Results Day: advice from a twenty-something year old who didn't quite make it

Results Day. The day hundreds of thousands of hearts across the UK either break in perfect synchronisation or sing in perfect harmony. The day that makes students up and down the country lose sleep as their throats close up with the silent dread that when they open up that fateful piece of paper, they're not going to like what they see. The day that has the power to either make or break your life.

I would say I miss that whirlpool of emotions - but I would be lying through my teeth because my God was A-level results day hell. Actually, both results days during my A-level years take the award for being the worst days of my life. My AS and A-level results day both consisted of me sobbing so hard that I couldn't breathe, unable to pick up the phone and tell my parents that I had seriously under performed. The crushing disappointment, the cold fear that dowsed me as I sat there motionless, staring at my phone as I tried to summon even the tiniest amount of courage to ring home - it was debilitating. That first year, I could get over it. I fed myself convincing lies that I would make up for lost marks in the coming year and pull my grades up heavily. But that second year, when I saw what I saw on my results slip, I was a mess. I had, well and truly, screwed up.

Not only was I not holding a place for Dentistry (which was the course I'd applied for at the time), but my grades weren't good enough for me to take out a gap year to re-apply, nor could I take out a year to retake my exams because Dentistry admissions boards don't look at applicants who've had to resit papers. The Dentistry dream was over. Or it was at that time. Going through UCAS Clearing, I took a place for medical biochemistry, and here I am, four years later with a degree on my belt and (hopefully) a soon-to-be-added second one.

Ultimately, my wise words of wisdom are that results day isn't the be-all-end-all. Believe me, I know what you're going through - I've experienced the night-before nerves, the elation of a perfect score sheet (what I would give to re-live my GCSE time period...), and the turmoil of a not-so-perfect grade list. And so, from the other side, I can tell you that it's okay. Maybe me telling you that isn't enough. So, coupled with my personal experience, here's a run-down of my results day advice.

R E S U L T S   D A Y

& how to deal with what it brings

Having a contingency plan for, well, the rest of your life, is an absolute must for results day. Think about alternative courses you would consider studying that are eligible to get through Clearing. It could be something related to the course that you initially applied for - maybe a foundation course or something similar that would allow you to transfer to your chosen course later on, or if you're happy doing any other course in that field just because the subject matter is similar enough. Or you could have a completely different career in mind, a course in an entirely different field but which appeals to you. Whatever it is, find out the different courses that are eligible through Clearing, the unis that offer them, the grade requirements, and most importantly, their subject content.

Make a concise list in order of priority, depending on what is most important to you, be it location or what you'll be learning on that course. But whatever it is, make sure you're happy studying for that course for the next three, four, five years of your life. You may have a plan of applying for your initial course again after your first degree, which is fine, but account for the fact that you may change your mind, or it may not work out, and you'll be doing whatever it is you've decided to do for the next forty odd years of your life.

Yes, it's a back-up. But make it one that will make you as happy as your first-choice.

This is so important. Go into college with a compiled list of unis, their direct line numbers for the course you're ringing up for, and the course(s) they're offering that you're interested in. On the day, you're going to be all over the place and you can't afford to lose time by faffing about looking for uni numbers and courses they have available through Clearing. Not to mention that places through Clearing move out fast. You need to be on it the second you find out you haven't met your grade requirements.

If you haven't met them, your first move is to ring up the uni. They may have a little leeway and if you only missed the requirement by a grade or so, they may be willing to accept you anyway. Regardless of whether or not your UCAS Track has updated, do it anyway. If they refuse to take you on, they may have advice regarding any resits or deferred entry.

Then move on to any courses that have caught your eye through Clearing. If they offer you a place and you're in two minds as to whether or not you want it (be it because you're unsure of the course or the uni location), take it anyway. You can always decline it once you've rung up other places and found something more appropriate. But it may be that you have to take what you can get and you don't want to refuse the place, then ring other unis only to find that nothing else is available and ultimately you've lost out both ways.

If you don't get the grades that you need for the conditional place that you're holding for the course you want to study, and you are adamant that you want to study it, know that there are ways round it.

* If your course allows for it, you can take out a year to resit the papers you didn't do so well in, and re-apply the following year. Meanwhile you can work part-time or get experience in the field you want to go into or even find an apprenticeship which may work out better for you than Higher Education.

