Are you or is someone you know about to receive their AS or A2 Level results? If so you’re probably confused over what step to take next. The range of options can seem like a minefield, especially if grades are better or worse than expected. At this crucial time you need as much advice as possible to make the right decision – whether that’s accepting an existing university offer, going through clearing, embarking on a vocational qualification or entering the workplace.

Even if the results aren’t as good as hoped, students have more pathways available to them than ever before – it’s just a question of keeping calm and knowing what the options are. According to recent research by examining body Edexcel, the majority of Brits agree that the choices we make about our educational route when we leave school affects our entire careers.

On Thursday 20th August thousands of A2 and AS Level students across the county will be getting their results - with GCSE students following suit next Thursday. Our WebTV Show will guide students through the range of options available to them with Edexcel’s Online Manager Tom Shooter. Joining Tom is AS Level student Helena Besley, who knows exactly what students are going through at this exciting but apprehensive time. Click below to make sure they answer any questions you might have.

Tom Shooter and Helena Besley join us live online to discuss Results Day options.

For more information visit www.examzone.co.uk

I: Vicky Letch, interviewer
T: Tom Shooter, Edexcel
H: Helene Besley, student

I: Hello and welcome to the Education Show, I’m Vicky Letch. Now then with tomorrow’s AS and A2 results set for release, choosing what to do next is clearly not an easy step. The range of options can seem like a minefield, especially if grades are better or worse than expected and at this crucial time you need as much advice as possible to make the right decision – whether that's accepting an existing university offer, going through clearing, embarking on a vocational qualification or of course entering the workplace. Well joining me to discuss this today is Tom Shooter from the examining board Edexcel and AS Student Helena Besley. Guys, welcome to the studio,

T: Thanks very much

I: Good to have you both here. How are you? Nervous? Is she ok?

H: Very nervous

I: Very nervous

H: But excited

I: Nervous and excited, that’s a good thing to start with. We’re going to talk about that in great detail. But Tom let’s go to you first. Tomorrow is of course a huge day for many, and many people watching now. Describe what they can expect to find tomorrow, and how to deal with it as well?

T: Yes I mean I think for the students involved it’s a very important day, it’s the culmination of two years of really hard work, you know put a lot of effort in to their results, so it can be a very nervous time as Helena said. The guess – I guess the best thing to be – would be – what we would advise is not panic. Be calm

I: Yes

T: And remain calm. There’s lots of options open to them no matter what happens, whether the grades are better or worse, you know, if it comes to it than expected. So be calm, make yourself aware of those options, we’ll talk a bit about those later on, but I guess be prepared

I: Yes absolutely. I think that probably is the key of – you have to consider, it is two years of someone’s life, so we do know it is massively pressured, but it is just taking a few deep breaths and –

T: Yes just getting that perspective I think and stepping back and knowing – I mean it is, obviously it is – the decision that’s taken now is going to have an impact on the sort of future career, but at the same time, don’t feel, don’t feel overawed, don’t feel overwhelmed by the decision

I: Yes

T: Just be aware of the options that are open to you and be able to make a sensible decision so prepare yourselves I think is the best thing

I: Ok. You’re like a brownie or a girl’s guide

T: Yes a bit like it

I: Or I could have said just scout which might be better considering –

T: Scout yes

I: You’re a man! If you’re watching now and you’re sat at home thinking ooh this is me, this is my life, then do of course send in your questions, have a look at the box on the screen and then click submit and then through the course of the – well the next 20 minutes – we’ll answer as many as we possibly can. So Helena you’re excited and you’re nervous all rolled into one?

H: Yes, really. I mean it’s just – it’s a big day but if the worst comes to the worst I can always just retake, so –

I: Absolutely. And we were – I have to admit we were having a little giggle earlier on saying is this nice for Helena to have to talk about her big day, all day the previous day? But maybe it is good, and I think you’re right about getting perspective, that there are options, and we will certainly talk about all of those options, so what did you study? What are you waiting for your grades for?

H: I’m waiting for my grades for classics, English lit, psychology and politics

I: I feel like giving you a round of applause –

T: That’s quite a range

I: Very impressive, very nice. So if you are on target as it were, what are your plans for the next year?

