How to Make IGCSE Results Day Less Stressful for Your Kids

What’s worse than doing IGCSE exams? Waiting to see your IGCSE exam results! 

If you’ve just been through exam season with your child, congratulations! They’ve done a lot of hard work and put in their best efforts. Now, all you can do is wait with them as they contemplate their future.

As a parent, is there anything you can do to make the wait better for your child? 

Yes! Let’s dive into how you can have a positive impact on your child’s IGCSE exam stress while they wait for their results. 

How Long Does It Take to Get Your IGCSE Results? 

It takes a few months for IGCSE results to be released. No matter what country you’re studying in, all results are released at the same time. Your exam results day will depend on when you take the exams. 

Main IGCSE Exam Times in Kenya 

There are two main exam times for Cambridge IGCSE. In Kenya, the main exam time is the May/June session. There is also an alternative October/November session. 

May/June Exams 

Students taking exams in the May/June session in Cambridge IGCSE will receive their results in August. The exact dates of the exam results are released yearly. You’ll get this information ahead of time from your school, or you can look online at Cambridge curriculum sources for exact dates if they’re not released to you. 

October/November Exams 

When students take their exams in the October/November session, the results come out in January of the next year. This feels like a trickier results day than the August release because of the change of year, so just make sure any information you’re looking at is for the current year instead of last year’s results day. The last thing you want is an unwelcome surprise when you got the date wrong! 

What to Do While You Wait for IGCSE Exam Results 

So, now that you know when you can expect to see the results of your kid’s IGCSE exams, what do you do with the 2 months between the exams and the results? 

No one likes waiting, but in this scenario you can’t avoid it. The best thing to do is to help put your child at ease while they wait, reassure them that their results are not the only thing that matters in their life, and reinforce that you will always be there to support them. No matter what results they get.

Prioritizing Peace 

One thing a lot of students share in common while they wait is ruminating over their exams. They think about it constantly, worrying about if they did well and what’s going to happen. They doubt themselves and get anxious about it, adding an unnecessary emotional charge to results day. 

What you can do is to help them break out of this cycle whenever possible. How can you do that? A few ideas: 

1. Give them something else to occupy their time, such as an interesting project, visiting others, prep for future steps, a hobby, or some kind of work/volunteer experience.
2. Take them to experience new things 
3. Exercise regularly to reduce stress 
4. Reset their schedule, prioritizing sleep, rest, and relaxation 

The other part of helping them to stay at peace is being a barrier between them and the rest of the family and community. A lot of people are going to want to know their results, but your child needs a chance to see their results and process them before sharing the news with others. Help them to get the space they need to process by dissuading others from asking and assuring them that you will share the news soon. 

Making a Plan A & B 

Your child is probably feeling like their IGCSE results are a bigger deal than they really are. It can feel like those results will make or break their entire future, but that’s just not the case. 

It can be helpful to work with your kid to start shifting their perspective. Reassure them that no matter how they performed on their exams, there is always a path forward to a good future. 

Some people can feel more confident if you give them a good perspective of what their options are with different results. What will they do if they perform well? What if they didn’t get the results they wanted in some subjects? 

Scoring well matters with IGCSE grading, but it’s not the end of the world if they don’t do as well as they hoped. 

Come up with concrete steps they can take in each scenario. Having a plan for every possible scenario might give them some peace, knowing that they have options. And, best of all, knowing that you’re supporting them no matter what!

Watch for Signs of Stress 

The last thing you want is your child feeling the physical symptoms of getting too stressed out. If you notice your child getting headaches, having trouble sleeping, experiencing abnormal mood swings, or having a constant feeling of unease, they may be suffering from anxiety related to their IGCSE exams. 

If you’re seeing concerning symptoms of stress or anxiety, you may want to take your child to a school counselor to help advise them about the situation, or to a doctor for assistance managing their health. 

The Best Remedy is Patience 

At the end of the day, waiting for their IGCSE exam results is a great time for your child to learn about patience. Since they can no longer affect, the only thing they can do is wait and try to focus on other things. This is a great lesson in exam stress management that they can carry over to their future, whether they’re looking at higher education or not. 

It’s not easy waiting, but you can help make it easier for them. Having your support will mean more to your child than anything else you can do for them as they face the anxiety of IGCSE results day!