Education

Teachers say results day anxiety is a shared burden — and offer practical ways to cope

Thursday, 21 August 2025 10:02AM UTC

On GCSE results day teachers often feel as nervous as pupils, says BBC reporting and Ofqual guidance; experts and school staff emphasise planning, social support and simple wellbeing techniques to manage the emotional weight and practical decisions that follow.

On GCSE results day in London, the moment of truth is felt as acutely by teachers as it is by pupils. The BBC live update captured one such reality through the eyes of Niki Tailor, Head of Year 11 at EGA School, who admitted she “almost feels sick to my stomach on results day” after a decade in the role. The emotional charge comes from more than personal nerves: teachers invest years in their students, and many are watching not just a class but a longer journey come to a close. BBC Teach’s later feature on the day reinforces this shared vulnerability, noting that staff often describe themselves as nervous alongside their pupils, underscoring a professional sense of duty that blends care with accountability.

The weight of results day extends beyond the moment of concerted celebration or disappointment. A Guardian piece from 2019 foregrounded the highs and lows felt by teachers across schools, detailing sleepless nights, the responsibility of safeguarding students’ futures, and the two-year arc of effort that culminates on results day. The emotional stakes are reinforced in official guidance from Ofqual, which in 2019 normalised the stress surrounding results and offered practical steps to manage it—planning for different outcomes, confiding plans to trusted people, and seeking support when needed. A similar thread runs through Ofqual’s 2021 advice, which emphasises social support, appropriate timing, and breathing techniques as part of a broader strategy to preserve mental well-being and enable sound decision-making during and after the moment of receipt.

Practical guidance for managing feelings on results day sits alongside the day’s organisational tasks. Wellbeing resources from BBC Bitesize advocate normalising a spectrum of emotions and adopting calm, concrete steps before, during, and after opening envelopes. The guidance points to talking with trusted adults, practising self-care, and planning next steps as essential components of resilience. Taken together, these perspectives—from frontline classroom experience to well-being frameworks—paint a picture of results day as a shared emotional milestone. Teachers, families, and pupils are all invited to acknowledge nerves, apply practical strategies, and collaborate on constructive next steps, whatever the outcome.

📌 Reference Map:

Paragraph 1 – ^[1], ^[4]
Paragraph 2 – ^[1], ^[2], ^[5]
Paragraph 3 – ^[3], ^[6]

Source Panel

1. BBC News Live – Nerves in the pit of my stomach: Results day through the eyes of a teacher, with quotes from Niki Tailor (EGA School)
1. The Guardian – I cried and he cried: The highs and lows of exam results day for teachers (2019)
1. BBC Bitesize – Wellbeing/Managing feelings on GCSE or Nationals results day (wellbeing guidance)
1. BBC Teach – GCSE Results Day 2021 feature (teacher perspectives, post-result tasks)
1. Ofqual – Feeling stressed about results day (2019 blog offering practical steps)
1. Ofqual – Managing worries around results day: some strategies that might help (2021)
1. BBC Bitesize – Managing feelings on GCSE or Nationals results day (zpmpk2p)

Source: Noah Wire Services

More on this

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cy08y5zxe0lt - Please view link - unable to able to access data
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/aug/20/i-cried-and-he-cried-the-highs-and-lows-of-exam-results-day-for-teachers - Opening GCSE and A‑level results day, the Guardian piece foregrounds the emotional intensity for teachers as well as students. It gathers voices from teachers at several schools who describe sleepless nights, the weight of accountability, and the urge to support and bolster their pupils regardless of the outcome. The piece conveys how teachers invest in two years of preparation, celebrate success with students, and share heartbreak when results fall short. It also shows how the day can personalise professional identity, with teachers acknowledging that their pupils’ futures reflect on them and that the day marks a meaningful, if stressful, milestone in teaching careers.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z29nhcw - BBC Bitesize’s wellbeing guide recognises that results day can trigger nerves for students and, by extension, their teachers and families. It offers practical guidance for staying calm: choosing supportive company, planning the moment of opening results, writing down essential numbers, and seeking trusted adults for help. The guidance emphasises normalising emotions, validating a range of feelings from anxiety to relief, and highlights that there are options whatever the outcome. The piece reinforces that preparation, dialogue, and self‑care help maintain perspective and resilience, underscoring the supportive role of teachers and carers on results day.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/teacher-support/articles/zvch6g8 - BBC Teach’s GCSE Results Day 2021 feature offers a teacher perspective, with staff describing themselves as nervous alongside their students. It gathers educators who have invested years in their classes, emphasising accountability, care, and pride in pupils’ progress. The piece frames results day as a moment of shared emotion—whether joy, relief, or disappointment—and stresses that teachers see their pupils’ futures in the outcomes. It also notes the practical duties that follow results, such as post‑result guidance and planning for next steps, illustrating the day’s emotional stakes and teachers’ professional duties.
https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2019/08/13/feeling-stressed-about-results-day/ - Ofqual’s 2019 blog normalises the stress many feel on results day, acknowledging worry, disappointment, and embarrassment as common emotions. It offers practical steps: plan for different outcomes, share plans with trusted people, decide where and with whom to view results, and consider contingency options. The post stresses that talking can ease anxiety and that support from family, friends, or professionals is available. By normalising emotions and providing actionable strategies, it aims to helpStudents and teachers alike approach results day with greater composure and agency, reducing distress on a pivotal educational moment.
https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2021/07/27/managing-worries-around-results-day-some-strategies-that-might-help/ - Ofqual’s 2021 post supplies strategies to manage worries around results day, emphasising social support, timing, and breathing techniques. It highlights the value of talking with peers and trusted adults, and of planning practical responses for multiple outcomes. The article notes that, in disrupted times, seeking help is appropriate, with signposted mental‑health resources. It recognises that results day can be stressful yet provides actionable steps—breathing exercises, staying active, and avoiding unhealthy coping—to preserve health and support sound decision‑making during and after the moment of receipt.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zpmpk2p - BBC Bitesize’s guidance on managing feelings on GCSE or Nationals results day outlines five coping strategies for students facing exam outcomes. It stresses that results matter but wellbeing matters more, and outlines practical steps: set realistic expectations, choose who to open results with, meet afterwards with someone supportive, remember self‑worth beyond grades, and resist panic. The article also points readers toward available support and next steps, reflecting a youth‑centred approach to emotional health and resilience on results day, while reinforcing that help is available regardless of the outcome.