H: Just to keep on those three and to drop psychology but to keep those three on and hope to do well in them

I: Ok. I’m going to have everything that dangles crossed for you tomorrow but I’m sure you’ll be fine. I mean we obviously will be talking about plan B’s, as much as we study, we all know on the exam day things can go awry and you might not walk away with what you’re expecting. Tom, what are the options if that is the case for people?

T: I guess if things don’t go as well as planned, there’s lots of options. I mean Helena’s halfway through, she’s doing her AS at the moment going on towards the A2 so if she doesn’t do as well as she’s expecting on some of her exams she’s got the opportunity to retake

I: Yes

T: and even if students are at the end of the course, you know they can still think about looking at retaking and improving grades if that’s what they need to do. There are options to re-mark, you can request a re-mark if you think that you should have done better in a paper, but I think that’s something you’d want to speak to your school or college about, it’s often the case students will want a re-mark where we’d say most of the time the grades don’t change because the marking process is very – there’s a lot of quality assurance and so they don’t often change. So considering those two options, I mean making sure you’ve spoken to somebody I suppose at the school or college it’s good to know there’s always somebody on hand and you discuss it with your parents or your guardian, make sure that you’ve talked it through. So those are options there. I mean if you’re going to university and you don’t get the grades you’re expecting then there’s the clearing process, so you can look to go through the clearing process and perhaps see if there’s places at other universities, you know if you don’t get the place you’re thinking of

I: So in terms of a re-mark, this is an interesting one for me, would it be – if I took an exam, if I absolutely thought in my heart of hearts that I had produced say grade B and – does it still work with grade B’s? I’m unsure!

T: Could do yes

I: Yes grade B and I walk out with a C, would it be if I thought I was on the cusp of that B it would be worth going through that process?

T: Well what we do – at Edexcel we give a lot of information with the grades, so not just the grade, you also – you’re given indications of how close you were to what we call the grade boundary

I: Right

T: Which is how close you were to the grades below and above

I: Right

T: So that’s something worth looking at, you can discuss that with your school or college. We give a lot of tools I suppose you could say for the schools or colleges to analyse the results and look at how close students were. So if you are very close to a grade, a higher grade, then a re-mark might be something you want to consider

I: Ok

T: Whereas if – obviously if you’re a long way off, then it’s probably a trauma you wouldn’t want to go through really

I: Yes

T: I mean it’s not likely to have an impact on your grade

I: Ok. Actually this ties in with a question from Sara, Sara thank you very much. She says “I’m really worried that I won’t get the grades I need to get into my first choice university. Do they sometimes let you in with lower grades?”

T: I believe that does happen, it will kind of depend on the number of students applying to the university. I think probably at present with – you know there are – there’s always sort of a lot of competition for places, and it’s – if the university, as they generally do, have more applicants than they can actually take because they’re expecting some students to maybe not achieve, then it’s unlikely, but it’s always worth speaking to them if you don’t get your grades it’s worth having a word with them, because you do never know. And if not then you know clearing, there may be other universities there that are equally as good that are going to satisfy your requirements

I: Ok great. Another question from Elisa, thank you Elisa, and she says “I’m really worried about my results and it’s unlikely I’m going to get the grades I need to secure the conditional place I have been given for university. How competitive is it to get in through clearing?”

T: Well I mean there’s lots of students, obviously, university is a very popular decision, it’s a very popular choice, so there’s always a lot of students applying. It’s difficult to say I suppose. I mean clearing is all about finding places at universities where they tend to be short, and really there’s a certain element of accepting what’s available through that process. I guess the more you learn and the more you’re aware of that process and what you do to take somewhere that suits you, at short notice the better, the more prepared you are tomorrow if that happens

I: Absolutely. So Helena we – obviously positive vibes at all times, but everyone does need a plan B, so if you don’t quite make the grades you’re hoping to, what will you do?

H: Well I’m fairly confident but –

I: Oh I like that

T: Confidence

I: I love that

H: If I – if I’m kind of just off a B or a C I’m hoping to just – well with the courses I’m doing we can re-take in either January or June which is a good time, especially as I’ll be applying to uni around that time, so I can re-take then, so that’s what I’ll be doing if I don’t get what I need to get

I: Ok. So you are starting the process of thinking about university –

H: Yes

I: And – do you know what you’ll be studying at university or do you still want to have a think about it?

