As the day you have been waiting for grows closer and closer, you might be experiencing feelings of excitement, stress and anticipation. You will also be wondering what your results will be and hoping for the best. 

Results day is a momentous day for students all over the UK as you discover where you’ll be headed for university, or perhaps prepare for a change in plans if the results aren’t what you expected, but whatever the outcome, don’t worry! There are people on hand to support you on results day and for the weeks immediately afterwards, so you can be sure you’ll make the right choice for you and your future. 

In order to get you results day ready, we’ve put together this handy guide so you can make sure you know what you’re doing.

Prepare For Results Day

Although you might be feeling excited, it’s important to think about the practical factors that you might need on hand when checking your results. 

If you are feeling anxious in the lead up to finding out your results, make sure to get up in the morning, have a good breakfast and try to relax by practicing deep breathing exercises. Drop your friends a text to see how they’re feeling too - chances are they’ll all be feeling the same as you!

Here are the key things you will need to have ready when preparing to check your results:

• A fully charged laptop or mobile device with a strong internet connection
• Laptop/phone charger to avoid any technical mishaps!
• Your UCAS log in details & ID number
• Clearing contact details 
• Pen and paper (in case you need to write something down while on the phone)
• Your personal statement (possibly needed when applying through clearing)
• Supportive family or friends 

Many choose to wait until they are with their parents or other family members to open their results, but ultimately it’s up to you how you want to open them! If you are feeling anxious about opening your results, being on your own can alleviate some of the pressure. 

As so many people are on the UCAS website looking for results at the same time, it is likely that it will crash from time to time, so if the page is taking a long time to load, just be patient! 

Finding Out If You Got Into Your First Choice University

The first thing you will be able to check (from 8am) is if you have been accepted into the university of your choice, as UCAS receives your results directly on results day. 

It may take some time to get through to the UCAS hub as so many other students will be logging on at the same time, but try to remain calm.

If you are accepted into your first choice university:

• Great news! Start celebrating and check out the freshers week events to make sure you can attend everything you want to. 
• Don’t forget to collect your results from your school or college. 

If you have not been accepted into the course at your firm choice:

• Check to see if they have offered you a place on an alternative course
• Check to see if you have been accepted into your insurance choice
• Enter clearing to see which other choices are available to you 

If your UCAS hub does not update

• In rare cases, universities may take longer to make a decision, but if by mid-morning your hub has still not updated, get in contact with the university to find out if there is anything you can do. 

What Happens If You Don’t Get The Results You Wanted?

Sometimes the results don’t work out the way you were hoping, which can be really disappointing, but it’s important to remember that there are plenty of other options that can get you back on track or offer alternative solutions to university that you might even prefer!

If you don’t get the results you want, these are your options:

• Retake your A-Levels and reapply to university later down the line.
• Go through clearing and find out which universities will accept your results. This involves calling various universities to find out if they have space and can accept you to be enrolled on to your chosen course. Support and assistance should be available from your 6th Form or College on the day to help with this.
• Consider doing an apprenticeship or going into full time work to train on the job.

Many career paths require a degree, so the first two options are often the most popular choice, especially once the excitement has built for the freshers week events and meeting lots of new people!

What comes next?

Once the stress of results day has passed, you can start to think about the next steps - getting ready for university!

When you have secured your university course, you can start planning all the fun things that happen during freshers week and try to connect with some of your classmates before the new term starts. 

First of all, you’ll want to learn everything there is to know about your new city and what it has to offer to students. For example, if you’re headed to Sheffield for university, you’ll need to know exactly when freshers week starts, which events are running and where to get tickets from. 

You should also sign up to get all of the benefits that students are eligible to receive at university, such as a student discount, which can save you a lot of money when shopping on the high street or visiting restaurants!

Did you know that if you purchase tickets early you often receive a discount to the event? This is a great way to save money in advance, giving you more spending money for when you actually get to university! You can get 30% off tickets for events all over the UK over on our events page - just check out what’s on in your city!

How to celebrate! 

No matter which results you receive, results day is a time to recognise all the hard work you put in at 6th form or college and give yourself a big pat on the back for everything you achieved. 

There are often lots of events around results day to celebrate receiving them, which is a great opportunity to get together with your friends and enjoy yourselves before you start planning your time at university. 

Here are some ideas of things you can do on results day to celebrate;

• Go out in your local town and meet up with other students who are also celebrating
• Check out local events that are specifically for students receiving results
• Get together to plan what your next steps are
• If you are heading to university, celebrate by booking tickets to some of the best events during freshers week

Don’t worry, we’ve got our fingers crossed for you, but no matter what happens, there are lots of people waiting to help you get on the right path.