If your results aren’t what you expected, it’s not the end of the world. Pick yourself up, dust yourself down and start planning to pass next time.
‘Resitting an exam is much more common than people think,’ says Jen Whelan, Careers Adviser (and veteran of two maths resits!).
‘Your first thought might be “oh no, I’m a failure!” But anyone can have an off day. Don’t be embarrassed. Instead, turn the resit into a positive – “Here I am again. I’m not giving up!”
Jen has some simple tips that could make a huge difference next time:
Talk
‘One of the first things to do is talk to somebody. It could be a careers adviser on the Exam Results Helpline, your parents, friends or teachers. Talk through why you failed – nerves, not enough revision, too slow in the exam – so you can make sure it doesn’t happen next time.’
Plan
‘Making a plan can really help. It gives you something to focus on – this is what happened and this is what I’m going to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Build it around your weakest areas, so you can give them more attention. It’s easier to motivate yourself when you’ve got a specific plan to follow.’
Be confident
'And don’t forget the fact you’re resitting the exam could actually put you in a stronger position. After all, you’ve already covered the work once, so it’s familiar stuff – and that can give you a great confidence boost. You could even find yourself with a higher grade second time around than you were expecting the first time.'
Be proud of yourself
‘If anything, the sense of achievement of picking yourself up, studying off your own back and then passing the resit, is even better than passing the first time around.’
• Ask your teacher what your weakest areas are
• Plan your study, especially on the hardest topics
• You’ve done it before – use the year as a big revision session
• Before the exam, take a deep breath, stay calm and focus on your end goal
Hannah Pearson found herself resitting three Highers last year. Here’s her story:
‘I’d expected to fail chemistry because I’d struggled all year in the assessments. English and biology were a surprise. Looking back, I just got nervous in the exam hall, panicked and my brain went out of the window.
‘After I failed I spoke to my teacher and asked their advice on which areas I most needed to work on. I also went to some extra classes at lunchtime on topics I found particularly tough.
‘I definitely revised more the second time around and was more focused. Even though I’d done the work before, it was actually a great confidence boost to realise that I still remembered and understood it. I did better in the prelims second time round, too.
‘I passed all three second time and it kept my career ambitions on track.’
Didn’t get the grades you were expecting?
Find out more about Clearing.
