On the 25th August, it was GCSE results for every Year 11 student nationwide (although I’m actually Year 10 – being home educated, I can take them early if I want)! I was waiting on my biology and Latin GCSE results since taking the papers across May and June. I was so nervous – I felt like I’d done terribly in at least one of the papers for each subject (I’ve written other posts about my exact experience with each). I thought I was looking at 5s or even less. I didn’t want to open the email which I knew contained that drastic number that would have a huge impact on the next few months, in terms of which sixth forms I could go to and whether I’d have to resit the exams.
I was expecting my results between 8 and 9am. As I’m home educated and an external candidate at the school I sat them at, the lady who organises exams for external candidates had to email us all individually in that hour. This was the day my mum’s email decided to play up, and we didn’t receive any email at all.
We were going to get the train to go shopping in Nottingham, and I was terrified that I was going to be spending the entire day trip dreading an email that hadn’t yet come! But my mum managed to email the lady while we were on the train and she resent them to us.
I was so petrified. I’m sure my facial expressions were many and varied as the dread disappeared from my face and I read the numbers next to my subjects – Biology, 9, Latin, 9!
Aargh! I was so over the moon it took me a few seconds to react properly. (I was torn between jumping up and down for joy and maintaining my composure to spare everyone else on the train the embarrassment.) If you didn’t know, a 9 is the highest grade you can get at GCSE, roughly equivalent to an A**! It was the last thing I was expecting and I still have no idea how I managed it.
I’m writing this a few days later and I still don’t think it’s fully sunk in! I’m so happy that all my hard work these past few months has paid off. Now it’s time repeat the entire process with English Literature, Language and Maths! 😅
