Tips for coping with disappointing assessment and exam results

Preparing for assessments and exams takes dedication and perseverance. As you work towards your exams, you may be experiencing pressure from school, your family, university or even yourself to achieve the grades you want.

This can mean that expectations are high for you as you go through your formal assessments. 

We know that this process is stressful and the next stage of receiving your results can also provoke a mixture of emotions. You may be quietly confident, or you may be apprehensive about your work. In either case, receiving a disappointing result can have a knock-on effect to the rest of your academic pursuits.  

Before you get here 

We have put together some tips on what you can do to recover from results disappointment before you get to university and whilst you’re studying here if you choose to come to Wrexham. 

GCSEs and A levels are an important foundation to set yourself up, for where you think you want to go to university. Even though good results are great to aim for, they should not be seen as the be all and end all.  

At Wrexham, we believe that you are a name and not a number. We look at you as a person rather than purely focussing on your grades. You may have received a seemingly disappointing set of results before you get to university, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t apply to a course that suits your aspirations.  

Quite a few of our students didn’t think that university was an option for them for a number of reasons. Clare Stevenson, a Forensics Science student, said “I didn’t think that University would be for me as I didn’t think I would get the grades but, my friend convinced me to do it, so I applied, got accepted and started my studies all within the space of a few months”. 

Our degrees have practical experiences embedded and they are at the heart of our approach to learning. You have the option of going for an industry-placement year with some of our degrees or gaining work experience as you make your way through your course. Our vocation-based degrees like Nursing or Policing may also be of interest if you prefer practical experience over purely academic subjects.  

We are aware that you may not have thought about us as an option initially, but let’s say that you’ve now done some research after your results and are thinking of, or have already decided to apply to us through Clearing. We have put together some guidance for making Clearing easy if you anticipate going through the Clearing process. Our admissions team are also on hand to help you every step of the way, make sure to contact us directly with your results close by and we’ll be happy to discuss your options. 

After you’ve arrived 

Assessments or exams are an inescapable part of university life. Although our award-winning lecturers will prepare you as much as possible for your formal assessments, we know that sometimes you may receive a disappointing grade that you weren’t expecting.  
 
Take some time- before you do anything, make sure to read through your feedback, if it is the style of assessment that allows, and take a day to think about your next steps. 

Evaluate- take stock of your assessments, exam timetable, modules, and of what stage of your course you’re in. This grade could be balanced out by your other results, or it may not majorly impact your final, overall grade. Evaluate the effect of this result in the context of your whole degree. 

Make the most of support- our Learning Skills Team are available to help you with your written skills as well as planning your time. This will make sure that you’re fully prepared for your next assessment, exam or resit if necessary.   

Reach out- if you still need some clarification after reading your assessment feedback, or you want to gain some advice on a recent exam results, then make sure to contact your personal tutor for further feedback.  

Try to stay positive- although bad grades are disappointing, make sure you take care of yourself and stay positive about your studies. If you need any support getting your mojo back, then get in touch with our wellbeing services and they’ll be happy to help.  

Whether you’re in the application stage, or if you’re already studying us, you have the option of reaching out to either our support services or our enquiries team if you need extra support recovering from a disappointing result. 

Don’t forget to check out our courses as well, if you’re thinking of applying to study here at Wrexham.