what to think about heading into y12

Some of you who were in year 12 did exams last term, and this week may well be when you get your results.
 
Okay. Exhale. It will be okay. Push is here to help whether you hit above your weight, hit your target or got hit with a dead haddock on results day 2018.

If you did better than expected: Oh yes. Your hard work so far should take some of the pressure off the coming year because good grades at this stage feed into healthy A level predictions (or Highers in Scotland). And good predictions help you get offers of places at a wider range of unis. Sadly, a total kick-back isn't possible though. You still need to do well in the coming year to be in a position to accept the unis offers and last year's achievements only really prove what you're capable of. Celebrate though. You deserve it.
 
If you got what you expected: Nice. If you achieved what you needed over the past year, it gives you a good idea of how hard you need to work to get the grades this year, especially if you want to get into uni.
 
If you didn't get the results you were expecting: Okay. It’s really not the end of the world. You may need to take stock and re-examine your options. You may need to rethink what you’re planning to study, or where. You may want to think about non-uni options like apprenticeships and school-leaver schemes. In any case, there’ll be plenty of people around on results day and over the next few weeks to help you out.
 
If any of your unit marks are much lower than you were expecting or you’ve only missed a grade boundary by a couple of points it's definitely worth speaking to one of your teachers. It might be worth getting your paper re-marked. You can do this through the school and, although there’s a fee, it might be a good investment.
 
Whilst you're eking out the last few weeks of the summer sunshine, let those big questions filter through your thoughts. What do you want to do after school? What makes you happiest? What career appeals to you most? And of course, how do you get there?
 
It's okay if you've not got it all mapped out yet, the important thing is to be thinking about it — and then over the next few months, Push will be here whilst you make those big decisions.