* You can take a course through Clearing that will allow a transfer after one year into your initial course - in which case, you need to look at unis that offer that beforehand as well as their contact details. I know for a fact that medical schools offer this - so you'd be wise choosing to study a science degree at a uni that does, and also a uni that offers a medical program you are most interested in. Dental schools don't allow the transfer route, in which case you'll have to look at the next option I've outlined.

* You can do a full degree like myself, and re-apply for your chosen course. Naturally, the courses that most people choose this route for are Medicine and Dentistry. Again, make sure you know which course will be the best for you because it could well be that that's the field you'll be working in for life. For Medicine and Dentistry, you'll obviously need a degree in a science subject but science degrees vary significantly in their content so choose the one that appeals the most to you.

Be smart with your choices. Maybe choose to do your Clearing course at a uni that also offers the "best" initial course that you wanted. I'm not saying it works in your favour to do so, but sometimes it can when it comes to reapplying or taking a transfer. You'll be familiar with the uni itself, and for courses that come with an interview process, it may give you an advantage over other candidates.

Easier said than done, I know. Believe me, I know.

But like I said, there are so many routes out there to get into the field/career that you want. Honestly, the list is endless but I've only given the few that are the most common and that I'm most familiar with.

When you're eighteen, and you're looking at alternative routes, taking out three years for another degree, or even just one gap year, it seems like a huge loss of time. It's really really not. One year will fly by so fast you won't have time to even breathe, and a three year degree goes by so much faster that before you know it, you're graduating and results day is a distant, forgotten memory. So please don't let the fear of losing so many years factor in when making a decision. At the end of the day, your career is your life. Do whatever the hell you have to do to get there, however long it's going to take.

Then again - if you don't get there, that's okay too. You change as you grow older and it's okay to change your mind about careers or subject paths. Me, personally, I took medical biochemistry through Clearing because it not only had subject content that was right up my alley, but it gave me the scope to progress in it as a career, as well as apply for Medicine or Dentistry afterwards. I did re-apply for Dentistry - that didn't fall through, and by that time, I'd figured out that it wasn't what I wanted for the rest of my life anyway. It actually felt like a colossal relief. And now I'm studying Optometry as a much more mature, realistic version of myself and when people wonder if I should have just taken Optometry at eighteen through Clearing, I just think no. No, because I had the chance to study a subject I have a deep-rooted passion for, and I have the option to pursue it for life, for the rest of my life. No, because I wouldn't be half the optometrist I could be at 21, than I will be at 25. No, because studying medical biochemistry is one of the absolute best things to have ever happened to me.

I know people - who were studying med biochem with me - that had initially applied for Medicine or Dentistry, who applied for the transfer. When they didn't get that, they applied again through UCAS before the start of our final year. Some got in, some didn't. Those that didn't, some went on to do a Masters in med biochem and are likely to go on to study for a PhD. Others took out a gap year after they graduated, then re-applied - again - and got in.

My point is this; it will take detours and heartbreaks and some devastating failures, but at some point in life, you will find yourself in exactly the place you are meant to be, in exactly the degree course that is best for you, in the career that is exactly right for you. Your A-level results are not the end of the world. Yes, you need the right grades for the course you want, but if you don't get them there are endless opportunities out there for you that will lead you to it, or you may just find that there is something else entirely different written in your destiny for you.

At the time it will feel like your life is falling apart, it will feel like the crushing end to your dreams but in actual fact, it's just the beginning. I understand the disappointment of your parents, I understand that it's difficult to accept a different life plan and the decisions or choices you will have to make, I understand sleeping in bed for a week, drowning in the hurt and regret and crying like there's no tomorrow. I understand it because I went through it. It's also why I'm in the privileged position to tell you that it's temporary. You've done your best and whatever happens will happen for a reason, and your life that you think is crumbling to dust in front of you will in fact come together in the coming year or the coming three or the coming ten. And you'll look back with that degree certificate in your hand one day, thinking that A-level results day was far from the end of the world, and you'll feel sorry for the new eighteen year old generation that will be going through what you're going through, and you'll wish that you could tell them that in the grand scheme of things, a bunch of grades won't even make it on to your CV because all that matters is the degree that you're holding in your hand and that is yours for life.

I guess all that's left to say now is good luck to any of you waiting on results - if you get what you need and desperately want, then congratulations! You've made it through the two most gruelling years of your life! If you don't...just know that you're not alone. And my story and experiences are not a naive perspective on what to expect - it's a real one, and it's proof that even when things go horribly wrong, they can go wonderfully right :)