AS A-level results are published and GCSE results are due on Thursday, CIARAN KELLY takes a look at the pressure of school exams on pupils, parents and teachers.

LAST year, ChildLine services received record numbers of calls from students worried about exams, with more than 34,000 calls relating to education.

For the first time, education issues were one of the top concerns among those contacting ChildLine in 2013/14.

In total, there were 34,454 calls made to the helpline mentioning schools and education problems as a main concern – this includes topics such as exams, not coping with school work, disliking school, truancy, problems with a teacher and worries about a new school.

Where school and education was the young person’s main concern, 58 per cent of counselling sessions were specifically about exam stress – up a whopping 200 per cent on 2012/13.

In 2013/14, ChildLine counsellors in Wales handled 640 contacts from young people specifically about exam stress.

Ahead of GCSE results day on Thursday, and following A-level results day last week, Debs Davis, ChildLine service manager for Wales, said: “The exam and results period can be a very stressful time for young people, and their families.

“The pressure to do well is being felt by an increasing number of young people across the nation.

“We want to let them know that they are not alone and that ChildLine is here to listen to them throughout the A-level and GCSE results period.”

The revelation comes after official figures showed a marked improvement at the highest grade in A-levels in Wales, with 7.3 per cent of students claiming A*s – up from 6.7 per cent last year and six per cent in 2013.

It represents Wales’ highest A* performance since the grade was introduced in 2010.

In Gwent, Blaenau Gwent saw big improvements, with the proportion of students at the learning zone achieving the top grades A* and A increasing from 11.3 per cent to 16.9 per cent compared to last year.

Official results show Newport schools remain above the Wales average for pupils gaining grades A*-C, rising by 0.8 per cent to 76.3 cent.

A total of 20 students at Llanwern High School will be the first in their families to go onto higher education, with 96 per cent of students who wished to go onto university achieving their goal there.

Across Monmouthshire, there has been an increase in the number of students reaching the level three threshold of two A-level grades A-E. At 98.4 per cent, this is an increase of 3.1 per cent from last year.

Pass rate for students in Caerphilly county borough schools for WJEC A-levels was 97.1 per cent and, in Torfaen, the number of pupils getting A*-A grades increased to 21 per cent from 16.1 per cent last year.

Understandably, the education minister was delighted with these results and speaking at Bassaleg School last week, Huw Lewis was quick to pay tribute to the Welsh Government’s Seren programme, which is supporting more of Wales’ most able students to progress to the UK’s top universities.

He said: “I am committed to ensuring that our most talented students are given every opportunity to access top universities and our Seren programme, which provides advice, guidance and support to learners has been designed to do just that.

“The first five Seren hubs will formally start work in September but we know that the work we have done so far to increase admissions to top universities is really starting to pay off.”

However, overall in Wales, 23.1 per cent of entries scored an A* or A this year – down from 23.3 per cent in 2014.

Meanwhile, Wales’ A*-E pass rate dipped for the second year running, from 97.5 per cent to 97.3 per cent – the lowest since 2011.

An online poll by student website The Student Room suggests 28 per cent of pupils in Wales are most unhappy with their A-level results this year, which is the highest percentage in the UK.

Lucie Russell, director of campaigns at YoungMinds, the child and adolescent mental health charity, said stress is a real issue after exams as well as before and during them.

She said: “This is a very difficult time for students and their parents where it can feel like their whole future is decided by what they receive on a bit of paper.

“It’s important to remember that whatever the grades say there are always other options to explore and that young people have the rest of their lives to lead.

“These results, while important, shouldn’t define young people or define who they can be in the future.

“For parents it is important to be supportive through this process and understand that it can feel like a young person’s whole future is in jeopardy.

“They have an important role to play in helping them not to feel negative about themselves and guiding them through future options.”

Luke Kostanjsek, 18, from Rogiet, achieved three A*s in chemistry, maths and further maths at Caldicot School – despite having his appendix out in January.

Luke, who is going on to read maths at Oxford and is the first in his family to go to university, believes self-motivation and preparation are key to combating stress.

He said: “I wrote my notes from September and that took the pressure off, but you could still really feel it from April on with 10/12-hour days.

“It’s miserable, but you just have to make yourself do it.

“It was a lot of hard work and it’s still a bit surreal. I’m still not convinced I’m going to Oxford. My family kept telling me I was going to get it, but I sure as hell didn’t.”

