everyone has different ways of coping, and if you think back over the past 18 months, it has been exceptionally tough. What helped you get through? The personal strengths that helped you to keep going, whether perseverance, humour, kindness, gratitude or optimism, can also help you now. The difficult feelings you may be experiencing now won't last forever. Points of change in our lives bring opportunities as well as challenges. Also, ask yourself what new opportunities lie ahead? You are more than an exam result. You can control the next steps you take. Find your new path, use your strengths and continue to create the future you want for yourself."
Dr Shungu Hilda M'gadzah, lead consultant psychologist at Inclusion Psychologists: "It's tough not getting the results you were hoping for and in the immediate aftermath it can even feel devastating. What we don't see are the opportunities which are yet to be revealed to us. Take some time to feel the disappointment but then it's important to be positive and work out what your options are. Talk to someone who can guide and advise you. There are many paths we can take and when one closes another one invariably opens up. There will be many more opportunities to come so believe in yourself."
Dr Marianne Trent, a clinical psychologist at Coventry-based Good Thinking Psychological Services: "Disappointment is a very real and important emotion and this year it may also be tempered with anger, frustration and jealousy. This is because teachers have had to award the grades to students. Teachers have known the grades for a while and will therefore have known whether a student will be able to progress to their next education stage if needed, but of course this will be brand new information to the students. With exams not taking place again this year, the type of student who needs the pressure of exams to rise to the challenge and revise and pull great grades out of the bag at the last minute may not have had their chance to shine and might therefore be disappointed. If you are feeling disappointed it's okay to lean into it. It might mean that you have to make slight changes to the year ahead but that's okay, you can always strive to make changes to start afresh again and by then you'll have acquired new skills and talents, too."
