Introduction: A-Level results day can be an anxious time for the whole family. If your child’s grades aren't what they—or you—were hoping for, it’s natural to feel worried. Right now, your calm, proactive support is the most valuable thing you can offer. This guide outlines the options available and how you can help them take the right next step.

Immediate Actions: Their Options & Your Role

Here’s a checklist of practical steps you can encourage and support your child with on the day.

1. Encourage Them to Call Their First Choice: While your instinct might be to take over, empower your child to make the call to their firm choice university themselves. Admissions tutors want to speak to the student. Your role is to be there for support, helping them prepare what to say.

2. Help Them Navigate UCAS Clearing: Sit with them and explore the courses available in Clearing. It can feel overwhelming, so helping them research universities and course modules can be a huge help.

3. Discuss Retakes Calmly: Talk through the possibility of retaking one or more exams. Help them find out the deadlines and what this would mean for their plans over the next year.

4. Explore Alternatives Together: This could be an opportunity to discover new pathways. Research apprenticeships, different qualifications, or foundation years with them to show that there are many routes to success.

5. Understand the Appeals Process: If a grade was unexpectedly low, support your child in asking their school about the process for a review or appeal. You can help them gather the necessary information and understand the potential outcomes.

What to Do Next: Supporting Them Emotionally

Remind your child that their A-Level results are just a snapshot in time, not a reflection of their total worth or potential. With your support, this moment can be reframed as a valuable learning experience.

Help them to unpick what happened without blame. Talk about exam stress, preparation, and what they might do differently next time. Reassure them that there is no guarantee an appeal will change their grade, and that that’s okay too. Your steady encouragement will enable them to make a confident, informed choice about their future.

What to do next

Remember that your child's GCSE results are just the start of their qualifications through their education journey. With the right support at this stage, it will enable them to make choices going forward with your guidance too.

Even if your child's exam results get checked by the exam board, there is no guarantee that this will improve their grade - this is okay too. Your child may still be able to go on and get strong results at their next stage in education, and this experience in their GCSE's will prepare them for that next stage. 

Encourage your child to consider the factors which may have impacted their results, this could be due to a variety of factors:

• Exam stress
• Not understanding questions on an exam paper
• Little revision or exam preparation 
• Strength in other subjects 
• Inaccurate grade predictions  

If you can work with your child to understand why their grades aren't as strong as predicted, you can set a plan in place to better prepare them for future exams, consider some of the following:

• Separate exam rooms 
• Revision timetable 
• Checking for diagnosis of SEND, for example Dyslexia, ADHD, Dyspraxia
• Reducing stress around exams - mindfulness, relaxation methods
• Focussing studies on stronger knowledge areas