H: Well I’m really interested in the classics courses I’ve been looking at. I’ve looked at two universities already where they do some really good courses, so I am kind of still looking but I think I know what I want to do

I: Good. Excellent. Now it’s not all of course doom and gloom, there will be many of you that turn up tomorrow on your big day and get some surprises perhaps, so in that case, you know let’s turn this thing on its head. What would they do then?

T: Yes I mean it’s – you know we do focus on the negative. People arriving and getting better results

I: We are British, that’s what we do

T: Absolutely, expect the worst. I mean clearing, you can go through clearing if you decide if you get excellent grades that would mean you’ve got more choice, you may decide to go through clearing and try and change your university from your first choice

I: Ok

T: I would think most students have thought through very carefully and they’ve gone for a university that the decision about which university to go for is all sorts of things, it’s the course you want to do, it’s where you want to study in

I: Absolutely

T: What it is about the place, the sort of extra curricula social life and that side of thing is an important factor as well. So I would imagine most people have chosen a university they really want to go do, so it’s not something you want to do, but you know it’s something you can consider. You know by all means have a look and use clearing

I: Yes

T: If you’ve got better results than you think

I: And if you do get those better results than perhaps you haven’t thought too much about what you want to study because you were thinking you were going to do so badly, what about taking a year out, what are your thoughts on gap years?

T: Absolutely yes, gap year is an option I mean lots of students do that, I mean you can go out and get some experience, try and get some work, you know, a lot of students go travelling, see the world, get some life experience

I: Yes

T: All of that can add to your general CV I suppose when you’re coming back or you know looking to go on to university, very valuable experience you can build up in that year. So that’s something you might want to consider as well. Going out and reapplying later on

I: Absolutely and I feel like I have to say like a wise old hen at this point, going to university is a life experience as well isn’t it, so I know my choice of subject was certainly not going to open doors to me once I’d left, but I chose something that I was just generally very interested in at the time, and I focused on that more, and I suppose in my head I was thinking at least that shows I can study for three years – is that a valuable point?

T: Yes well I mean people, if you ask people and they look back at their university days and quite a lot of people say oh I wish I’d had more fun or I’d wish I’d studied less, whereas you ask other people and they say oh I wish I’d actually knuckled down a bit more

I: Yes, yes

T: And I wish I’d got a better result. I think you can’t underestimate the huge sort of change it is for students, I think it’s a great learning experience going to university, and you know living away from home and you know experience everything that – I mean a lot of people will go you know absolutely crazy with –

I: Absolutely

T: Will go a bit wild, but I think it’s a really important social time

I: Yes

T: As much as it is academic, so trying to get the balance right is the key

I: Ok. And of course talking about balance, we have to be balanced, there are going to be people that don’t want to go to university, they want to go down the vocational route, perhaps work and training, that sort of thing

T: Yes I think it’s really worth focusing on that, the vocational route now, I mean certainly we offer a range of vocational qualifications, the BTECs are a very known and very respected qualification and employers respect, they recognise those qualifications and when you’re going out into the world of work they’re very useful obviously. That is an option that’s definitely worth considering. Those students who find the academic route not for them, and there are many of them, it’s really worth looking into the vocational route. There’s straight vocational qualifications, you can use them as a route into higher education so you can do a higher national qualification, a BTEC or a national qualification and use that, that will count towards a degree level qualification, you could look to convert that to a degree later on. Or you might just find you want to go into one of these work-based quals, you can do apprenticeships or national vocation qualifications where you’re actually working and gaining training as you work, so you’re working and studying as you’re kind of going forward

I: Yes

T: And that’s certainly something that’s a really valid choice for some people and increasingly I think – we did some research very recently where I think 90% of the people we surveyed said that vocational qualifications are perfectly respectable and viable career choice for students

I: Yes. Ok. Question here from Jennifer, thanks Jennifer, she says “I’m really interested in politics and sociology but I’m worried about getting a job afterwards. A lot of my friends are choosing more practical degrees that are career focused. I want to be able to develop and learn more about the world at university, but will I be putting myself in a bad position in three years’ time?”

