How can I help my kids through exam results day?

Exam results day is here for GCSE and BTec First students - hot off the heels of the big moment for A-level, BTec Nationals, and T-level students, and results day in Scotland. It can be stressful, so how can parents and carers help their teenagers through it?

“I am quite impulsive, I say and do the wrong thing a lot of the time, we’ve had arguments, we’ve had shouting.”

That is Les Sutton’s very honest assessment of what happened when his daughters, Anna and Emily, were doing their A-levels.

Les, who is 47 and from Chorley in Lancashire, says he struggled to understand what they were going through - partly because he did not do A-levels or apply to university himself.

But Anna and Emily, now 23 and 20, say their dad did better than he thought.

We asked them, and an expert, for some tips on how to get through the day.

Anna was really nervous ahead of her results coming out, and spent the morning in front of her computer waiting for them to drop.

Once they had, Les drove her to college to collect them in person, which Anna says made her feel really ed.

Les says he had decided that no matter what Anna's grades were, he was going to tell her “well done”.

“If they get top marks or bottom marks it’s not going to change anything. It is what it is and you’ve got to be positive,” he says.

Stevie Goulding, senior manager for parents and carers services at the charity Young Minds, says this kind of language is key - as is asking your child how they are feeling, and being careful not to invalidate those feelings.

Stevie says this means instead of saying "don't worry", say something like: "You’ve told me you're worried and that’s OK, what can I do to help":[]}