Results Day: A Guide for Parents

We make cards, pin badges and prints in the UK. We don't sell laptops, textbooks or bedding sets, so this is a straight guide with the card at the end.

Results day is short, public and emotionally loud. Most of the parental job happens in the hour before and the evening after.

Here's the practical plan, including the disappointing version.

Finish it with a card

Have a card ready and written before the day.

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Before the day

  • Agree who's going with them and whether you're waiting in the car park or at home. Ask; don't assume.
  • Make sure they have their UCAS login, phone charged, and the school's phone number.
  • Say out loud, the night before, that the result doesn't change anything between you.
  • Clear the day. Don't book anything they'd have to smile through.

On the day

  • A level results are released before GCSEs, both in mid to late August, usually from 8am at school.
  • UCAS Track updates early, but wait for the paper slip before ringing anyone.
  • Let them open it themselves, in their own time, and read your face carefully afterwards.
  • Feed them. Nobody eats breakfast on results day.

If it goes wrong

  • Clearing opens on A level results day and stays open into the autumn - places are available all day and beyond.
  • Ring the university directly; they're set up for it and often more flexible than the website suggests.
  • Ask the school about a review of marking, and note that grades can go down as well as up.
  • Resits, apprenticeships, a college course or a year out are all normal routes, not consolation prizes.

What to say, and what not to

  • "I'm proud of how hard you worked" is true in every outcome.
  • Don't compare - not with siblings, not with their friends, not with your own results.
  • Don't fix it in the first hour. Sit with it first.
  • Plan the evening: their choice of food, their choice of company.

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How to write it so it lands

  • Say it the night before.
  • Let them open it themselves.
  • Clearing is normal, not a failure.

Where to shop next

Frequently asked questions

When is results day in the UK?

A level results come in mid to late August, with GCSE results the following week. Schools usually open from 8am.

What is clearing?

The UCAS process for finding a university place if you missed your offer or changed your mind. It opens on A level results day and runs into the autumn.

What should you say to your child on results day?

That you're proud of the work, whatever the paper says. Avoid comparisons and don't rush to fix it in the first hour.

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