If your friend asks how they did and they bombed, tell them gently. The world will tell them less gently.

Protecting somebody from a true answer only delays it, and the next messenger will have no reason to be careful. A friend is the best available source of hard news precisely because they can deliver it with the affection still attached. The kindness lives in how you say it, not in whether you say it.

Lead with the part that genuinely worked, then name one thing that did not, specifically. Keep it to one. Finish with what you would try next and an offer to help, because a problem handed over with a direction attached is much easier to receive.