Restarting Sixth Form

I'm currently in year 12 studying English Lit, Psychology, ICT and Economics.

So far the year has been disasterous for me. First of all, I picked the wrong subjects on as late as enrolment day, because the ones I wanted to do clashed in regards to time schedule. I had wanted to do Computing and Maths instead of ICT and English Lit. Now the university courses I wish to do are severely limited and not what I wish to do.

Secondly, my English coursework which I just submitted was terrible, due to the fact I did no preliminary reading over the summer as I did not know I was going to take English until the academic year began.

I had 100% attendance from years 7-11 but have found myself this year purposefuly skipping entire days of lessons because I dread going to school. I have no passion to learn about the subjects I am doing.

I don't have a work experience placement either – the deadline for which was months ago.

The January mock exams were very poor also, as I am predicted 4 As and achieved A B C E. I'm not at all prepared for the upcoming exams in May, and the prospect of going to university, getting into debt and putting more stress on myself to study a course I don't have any interest in, is what keeps me unmotivated to revise whatsoever.

A lot of you would say I should just do my exams and then wait and see in August. However, I revised the night before for all my GCSE exams and spent the summer dreading Results Day. It ruined those months of my life and I do not want to relive those again.

I want to restart Sixth Form doing A Levels I want to so I can do a degree that I am interested in, but I don't know how feasible this is. That, or take a gap year between year 12 and 13 to figure out what I am going to do post-Sixth Form... if either of these are possible.

I turn 17 right at the beginning of the summer holidays (July 22) and this may be an issue for some options. I recall my school saying if I do resit year 12, I must do it at another school with different subjects entirely. Moving school would be absolutely terrifying (bad past experience in doing so).

My concerns are whether it will damage my future career/university opportunities and the social dilemma of being around people younger than I am. I am very asocial and would likely spend all my time studying alone, anyway.

Thank you for any advice you may have.

I think the changes in sixth form funding mean you won't be able to re-start at your current school.

Hi, I'd just like to say that it's nice (well not nice, because it's an awful situation) to come across someone going through something so similar to what I am. This is kind of an explanation of my situation: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3256019

I also only revised for my GCSEs the night before, and spent summer dreading what I'd get. I did so much worse than I could have, but I got grades that were fairly decent so I don't mind so much about not being able to resit my GCSEs. My ASs are Psychology, Media: Communication and Production, Fine Art and English Language, and I strongly dislike both of my coursework subjects. I'm predicted AAAA but the likelihood of achieving that is minimal now, and my subjects aren't really suitable for getting into certain universities.

At the moment I've applied to a couple of other colleges, even ones I'm unlikely to go to, because at least if I decide I want to go there I'll be able to (I already have the GCSEs so it would be unconditional). I know you mentioned that moving would be terrifying, and I feel the same, so maybe apply to a few colleges, just as a back up. That way you won't be stuck with your current one and having to do those subjects, because the most important thing is to do subjects you're genuinely interested in.

I think that I severely underestimated how hard A Levels would be because I did well without trying for my GCSEs, and there have been several personal issues that have meant I haven't been able to give my full concentration to studying. I think that a fresh start is what I need, and surely if we were to explain to universities our reasons for redoing the year they would be understanding- maybe redoing the year to study more appropriate subjects is something that shows interest and dedication on some level?

I don't know what I'm going to do to be honest, there are a number of options I'm considering. But I think that you'd maybe be much happier if you were able to do the subjects that you enjoy, and I've noticed that in my year there are loads of people from the year above who are redoing year 12, but I didn't even notice until they told me because they just fit right in. I'm quite antisocial and haven't really made any friends since starting, which is another reason I want to move.

I'm sorry if this is kind of biased and not helpful, but I don't really know exactly how unis feel about this :/ But I really don't think it's worth doing things you aren't happy with because it will have major long term implications- at least that's how I feel Good luck with everything!

Ah, now I remember what our deputy headteacher was going on about... that really does suck.




Thank you so much for this post; hearing someone in the almost exact same situation as me is incredibly relieving. It definitely was helpful and seemed unbiased whilst I was reading it.

I, too, have experienced some personal issues along the lines of depression and whatnot, which has made it extremely difficult to focus on studying. I know the hard work is necessary for success, but I just lack the fundamental willpower.

Since it's so late in the year, I'm going to have to really think about it and discuss it with my parents (although I am almost certain what they'll advise). Whilst they have a fairly laid-back attitude, I can't help but think they'll see me as more of a failure than I already am; my older sister is at Cambridge studying natural sciences... and then there's me who can't get out of bed most mornings.

