There’s nothing quite like Results Day. Hope, fear, identity and external judgement all converge in a single morning. For a personal event, it’s something that everyone will have an opinion about.
Neither does it have a perfect counterpart because very few moments carry such future‑shaping consequences in quite the same way.
Last week, when swimmer Adam Ramsay-Peaty stated that the scoreboard didn’t reflect the work he’d put in, it resulted in something of a backlash and him being labelled ‘entitled’, when all he was doing was being honest in the rawness of achieving bronze. He was then faced with headlines about his tears and having lost out on gold ‘again’. For a young man who was open about taking time out to look after his mental health, these headings are shameful
What he gave in that moment to every pupil awaiting Exam Results in the next few weeks was awe inspiring. He showed the rawness of effort, disappointment, and identity threat. He demonstrated what many young people feel: ‘I worked hard, why can’t I show what this means to me?’
Whatever the qualification, the moment carries weight, so the next couple of weeks call for careful language. Kindness. Mindfulness. These days often shape how young people see themselves, and the way we speak to them in these moments matters.
Something to think about.
More next week.