A-level results day - keep calm and carry on

On 17 August 2023, thousands of A-level students in England will be receiving their exam results. The Government has already announced that grades will return to pre-pandemic levels, meaning that there will be far fewer top grades awarded to students. This is a nerve-wracking time, as students wait to find out if they will get to study at the university of their choice. If not, they could decide to go through clearing, resit their exam, or in some cases appeal their grade.

My own journey to study a BA in International Relations at the University of Sussex was equally fraught, albeit over thirty years ago. I thought I'd share my story for anyone who is nervously awaiting results for themselves, their friends or family.

In 1986 I was seventeen, eagerly awaiting my A-level results and my passport out of Pompey (Portsmouth) to study at the London School of Economics. I was desperate to start a new life, having already left home aged 16 under difficult circumstances with no parental support. My father had cut me off, although my mother did try to stay in touch as best she could. These days I would fall under the university widening participation scheme, as I was estranged from my family. I had the privilege to attend school at Portsmouth High School, part of the GDST (The Girls' Day School Trust) . I left after my O-levels to follow my history teacher to study Modern History with her alongside other A-levels at South Downs College, now HSDC Havant & South Downs . They also had a fantastic art department, as my other ambition was to apply to art college. I was torn between history and art.

I hedged my bets. I had a foundation year interview lined up at Portsmouth Art College and had already been accepted with conditional offers at the LSE and at the University of Sussex to study International Relations. I was predicted an A in history, my best subject, and had already gained an A in my mock.

However, my world collapsed when I opened the brown envelope containing my results. My history grade was an E not an A! I was in shock. How could this be? I went over and over the exam paper in my mind and could not understand why I had failed so dramatically. In hindsight, I should have appealed but had no parental guidance on what to do. I'd lost my place at the LSE and at Sussex, but as I was determined to study IR at a top university, I decided to resit my A-levels. Although my desire to leave Portsmouth was huge, my passion for International Relations was greater.

I should have taken that unforeseen year out to do not only my history resit, but to also take an art college foundation year. But having had a teenage crisis of confidence in my portfolio, I had not turned up to the interview, so that door had closed.

If I had started uni as planned, I would have been only seventeen and so waiting another year felt ok. When I was at school, I had never planned to go to uni. The HE landscape was quite different back then, with far fewer places available, and only 15% of the UK population attending, rather than 50% today. I had preconceived ideas that it was for posh people who went to Oxbridge. None of my family had gone to uni either, so I had no role models. My two elder siblings had both joined the Navy straight from school and I did not want to follow them.

I was passionate about world affairs, and just a little obsessed with the Russian revolution, having returned from a college study trip to the USSR. International Relations was my top choice for academic study. While studying for my history resit, I got a job at a local family run bookmaker. My grandfather had been a jockey in the 1920s, so I had grown up with horses and horse racing. From there I landed a full-time job as a library assistant, which tided me over until I started university. I successfully got the grade I needed to go to Sussex, having decided I didn't want to reapply to the LSE. London seemed so overwhelmingly large.

I started in October 1987, with a year's full-time work under my belt, aged eighteen. I was one of only approximately 6000 students at the whole Sussex that year. Without any parental support, I had made it, on my own! My years at Sussex were not without challenge, but I achieved my degree, made lifelong best friends, and had a life-forming, life changing experience.

I am glad I waited a year through resitting my exam and remember my student days with great fondness. I reconciled with my father who came to my graduation. After not speaking to me for four years he was immensely proud of his stubborn, independent daughter, who was a lot like him in many ways but could not see it at the time.

The HE landscape is quite different now, but the anxiety waiting for results will remain the same. I wish all those young people the best of luck on the 17 August. If you don't get the grades you need or were hoping for, there are still choices. Keep calm, carry on, and make the choice that is right for you.

Sussex is a wonderful place to study and will be open for clearing.

#clearing2023 #highereducation #university #students