You mention having applied for the Sutton Trust (as have I), so good luck with that! I didn't manage to get into the Oxford UNIQ summer school, although my hopes weren't significantly high in the first place.. however, I reckon if I got accepted, my motivation would have increased tenfold. That's just the way the cookie crumbles, I guess.

The area I live has some very poor colleges and a handful of decent ones. Right now, I probably attend the best of the bunch and also the one closest to me, so it'd be unfortunate to leave. There are some people in the year above resitting year 12 in the same school, but due to some financial reforms as a previous poster mentioned, I don't think it'll be possible for us to do the same.

I was really indecisive, like you, as to what I want to do in regards to university and a career thereafter. The subjects I've chosen mean the only degree I can really do is in English literature or psychology—which I wouldn't hate, but it's not something I'm passionate about. After a lot of contemplation, I'd really love to a course in either computer science or graphic design—or going out on a limb—veterinary science. None of these will be possible with what I'm doing now, so I'm going to have to really consider my options.

Annoyingly, I had doubts from the beginning of the school year as to whether I chose the right things. You just can't make an informed judgement until you're near/at the end of the course. Stupid darned system. I decided upon subjects I enjoyed/was good at during GCSE, and was very ignorant of what universities look for.

I wish you all the best with everything, and again thanks for your input

If your coursework mark is bad then ask to drop English. Then work your socks off over the next month and you should get reasonable AS grades.

Computing degrees don't need computing so research whether you could do a full maths A level in one year - even AS might help. Go and see the UCAS support person and look into computing as I know unis can be quite flexible about subjects.

I'm currently in year 12 studying English Lit, Psychology, ICT and Economics.

So far the year has been disasterous for me. First of all, I picked the wrong subjects on as late as enrolment day, because the ones I wanted to do clashed in regards to time schedule. I had wanted to do Computing and Maths instead of ICT and English Lit. Now the university courses I wish to do are severely limited and not what I wish to do.

Secondly, my English coursework which I just submitted was terrible, due to the fact I did no preliminary reading over the summer as I did not know I was going to take English until the academic year began.

I had 100% attendance from years 7-11 but have found myself this year purposefuly skipping entire days of lessons because I dread going to school. I have no passion to learn about the subjects I am doing.

I don't have a work experience placement either – the deadline for which was months ago.

The January mock exams were very poor also, as I am predicted 4 As and achieved A B C E. I'm not at all prepared for the upcoming exams in May, and the prospect of going to university, getting into debt and putting more stress on myself to study a course I don't have any interest in, is what keeps me unmotivated to revise whatsoever.

A lot of you would say I should just do my exams and then wait and see in August. However, I revised the night before for all my GCSE exams and spent the summer dreading Results Day. It ruined those months of my life and I do not want to relive those again.

I want to restart Sixth Form doing A Levels I want to so I can do a degree that I am interested in, but I don't know how feasible this is. That, or take a gap year between year 12 and 13 to figure out what I am going to do post-Sixth Form... if either of these are possible.

I turn 17 right at the beginning of the summer holidays (July 22) and this may be an issue for some options. I recall my school saying if I do resit year 12, I must do it at another school with different subjects entirely. Moving school would be absolutely terrifying (bad past experience in doing so).

My concerns are whether it will damage my future career/university opportunities and the social dilemma of being around people younger than I am. I am very asocial and would likely spend all my time studying alone, anyway.

Thank you for any advice you may have.

What did you decide to do in the end may I ask?I have the exact issues as you which I have found extremely rare where I am. Everyone seems so confident about their future which makes me feel even worse. I have wanted to be an architect for quite some time and I do art product design and economics a levels. I did surprisingly really well in my GCSES despite the lack of studying. I know that you don't need to study maths and physics so I think I could get into a good uni, but I just feel so bad about studying unfacilitating subjects that makes it seem like I'm a lot less intelligent than I am and I don't know what I want to do anymore. I recently got diagnosed with fibromyalgia which is a auto immune disorder than mostly middle-aged women get so it sucks its trying to ruin my life now. Most kids drop out of school with it or spend their time in pain clinics. Its always been so hard to work because I am in constant chronic pain everywhere and have severe fatigue constantly. It sounds dumb to think about restarting sixth form or something but I don't want my illness to take over. Im in year 12 and over half way through now but I was thinking about doing biology or physics.