I agree TeenDivided. Several of DSs friends was in bits before results, they knew 5 x passes was going to be a struggle and their much wanted college place was at risk, what they went through is so vastly different than someone worrying about getting 9s rather than 8s. DS was predicted a range from 6-9 and knew whatever happened he would pass them all and get on the course so he knew he may not get all as predicted but there was never that stress.
His friend just scraped 5 passes, it would have been awful for him not to have as the vocational course they are both doing is something his friend already does and gets paid for so will be the most experienced person on that course but would have potentially had to do the L2 first which he is years passed in experience.
My friends DD still doesn't have a college place, she was always going to struggle to pass any but ridiculously they had no back up plan, thankfully she passed Maths and English but no others but left without a course to start and obviously with bank holiday weekend there's a bit of a wait. Her DD could not have worked harder to pass, probably way harder than those achieving higher results, she wasn't predicted to pass any and got 5,4,4 in Eng Lang, Maths and Eng Lit which is amazing.