(1) Results Day: There are many paths to your next destination. It's important to keep moving forward in life. Unis want you there next year. The country knows what a farce today is. Use this experience to drive you on to great things.

(2) How can I say this with confidence?

At GCSE I got an E in English language. For some reason my coursework didn't get submitted. I got an A the following year (No A*s then!).

I got CC in science. I still studied Physics at A level.

(3) I dropped my A levels & joined the Army to get out of home. At 17 1/2 I went out into the world on my own. I continued to learn a trade & get quals.

I've never stopped learning.

(4) At 36 I went back to college, and sat the equivalent of A levels in Psychology, Human Biology, and Chemistry.

At 37, I went to Uni to study Biology.

(5) At 40 I started teacher training.
I'm now writing my masters dissertation at 42.

It took me far longer to realise I had it in me. I was "too thick for uni" according to the English teacher that "lost" my coursework. It destroyed my confidence.

(6) Don't let this hurdle stop you from being the best you that you can be. Take it from someone that took the long way round to get here!

You lives are ahead of you. They won't always go to plan. Sometimes things are thrown at us that we can't control.

(7) Play the hand you're dealt. Roll with those punches, get back up, & wipe the blood from your nose...

...smile back & tell life "Is that the best you've got?!"

(8) Because I can tell you this much. As an employer, if you could show me that resilience & determination; that dedication to your goals - you'd have my respect.

(9) I think, as a teacher, I need to be honest about these things. So, my regrets:
I never gave my all in MFL; my French GCSE (E) is on me.
I dropped English Lit because I hated the teacher. I wish I'd sat it.

(10) I'm told that I could actually sit my GCSE English Lit. It's on the cards, I reckon.

I guess my point is that *we* can't do much about your grades, & your teachers know your worth. Keep going, succeed in life.

You'll get there - Arte et marte (By skill & by fighting).