Lack of control over exams causes extreme anxiety for students
A Harrogate psychologist says the inability to sit exams has been difficult for students to process
Last updated 9th Aug 2021
A Harrogate child psychologist has said 'it's no surprise' students are suffering with anxiety ahead of results days.
It is as exams were cancelled for the second year running due to the coronavirus pandemic and the disruption across the country meant that it would not be fair if all students took the same exams as some schools and colleges may have been able to teach more of the curriculum than others.
Instead, 2021 grades have been determined by teachers – known as teacher assessed grades, or TAGs.
But Dr Jessica Guilding, child psychologist at the Oakdale Centre in Harrogate has warned the 'lack of control' over exams and their grades is causing anxiety in students.
She said: "Last year we saw the exam stress and not knowing what was going to happen and the results themselves and I'm expecting the exact same this year.
"They are so important to these young people in terms of what they can access and their futures so it is no surprise they will have a lot of emotions and anxiety about what to expect when they open up that envelope.
"It's a particularly tricky time and our brains default to that worse case scenario.
"They're understandably concerned about their futures especially when that future context has been so severely impacted.
"We would expect more anger and frustration about these results because they have been so much out of these young people's control so this year we expect them to find the process a lot harder."
Tens of thousands of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are set to receive their A-level and GCSE results after exams were cancelled for the second year in a row due to the pandemic.
A-level and AS level results day is Tuesday, August 10, and GCSE results day is Thursday, August 12.
Harrogate pupils are being asked to check with their school or college whether they are still required to pick up their results in person in the morning, or whether they will be sent out by email or post instead.