Noah Fact Check Pro

The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may warrant further investigation.

Freshness check

Score: 5

Notes: Findings: The narrative combines a live BBC update with older guidance and reporting. Key earlier instances of substantially similar material were published in 2019 (Ofqual guidance blog 13 Aug 2019; Guardian feature 20 Aug 2019) and follow-up Ofqual guidance in 2021 — all of which address results-day stress and coping strategies. ⚠️ Earliest clearly matching publish date found: Ofqual blog 13 August 2019. ([ofqual.blog.gov.uk](https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2019/08/13/feeling-stressed-about-results-day/?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/aug/20/i-cried-and-he-cried-the-highs-and-lows-of-exam-results-day-for-teachers?utm_source=chatgpt.com)). Assessment: Because much of the advice (planning for outcomes, breathing, social support) is re-use of established guidance from 2019–2021, the piece is partly recycled rather than wholly original. 🕰️ If the BBC live update is new reporting of the same themes, that is legitimate — but the presence of long-established guidance reduces 'freshness'. ✅ The BBC Bitesize guidance pages have been updated recently (pages show updates into Jan 2025), which supports partial freshness for wellbeing links in the narrative. ([bbc.co.uk](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zpmpk2p?utm_source=chatgpt.com)). Flags: ■ The narrative draws heavily on material published years earlier (≫7 days). ■ If the live report is being presented as novel breaking information, that would be misleading. ■ Unable to fetch the BBC live page directly with web.run due to robots.txt blocking (see quotes_check for details), so I cannot timestamp that specific live update from the BBC with a web.run reference. ⚠️

Quotes check

Score: 7

Notes: Findings: The narrative attributes a direct line to an individual: “almost feels sick to my stomach on results day” (Niki Tailor, Head of Year 11 at EGA School). I searched the web for that exact phrasing and for the named individual in this role. I could not find an independent record of that precise quote outside the user-supplied BBC live link, nor other prior uses of the identical wording. No earlier matches for the exact quote were found in accessible indexes. (Searches returned general coverage of teacher nerves but not this precise quote.) ([thestudentroom.co.uk](https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=637540&utm_source=chatgpt.com), [bbc.com](https://www.bbc.com/news/education-33968030?utm_source=chatgpt.com)). Assessment: The absence of any other match increases the chance the quote is original to the BBC live piece — which would raise the originality score — but I could not fetch the BBC live URL with web.run because bbc.com was blocked by robots for automated fetches in this environment. ⚠️ Therefore the quote remains unverified by an independent, retrievable copy of the live transcript. Flags: ■ Quote may be exclusive to the BBC live update but I could not independently retrieve that live page via web.run (robots.txt block). ■ The named individual (spelling: “Niki Tailor”) does not appear to be verifiable online in the role claimed (see source_reliability). If the name or role is mis‑spelled/incorrect, the quote attribution could be inaccurate. ‼️

