Overwhelmed and demotivated

My end of year exams are coming up, and most of them are gcse-based, so we would be doing it in a gcse format and the grades we get from them determine sets for later this year.
I have high aims and often put a lot of pressure on myself to do well, and suddenly I feel overwhelmed by how much I have to do - I also feel nervous for english and rs, because they're my weak subjects.
I'm also nervous for geography, because we haven't been taught properly because of staffing issues and I've picked it for gcse this year, which makes it more stressful.
Any words of wisdom would be helpful, thanks

Hi! I'm assuming you're in Year 9/10 currently from what you've said so I'm going to respond with that in mind. As a Y13 who's been at a high pressured very academic private school since y7, I totally get end of year exam stress. However despite my school being very academic, I didn't do well on my year 9 end of year exams. I specifically remember getting 45% on both of my maths papers, even though I was in the second highest set.

However not doing well on these exams genuinely will not harm your chances of doing well in GCSEs. If you think about it, if you get put into a lower set, this actually can boost your grades instead of lowering them. I got put into the middle science set, and got 9s in Bio and Physics and an 8 in Chem! I don't think I could have done that well without being in a slower paced set. The teachers explained everything really clearly because I was in a lower set which meant I understood it more. The system of putting students in sets is not to make you compete against each other, but to make sure that people who need extra support can get it! I was very grateful for this extra help.

My tips for Geography would be to make sure you understand definitions and processes really well. I'm not sure if you have case studies in year 9, but if you do, learn them and use them in your answers (e.g. urbanisation in London).

Anyway my advice would be: try not to worry too much, do a bit of revision every day, don't do as much revision for subjects you are dropping (for me that was RS, French, History etc), take regular breaks and don't burn yourself out. But you will be fine whatever happens! Good luck

Hey,
Don’t worry about your end of years. Bear in mind they don’t count toward anything although teachers or parents may keep on saying no they do. As a year 11 also in a private school, I’ve come to realise end of years are not important, just a chance to see where you are at and what you can work on. Even GCSEs themselves although important to a certain extent, a levels are what unis look at more. Year 11 mocks may be important if you are considering moving schools for sixth form but usually they don’t have very high expectations and I’m sure you’ll do great!!

I just recommend doing as many past papers as you can. I am in the same boat as you, English is my weakest subject and rs and geography are not my strongest either. For RS just keep on doing many questions cos they tend to put at least one weird one but just getting into the habit of planning and writing under pressure. Geography you can basically recycle the same arguments for human geography and physical is a matter of learning the processes. If you do edexcel igcse I could give you more specific advice.

Anyways, I’m sure you’ll do great and don’t put too much pressure on yourself because it’s not as important as it may seem, and when you become older, you realise that the pressure you put on it is so not worth it because when you start in year 10, no one is going to ask what you got for your end of years in year 9. Likewise in everyhting else. I’m sure you’ll do great anyway and just do you’re best. Sorry this is long I’ve basically waffled but GOOD LUCK!!

Thank you!
Yea, you're right about a levels being more important, and I guess I'll have more help from mocks and stuff.
It's funny how we're expected to memorise a textbook's worth of info for literally every subject, it's tough.
Geography is edexcel gcse.
I haven't started on rs yet, where do you think I can get all the info I need to know for rs? Because I'm not sure as to whether I'm supposed to memorise the info or not, we did some random stuff in lessons that I didn't see on the spec, so idk the best way to do it. For rs, my examboard is edexcel b

Yeahh that’s exactly what I thought, it is really difficult to learn a whole textbook but don’t worry you have another 2 years to do it in short bursts.

In terms of geography, I do IGCSE so I do not know if we do the same content. We’re doing rivers and hazards for physical so if you have questions on them, feel free to ask and I’ll be happy to help as much as I can.

For rs im doing AQA so I don’t know what your exam board does. We do two religions, I’m doing Buddhism and Christianity and 4 themes. I mainly learnt from the textbook cos our teacher just gave us random material- some was helpful some was not so the textbook was what I used. There was also a revision guide from our board which was really useful because it gave short and concise notes. I then just practiced past papers. If you let me know what your rs gcse consists of, I could try and give more specific advice

Ohh ok. The two religions we are doing are catholic christianity and judaism, from the edexcel board (we're doing edexcel B). We've started on trinity and creation, that's what the exam will be on as end of year.
I don't really know exactly what info I need to know, I'm only planning to buy the revision guide in the holidays, and the specification isn't that specific either.

Do you have a textbook from school because that was what I was given? I’m sorry I’m not sure what other revision resources there are for RS.
For geography though apparently physics and maths tutor has very good notes so it may be worth checking that out. Good luck!!

My end of year exams are coming up, and most of them are gcse-based, so we would be doing it in a gcse format and the grades we get from them determine sets for later this year.
I have high aims and often put a lot of pressure on myself to do well, and suddenly I feel overwhelmed by how much I have to do - I also feel nervous for english and rs, because they're my weak subjects.
I'm also nervous for geography, because we haven't been taught properly because of staffing issues and I've picked it for gcse this year, which makes it more stressful.
Any words of wisdom would be helpful, thanks

Heya!
Facing end-of-year exams can indeed be challenging, especially when they have a significant impact on your academic progress. It's important to remember that putting pressure on yourself can be counterproductive, so try to maintain a balanced mindset. Break your revision into manageable chunks, prioritise your weak subjects, and seek additional resources or support if needed. Lastly, remember that resilience and determination can go a long way in achieving your goals. Stay focused, stay positive, and do your best. You've got this!

I hope this helps!
Milena
UCL PFE
Study Mind

My end of year exams are coming up, and most of them are gcse-based, so we would be doing it in a gcse format and the grades we get from them determine sets for later this year.
I have high aims and often put a lot of pressure on myself to do well, and suddenly I feel overwhelmed by how much I have to do - I also feel nervous for english and rs, because they're my weak subjects.
I'm also nervous for geography, because we haven't been taught properly because of staffing issues and I've picked it for gcse this year, which makes it more stressful.
Any words of wisdom would be helpful, thanks

Lemme tell you something. There are billionaires pout there who didn't even get grades because they dropped out of school - now look at them.
Even if you don't get the grades you're hoping for, why should that mean your life is over? At the end of the day, grades are numbers and letters, and exams are sheets of paper. The school system has placed way way too much pressure on you. You don't have to do this for anyone. You do it for yourself. Tell yourself, 'I can pass'.

There's a quote I've seen a few times now: "Aim for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land amongst the stars'.
Even if you don't get those high aims, what you do get will be what the Universe wants you to get. The Universe always works out in the end.
Plus, grade boundaries are actually lower this year!

I've started revising for my end of year exams, and whenever I test myself I realise I know nothing, even though I've worked hard all year and I would have thought I would've been able to know something.
My mental health is going down day by day - it was already bad since a year ago, but now it's way worse and I feel like no matter what I do I'll do bad. I've made a whole timetable and a list of all the things I need to do, but I feel so disorganised and that I can't cope with how I'm feeling and the work I need to do.
I've been studying non-stop and yet I feel like I'm doing so bad for my standards. What can I do to stop all this?

When do your exams begin? Don’t panic and make sure first and foremost you get enough sleep. If you prioritise studying for hours over sleep you will burn out quickly and will not be able to remember anything. Do maybe a few subjects each days for around an hour and try to go through the topics, highlighting the points you cannot remember and making a note of where you go wrong. Also use this as a learning experience because you are only in year 9 and have around 2 years. Once you’ve nailed those, keep on doing past papers to get to grip with exam technique. Don’t overthink and don’t panic, I’m sure you will do awesome