Revision is over, examinations taken, and your son or daughter looks ahead to a long and hopefully hot summer, where the only cloud on the horizon is Results Day in August. The most important thing they can do is relax. The Upper Sixth is a tough year: UCAS predictions are followed swiftly by applications, and often interviews and tests; mocks arrive, are duly dissected, then the real thing appears.

Between the end of exams and results there is nothing that can usefully be done: worrying about results does NOT count as useful. The key is to enjoy the break, and to be well informed about the options that are available once results come out.

Option 1: results tally with the university offer. In this case, there is nothing to do. The offer will be automatically confirmed by UCAS, and the assumption is that it will be accepted (unless your child contacts UCAS to inform them otherwise).

Option 2: results narrowly miss the university offer. Tracking progress on the UCAS website will tell you if a decision has been made (and this often comes through on results day). If there is no status change this means the university is still considering their decision, and it is well worth your son or daughter (and it needs to be them, not a parent, or the school) making direct contact with them to reaffirm interest in the place. Usually, a final decision will be made within 1-2 days of results coming out. It is fair to say that an offer just missed for a popular course (Law, Medicine) at a popular university is less likely to be confirmed than a less 'popular' choice.

Option 3: results achieved and offer made are radically different from each other. If your child has missed their place, it is important that the first course which has space is not grabbed in an attempt to be somewhere, rather than nowhere. Look at which courses have places (clearing information is published on the UCAS website and in the Independent newspaper: use the 'phone numbers provided), and consider these two questions: is this somewhere your son or daughter would wish to study; and if so, does this course suit their interests? If the answer to both of these is yes, AND if the requirements for the course are met by their exam results, a 'phone call may elicit a verbal offer straightaway. It is possible to hold simultaneous offers and decide over a few days which will best suit.

What happens if there is no such course? It is better for your child to reapply than to go to a place or study a subject which does not suit them. An impromptu GAP year is really not the worst thing that can happen to them (most GAP organisations still have schemes available, even at the 11th hour)in the medium term.

Option 4: results exceed expectation, and offers. In this case, it is possible to register for 'Adjustment', which will enable your son or daughter to reconsider where and what to study.

A short note about the International Baccalaureate: results come out in early July, and if offers are met, places will be confirmed by UCAS straightaway. If not, it is likely that no decision will be taken until the publication of the A Level results. If an offer has been missed by a whisker, it may be worth e-mailing the university to re-state interest in and enthusiasm for the course.

If your child is worried that they may not make their grades, be sure to seek the advice and help of the school, and to be around on results day (independent schools will be open, with key staff available, often including the Head). If action is appropriate, it will need to be swift, and this is far harder to manage from a beach in the Maldives.