This morning kids are getting their A-Level results. We want some quick views on coping with disappointment for those who didn't get the results they wanted. Deadline is tight.If you're a Premium user, your response will be edited by an experienced news journalist to ensure it is as strong as possible and grammatically tight.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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A-level results: Coping with disappointment

"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 challenge. 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 Frances Greenstreet

Dr. Frances Greenstreet, CPsychol. DEdChPsychol & BSc is a highly respected and sought after Chartered Psychologist and founder of the Female Founders Wellbeing Academy – offering psychological coaching for female entrepreneurs. She is an experienced presenter, trainer and supervisor; has co-led local government wellbeing strategies and facilitated transformative consultation programmes for leaders. With first-hand experience of the challenges of maintaining wellbeing as a female founder and her extensive psychological knowledge and skills, she is committed to becoming a leading voice, changing the landscape for female founders’ mental health and wellbeing.

"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 your year next year but that's okay, you can always strive to make changes to start afresh again next year and by then you'll have acquired new skills and talents, too."

Dr Marianne Trent

Dr Marianne Trent is a specialist in trauma and grief. She approaches everything with compassion and professionalism. She has vast experience from a great range of different areas including adult mental health, child mental health, eating disorders, intellectual disability and more. She is the author of The Clinical Psychologist Collective, The Grief Collective & Host of The Aspiring Psychologist Podcast. She has appeared on television and radio. 


"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 Shungu Hilda M'gadzah

Dr Shungu Hilda M’gadzah is a Chartered Educational Psychologist, consultant psychologist, author, executive coach and founder of the Six Stages Framework (SSF), with more than 30 years’ experience across psychology, education, leadership and inclusion. Her work focuses on human behaviour, particularly how individuals, groups and systems respond to difference, discomfort, bias, belonging and social change. She provides expert psychological insight on racism and bias, psychological safety, education, SEND, neurodiversity, leadership, emotional intelligence, escalation and extremism. She is Director and Lead Consultant Psychologist at Inclusion Psychologists Ltd and also works as an expert witness in SEND and clinical negligence. Dr M’gadzah holds a Professional Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology, with doctoral research in Emotional Intelligence. She is a former Chair of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Educational and Child Psychology and was the first Black person to hold that role. Her work includes books, articles, podcasts and practical psychological resources designed to support reflection, inclusion and meaningful change.

A-level results: Coping with disappointment

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Dr Frances Greenstreet

Founder & Lead Psychologist at Female Founders Wellbeing Academy

Dr Marianne Trent

Clinical Psychologist at Good Thinking Psychology

Dr Shungu Hilda M'gadzah

Consultant Psychologist at Inclusion Psychologists Limited

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3 responses from the Newspage community
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