school exams Photo: supplied
Meg Nelis knows what it is like to be anxiously awaiting the release of NCEA results.
The student life team leader at Ara Te Pukenga remembers it feeling like the "be all and end all" and like it would be the end of the world if the results on the screen were not what she was hoping they would be.
That was 10 years ago, but now a fresh set of high school students await their own results, due to be released on Wednesday.
Nelis told Summer Times young people would be feeling a wide range of emotions, with some being incredibly anxious about what was coming.
She said they would benefit from being preoccupied and indulging in a bit of self-care to keep distracted and not hyper-focused on the results being released.
Parents could help by taking their teenagers out for the day and not prying too much. Letting them know that they were supportive of them, whatever the results were, would also help.
If students did end up with grades they were not happy with, Nelis said there was always options.
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The grade could be appealed and remarked, and if that still did not result in an improvement, there were many different pathways to get to where the young person wanted to be.
Nelis said university was not for everyone, and a gap year was beneficial to help young people step away from the cycle of study and learn more about themselves, earn some cash and figure out what they may like to do in the future.
And if that ended up being tertiary study but the course was not a good fit, that could always be changed too.
Nelis said there was plenty of support and staff to help guide students in the right direction and find the right fit for them.
For more tips, listen to the audio above.