Results day: what to do next — whatever the envelope says

On the morning: get the facts before the decisions

Collect the paper breakdown, not just the headline grades — which papers underperformed matters for every option below. If a grade looks genuinely out of line with predictions, ask the school that day about a review of marking (schools submit these, and there are deadlines in early September — priority reviews sooner if a university place depends on it). Marks can go down as well as up, so take the exams officer's advice seriously.

GCSE: the November window is real — and close

English Language and Maths can be resat in November 2026 — and for students who missed a grade 4, continuing to study them is a condition of post-16 funding anyway. November entries close in early October, so the run of weeks between results day and half-term is the whole preparation window. A short, focused block of one-to-one tuition targeting the specific papers that slipped is exactly what moves a 3 to a 4–5; other subjects resit in summer 2027.

A-Level: clearing, resits, or a stronger year two

Missed an offer? Universities fill genuine places through clearing in the days after results — decide with your student, not for them, and phone early. Resitting a year is a legitimate route when the goal is a course with hard entry requirements. And for students going into Year 13, August's AS/mock signals are the clearest early warning you'll get — subject-specialist support started in September beats a panicked spring every time.

Where tutoring genuinely helps (and where it doesn't)

A resit is a different job from a school year: the syllabus is known, the gaps are visible in the paper breakdown, and the time is short. That's the situation one-to-one teaching is built for — a qualified teacher who knows the exam board reads the breakdown, triages, and works the weaknesses in order. What tutoring can't do is replace a decision: make the resit/clearing/move-on choice first, then resource it properly.

Every tutor on Teachers Delivered is a qualified teacher with an Enhanced DBS check, vetted qualifications and references — most have marked the very papers your child sits.