A Levels – we nailed it!

I say we, but I really only had a supporting role in the teens A Levels. A bit of gentle nagging along the way and making sure that he was keeping on track and getting the work done.

He nailed it.

Last Thursday, I was literally feeling sick with nerves, in fact I felt worse than when I was waiting for my own. By 11am I was pacing around the house checking my phone and wondering why he hadn’t rung. In the end I rang him, he sounded really glum and said he would come and tell me in person. My heart sank. What if he hadn’t done as well as expected? What if he hadn’t got enough points to get into the university he had set his heart on?

The teen has been very lucky as he really didn’t have to work hard at GCSEs and even with Glandular Fever, he achieved mostly A’s. The first year of sixth form was hard as I had warned him it would be. There may be less subjects at AS level but there is a lot of work and it is easy for teens to be distracted by mates, girlfriends, cars and jobs. The teen came out with good grades at the end of Year 12 but we all knew he could do so much better.

Then in Year 13 things seemed to change. Seeing universities really helped him to focus and see the bigger picture. He set his heart on doing Creative Writing at Falmouth and needed high grades to get on the course. He worked really hard in English and earned 100% in his coursework along with glowing recommendations from his teacher that his writing skills were something to behold. Graphics was also a priority but he admitted himself that he wasn’t prioritising Spanish as the other two subjects took up all of his time.

Exams came and went and he had mixed feelings about them. We were both very nervous about the results.

Finally on Thursday, he arrived, still looking glum. My heart sank a little further. He told me that he had got a C in Spanish. That was okay, he could afford to get one C. Quietly he passed me the piece of paper with his results on. Graphics A. English A*.

The relief was huge. My boy had done so well. He got a very big hug from me and I may have shed a few tears. Very, very happy tears. I am still smiling about it now. I am so very proud of him, he worked so hard this year and now he can sit back and enjoy his year off knowing that he has a place at Falmouth next September. He deserves it.