Stevie Jones, 18, a student at Bassaleg, got ABB in Welsh bac, English literature and history respectively and will study creative and media writing at Portsmouth University.

Stevie, who juggled a part-time job and hockey commitments with Gwent Ladies alongside her studies, said: “I’m amazingly relieved.

“There were a few tears and times I felt I might not get in. I had not considered not getting into uni. I would’ve felt like a failure.

“There’s a pressure to get into university. Society has progressed and there’s a lot of pressure to do well.”

Tom Verheyden, 18, also a pupil at Bassaleg, echoed these thoughts, saying: “I’m very relieved. It was a bit of a rollercoaster to say the least.

“The application was pretty difficult, waiting for the offers and then the whole build up, the stress, and the waiting.

“Stressful is the best word to use to describe the last year. It was natural to apply pressure. Now it’s sinking in for the next few weeks.

“Was it really worth it? I think it depends on how much you work on them. This year, I have had some really good teachers. I could ask them for help and get good advice.”

Among those to also have felt the pressure is Alison McLeod, who has been the head of German at Caerleon Comprehensive School since 2009.

Mrs McLeod was given a special mention at the Annual Sommerfest and German Teacher Award ceremony last month.

Yet, despite being recognised for these high standards, she said that the pressures on teachers are immense and results day never gets easier.

She said: “I was so nervous the night before and barely slept. It’s just as bad for the teacher. Hand on heart, I had done as much as I could and what will be will be.

“It’s lovely to hear that they’re going off to start their new life with their degrees. I’m just so proud…all that nagging paid off.

“It’s getting harder for the kids: some who thought they would get As got Bs, but then some who thought they would get Cs got Bs.

“It’s very hard as a teacher to advise.”

Some may argue that these high expectations are rooted at GCSE level, with students recording Wales’ highest A*-C pass rate since devolution last year.

Two thirds of Welsh entries were awarded at least a C grade, which was a 0.9 per cent increase on 2013.

The number of top grades also increased, with 19.4 per cent of pupils obtaining A*-A grades, an increase of 0.2 per cent.

Rosie Eccles, 19, a former Chepstow School pupil, just finished the first year of a sports studies degree at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

A prodigious boxer with ambitions of making the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Rosie juggled intense training, part-time jobs and her studies from GCSE level and said the jump from GCSE to A-level is too big.

She said: “GCSEs are not too difficult…but there’s more of a gap between them than A-level and university.

“I was up and coming at the time but boxing was a big part. When you are that age it is quite a balancing act. Sometimes you do too much of one thing.

“I’m known for not being the most organised. I had to plan as I was going through the week and prioritising my grades came first.

“It’s really tough, particularly the pressure to do well...but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t go on to university.”

ChildLine said it had the following tips for young people to help them cope with exams:

* Take regular breaks from revising and do some exercise;

* Go to bed at a reasonable time and try to get some sleep;

* Getting a good night’s sleep will help more than trying to revise all night;

* Try to think positively, as this will help during revision;

* If possible, take water into the test as staying hydrated by drinking water helps with concentration.

'A C-grade is not a fail in life and an A is not a pass'

Laura McGriele, 16, from Pontypool, a pupil at St Albans RC School, is due to collect her GCSE results on Thursday. Here is her account of her rollercoaster year.

“Two of the biggest stresses I faced during my GCSEs were expectations and peer pressure.

“My parents required me to excel.

“I felt like I was Atlas, carrying the weight of their expectations on my shoulders.

“In order to resolve this stress, I turned a deaf ear to them and took time each day to remind myself of my goals, not theirs. I couldn't achieve high grades through simple expectations.

“There was pressure from others, too. Pressure from people that didn't even know me that well but would come up to me and congratulate me on my supposed As when in reality my first year exams left me barely scraping Cs.

“I felt as though I had to live up to the person they expected me to be and anything less than what they thought I should achieve made me feel inferior and benign.

“Out of all the stresses I faced, this was the most arduous to surpass.

“In the end, I realised that what they lacked in I surpassed them in. They had their areas of expertise and I too had mine. I had to force myself to realise that just because I had lesser grades it did not mean that I was less able.

“Everyone seems to think that our grades define us. I have seen my supposed 'definition', and I refuse to let these grades define me. A C in maths doesn't equal a fail in life and an A does not equal a pass.”