Regent Exams, AP® Exams, and IB® Exams Are Here. What Happens After the Exam?

June 1, 2026

The moment has arrived. Weeks, sometimes months, of preparation have led to this. The exam is on the desk, the pencil is in hand, and the clock starts. For many high school students across New York and beyond, June means it’s finally game time.

But in the rush to prepare for these exams, very few families talk about what comes after them. Not the scores, those come later. We’re talking about the days and hours immediately following a major exam, when emotions are high, energy is unpredictable, and students need support in ways that parents don’t always anticipate.

At Margot Tutoring Inc, we think the post-exam period is just as important to get right as the preparation. Here’s what to expect  and how to handle it well.

The Emotional Rollercoaster Is Normal

Walk outside any school on the afternoon of a major exam and you’ll see it in real time. Some students are euphoric, laughing, animated, relieved. Others are quiet and withdrawn. Some are already analyzing every answer they gave. A few may be in tears.

All of these responses are normal. Major exams carry real emotional weight, and different students process that weight differently. What they all need in common is space to feel whatever they feel without judgment.

What Not to Say (and What to Say Instead)
The instinct to ask “How do you think you did?” is completely understandable. You’ve been invested in this process too. But for many students, that question,  asked immediately after an exam — reactivates the anxiety rather than releasing it.

Instead, try:
“I’m really proud of how hard you worked.” (Before they say a single word about the exam.)
“What do you want to do tonight?” (Let them lead the decompression.)
“Do you want to talk about it, or do you want to just chill?” (Give them the choice.)

What you’re communicating when you lead with these phrases is that their worth is not contingent on their score and that the relationship comes first. That message matters more than you might realize, especially to a teenager who has been measuring themselves against a rubric for months.

When They Want to Debrief

Some students do want to talk through the exam, what they think they got right, what surprised them, where they might have lost points. This is a healthy form of processing for many teens, and it’s fine to engage with it.

What to avoid is catastrophizing alongside them. If they’re convinced they failed, your job isn’t to argue or to agree,  it’s to stay calm and grounded. “Let’s wait and see” is a complete sentence. So is “One exam doesn’t tell the whole story of who you are as a student.”

Multiple Exams, Staggered Relief

Many students are navigating more than one major exam this season. A student might finish their AP® English exam on a Tuesday and then immediately shift focus to their exam in Chemistry the following week. The emotional release of finishing one exam needs to be balanced against the reality of what comes next.

Help your teen stay organized during this period without hovering. A simple shared calendarshowing remaining exam dates can help both of you stay oriented without the daily verbalcheck-in that many teens find intrusive.

What Elementary Students Are Going Through Right Now
While secondary students are deep in exam season, elementary-age children are in their own version of the final stretch. End-of-year assessments, class presentations, and culminating projects are all part of the picture — and for young students, these can feel just as weighty as any high school exam.

Be equally attentive to your younger child right now. It’s easy, when the household focus is on a high school student’s AP or Regents exam, for an elementary-age child’s needs to fade into the background. Check in with them too. Ask about their week. Celebrate their small wins.

The Score Is Not the Whole Story

AP® Exams, IB® Exams, and Regent Exams scores arrive weeks or months after the exam. Between now and then, remind your teenager of what the preparation process built in them — discipline, time management, the ability to hold a large amount of information in their mind and apply it under pressure. Those skills do not disappear if the score is not what they hoped.

A score is a data point. Your child is a whole person. Make sure they know you know the difference.