Failing my GCSEs

I failed my GCSEs spectacularly. Worse really was my reluctance to study for them those months/weeks beforehand. I somehow believed I would pass even though I did no work, except for maybe one subject. I didn’t skive any lessons which helped reinforce my lacklustre attitude towards my exams, after all I’d been to every lesson! All those classes and not a single shred of information retained. I was possibly the worst student in my year, but I really didn’t think so.

Yet I sit here now having gone to university , working as a web developer with my own flat. I have prospects , a future to work towards and no care about my failed GCSEs.

I failed them all bar 2. I got a C in English Language and a C in English Literature , because I enjoyed it, it was just a shame I couldn’t muster up the same attitude for other subjects , it just couldn’t happen , I couldn’t see the point!

The walk back on that fateful results day was one of the worst of my life. 2 mates with me , 1 as quiet as me the other all perky as he hadn’t been bothered about GCSEs after working for his dad picking up a trade. His enthusiasm didn’t help and his offer for a mate to alter our grades for twenty quid , a true master who could change a D into a B , was the last thing I wanted to hear right then.

Suddenly I realised the place I hated attending was also a safety blanket . At-least when you’re at school you’re a pupil. It gives you some padding some cover , an excuse , without it you’re suddenly a moving target in the real world. You have to find a job or get those qualifications sorted.

Suddenly people on TV , radio , magazines, they’d all passed , they had gone past stage 1. If my life were a game of snakes and ladders I’d just stood on a giant man made serpent and got sent straight back to square 1. Really don’t like snakes you know

College is the best place to get advice. I sorted myself out with resits and was back next term attempting to pick up where I’d left off. If you’re reading this having recently learnt you’ve not passed your exams don’t worry because you won’t make the mistakes I did ( because you’ve bothered to read up on failing your GCSEs it means you actually care) , at college after a year studying for 4 new and interesting GCSE resits , I failed those as well!!

I’d fallen into the wrong crowd , shop lifters and mild drug dealers. My one attempt at dealing around this crowd went horribly wrong , one package I helpfully delivered to some friends was far too useful in the kitchen and helped get me a kicking which left me briefly knocked out. I did deserve it. It also gave me an excuse for failing my Maths GCSE resit the next day as my head was throbbing. Timing!

Eventually I found my motivation. I passed a GNVQ Business and Finance with flying colours and started on my path upward which finally got me to university.

I never suited academia but I stuck it out , my perseverance did pay off and I did get to where I never expected I would go. GCSEs were incredibly significant I just wish I’d given them the credit they deserved. Once I found a subject I liked I could apply myself.

From failing twice and yet still succeeding I can tell you this much:

• GCSEs are not an indication of intelligence.
• Your friends you’ll leave behind won’t be as important as your future workmates who you’ll spend way more time with.
• GCSEs are easily achievable once you focus.

If you did fail , don’t worry, this is a temporary setback in your life, that’s all. Check your local colleges for a course you actually want to do , use the internet to check out those courses and find something you actually want/like/need in your life. You actually have more control now and all your options are still open.