Why You Shouldn’t Brag About Your Kids’ GCSE Results Today

Parents have been advised to refrain from boasting about their children’s GCSE results on social media today.

Elizabeth Coatman, a consultant at the Good Schools Guide, said considering how much effort young people invest in revising for their exams, it can be devastating if they get disappointing results.

“We want to reinforce the message about not boasting about your children’s successes on social media,” Coatman told The Telegraph. “It’s not a good idea to emphasise success because it is very demoralising for other children who might have worked equally hard but got worse results.”

Boasting about good results – or lamenting results that, to other people, look pretty impressive – can make those who haven’t done as well feel even worse. “We are much more aware about the impact on mental health and exam pressure,” Coatman said.

“You invest so much effort in revision and then fret about the results. You do build things up and that can be a little bit risky. Children are so vulnerable at that age.”

In 2017, the government introduced a new GCSE system, replacing lettered grades with scores of one to nine. This was partly intended to separate those at the top – both eights and nines would have been an A* under the old system.

The nature of how the new grades are assessed – with less coursework and more focus on the student’s performance during exams – places more pressure on a single day than the old model, as well as raising the bar of what counts as “excelling”.

Last year, the Association of School and Classroom Leaders found that nine in 10 head teachers felt that the new exams had increased the amount of stress and pressure that students found themselves facing.

ASCL leader, Geoff Barton, said the transition to the new system came at a high cost to both student and teacher welfare, stating: “The government’s desire to ‘raise the bar’ and make GCSEs more challenging has come at considerable cost to mental health and wellbeing without it being clear what this is intended to achieve.

“As ever, schools and colleges have been left to pick up the pieces and they have done a remarkable job in providing excellent support for their students despite severe funding pressures.”

Refraining from updating the whole internet about how well your kids have done doesn’t take away from their success or your parental pride – but it might stop some other people being made to feel worse.

Wellbeing Advice For Teens

Receiving exam results can be stressful and in some cases quite difficult to handle. As Louise Clarkson, head of Children and Young People at Mind, explains: “You might not have got the results you wanted and feel disappointed. And even if you’re happy, you might be feeling anxious about the big life changes ahead.”

It’s important to remember that it’s totally normal to feel upset or overwhelmed.

If you are struggling to cope however, it’s important to reach out for support. Clarkson suggests talking to someone you trust like a friend, close family member or someone at your school. You can also speak to someone confidentially on a helpline, like the Mix or Childline.