Source reliability

Score: 7

Notes: Findings: The narrative cites reputable organisations for the broader claims: Ofqual (official regulator blog posts 2019 & 2021) and national outlets (The Guardian). BBC Bitesize and BBC Teach guidance pages corroborate the wellbeing advice referenced and show recent updates. These are high-quality, authoritative references for wellbeing and results-day commentary. ([ofqual.blog.gov.uk](https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2019/08/13/feeling-stressed-about-results-day/?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/aug/20/i-cried-and-he-cried-the-highs-and-lows-of-exam-results-day-for-teachers?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [bbc.co.uk](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zpmpk2p?utm_source=chatgpt.com)). Concerns: ■ The specific named individual and role in the live excerpt — “Niki Tailor, Head of Year 11 at EGA School” — could not be independently verified in public records or school pages via web.run searches. I found multiple unrelated individuals called Niki/Nikki/Niki Taylor but none verifiably matched the claimed role at EGA (Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School or other EGA-acronym schools) in London. Searches for EGA as Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School and for the EGA school site were successful, but no staff listing matching that name was found. ([egaschool.co.uk](https://www.egaschool.co.uk/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)). ■ I attempted to fetch the BBC live update URL but was blocked by robots.txt and could not obtain a web.run reference for that live page (so the live excerpt could not be independently checked here). Overall: The institutional parts of the narrative are reliable (Ofqual, BBC Bitesize, The Guardian). ⚠️ The single-person attribution lacks independent confirmation and so presents a source reliability risk (single, unverifiable named witness).

Plausability check

Score: 8

Notes: Findings: The claims (teachers feeling nervous on results day; advice to plan for outcomes, seek social support, breathing techniques) are plausible and repeatedly documented by reputable outlets and official guidance (Ofqual, BBC Bitesize, Guardian). ([ofqual.blog.gov.uk](https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2019/08/13/feeling-stressed-about-results-day/?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [bbc.co.uk](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z29nhcw?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/aug/20/i-cried-and-he-cried-the-highs-and-lows-of-exam-results-day-for-teachers?utm_source=chatgpt.com)). Assessment: ■ No extraordinary or novel factual claims are being made that would require extraordinary evidence — the central claims are consistent with established reporting and official advice. ■ The narrative is coherent and matches the tone of teacher-first reporting and wellbeing guidance. ✅ Flags: ■ The one potentially problematic factual anchor is the named staff member and their quote, which is not independently verifiable in public records found via web.run. That reduces confidence in the attribution to a named individual. ■ The inability to fetch the BBC live page (robots block) prevented me from confirming whether the quote was shown in context (e.g. correct spelling, exact wording, surrounding detail). ⚠️

Overall assessment

Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): OPEN

Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): MEDIUM

Summary: Summary judgement: The narrative is largely a synthesis of previously published, reputable guidance and reporting about the emotional stakes of GCSE/A‑level results day — notably Ofqual guidance (2019, 2021) and a Guardian feature (Aug 2019) that predate the live update by years. 🕰️ Those earlier items are the earliest clearly matching publications I found (Ofqual blog 13 Aug 2019; Guardian 20 Aug 2019). ([ofqual.blog.gov.uk](https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2019/08/13/feeling-stressed-about-results-day/?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/aug/20/i-cried-and-he-cried-the-highs-and-lows-of-exam-results-day-for-teachers?utm_source=chatgpt.com)). The wellbeing guidance cited is corroborated by BBC Bitesize and BBC Teach pages (recently updated), which supports the narrative’s practical advice element. ✅ ([bbc.co.uk](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zpmpk2p?utm_source=chatgpt.com)). Major risks that keep this result OPEN rather than PASS: 1) Recycled content: Much of the guidance and framing is drawn from material published in 2019–2021, so the narrative is not wholly original; this is an important freshness risk if presented as breaking news. ‼️ ([ofqual.blog.gov.uk](https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2019/08/13/feeling-stressed-about-results-day/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)). 2) Unverifiable named individual: The quoted person (“Niki Tailor, Head of Year 11 at EGA School”) could not be independently verified via web.run searches of school sites and public records — this is a credibility risk for specific attribution. ⚠️ 3) Access limitation: I could not retrieve the BBC live URL with web.run due to robots.txt blocking, so I could not independently timestamp or extract the live transcript to confirm the exact quote and spelling. This prevents a full verification of the live excerpt. ⚠️ Recommendation: Treat the general claims about teacher nerves and wellbeing guidance as supported (PASS for thematic content) because Ofqual, Guardian and BBC Bitesize corroborate them. ✅ However, for the precise quoted attribution and wording, editors should verify the BBC live transcript directly (open the provided BBC live URL in a browser or contact BBC press) and confirm the staff identity with the school (EGA/Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School or the EGA named in the live update). Until that is done, the piece should be flagged as OPEN / needing attribution confirmation. 🛑 ([ofqual.blog.gov.uk](https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2019/08/13/feeling-stressed-about-results-day/?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [theguardian.com](https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/aug/20/i-cried-and-he-cried-the-highs-and-lows-of-exam-results-day-for-teachers?utm_source=chatgpt.com), [bbc.co.uk](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zpmpk2p?utm_source=chatgpt.com)).

Education
Mental health
GCSE results