T: What so taking a –

I: She’s interested in politics and sociology but she’s wondering how that’s going to lead into work once she’s left university –

T: Well I think – I mean – I think, you know in a way the learning experience, you know what people are looking for when people go into the world of work is an ability to think for oneself

I: Yes yes

T: And think independently and think abstractly, so I think many people doing arts subjects end up in all sorts of careers. It’s really – I suppose it does mean that you’ve got a very broad choice when it comes out to getting a career, but it’s never less valid for that. It all depends on what works for you, some people find that there are courses that are really going to tax them, I don’t think anyone should worry about not being able to get a job having done something else – I think I did philosophy and politics and I ended up working for an examining board, so –

I: Yes exactly

T: So who knows what’s going to happen?

I: Exactly. And also I think Jennifer I have to say, if you’re interested in it, do it. It’s – you know it’s hard studying for three years

T: Yes you can’t underestimate that

I: Yes you can’t underestimate that and I think you’re heart has to be in it, you have to have some passion for your subject if you possibly can do, you know

T: Yes, yes absolutely

I: Right let’s go for another question then. Do remember we are live for a few more moments at least, so if you do have any questions pop them in the box and we’ll get them answered. I’ve got one here from socall.co.uk – oh sorry. Scall, scall. “in the current climate, what advice can you give – what are your views on the routes that are available instead of uni?”

T: Well I mean I think we’ve talked about some of them. Certainly if university isn’t for you, there’s the vocational route

I: Yes

T: So looking at training based qualifications, straight forward vocational qualifications, or apprenticeships, or those where you are actually on the job are worth looking in to. You can convert them in to academic later on or you can stick with that route. It is certainly something that employers recognise. The best thing to do, we have got a website which we will talk about later on, but you can check there for the various options, the various qualification routes that we offer there, they are all available.

I: And do you think because of the current climate out there with this “glorious” credit crunch are we going to see different decisions being made, perhaps people are going to be going down that route a little bit more?

T: I suppose there is a lot of talk about the impact on graduates coming out this year and a number of them are going to find it difficult to get a job in the workplace. I suppose the last thing you want for graduates at the moment is for them to become terribly depressed and disillusioned by that process. All they can do is do there best and explore the options open to them and try and find themselves something to do that they enjoy. It is always difficult; there is always a lot of competition for jobs and places at university. Be aware of your options and pursue them, anything you are very passionate about and you’re very interested in doing that will take you a long way.

I: Ok. Right I should have time for one more question, let’s have a look at Annette’s question. She says “My son is waiting on his A1 results and will be applying to Universities this year. He says he wants to study marketing at one of the newer Universities, but I am really worried about him getting a job afterwards and think it would be better if he studied something more traditional. What do you think?” Well you have covered that really haven’t you?

T: Yeah. I think it is all dependent on what your interests are. I think no matter what you do there is going to be something out there for you.

I: Helene with you, I think it is quite interesting to get your viewpoint on this because you are studying. Are you studying something that you, right that is the next step in my career or are you going for subjects you are just really interested in.

H: A bit of both because I really really enjoy classics but I am not sure I will do it in the future. There are lots of courses where you can do it with archaeology so I mean I could have a future job working in museums and stuff, but I am still really not sure. It is more what I am interested in at the moment and then see where it goes from there.

I: Ok and tomorrow again a huge day for you any last minute tips or advice that you want to give to others on how you are going to cope with your nerves.

H: Just hope for the best that is all you can do. Everyone has worked hard for whatever, one year or two years so... just keep calm really, that is the main thing.

I: Are you meeting some friends there tomorrow?

H: Most of my friends are on holiday actually.

I: Oh no how selfish.

H: I am the only one going.

I: Oh no

H: So I am a bit lonely.

I: In a way that is probably nice though you don’t have to get in to that horrible thing of what did you get, what did you get? This is never pleasant.

H: It is good that I can be on my own and just look at my results.

I: Well all the best for tomorrow.

H: Thank you

I: I am sure you have got nothing to worry about you seem like a very bright young lady, but I will be having all my fingers crossed for you. Well not all of them that is physically impossible but most of them. Tom, thank you so much for your time and again it is always so very enlightening to meet you, so thank you. And of course thank you for all of you who tuned in at home. If you are still slightly nervous or slightly unsure about what your next steps are, don’t worry you can log on to www.examzone.co.uk for more information. I will see you next time. Bye Bye.

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