Panic Attacks and Maths Exams, need some advice

Anyone?

Hey everyone!

I'm 18, nearly 19 and I received an unconditional offer to do Access to HE at my local FE College where I used to be a student at for September 2017 entry which I am very excited about. However, there's one problem. I don't have a C in Maths. I failed Maths 4 times now, receiving a D grade each time, each time I fail it, the worst I feel. For every Maths exam i sit, something bad always happens. It's nothing to do with the work or the teachers but either I get the wrong concessions or the room isn't soundproofed or in my latest exam attempt, a delivery guy walking into my room during the exam which almost caused me to have a panic attack. I have had no other problems with any other subjects apart from Maths exams.

At interview, I was advised to resit it this coming May/June exam season, however since I am currently having treatment for mental health reasons, I decided against sitting the exam as I would like to prioritise my health first before returning to full-time education. The only option available to me for pre-exam work at my old college was having 4 hour intensive classes between 5:15 and 9PM one day a week, possibly no breaks. I declined that option.

What I am really asking for is should I have gone for these 4 hour classes and resit my exam in May or was I right to take a break from it?

Please note: The degree I would like to do at University is Creative Writing which for the uni I'm interested in you don't need a C in Maths for apparently but I really don't know...

BritishBookworm.

Hi, I've moved this to the Maths forum, hopefully someone here will be able to offer you some advice because I honestly have no idea. @notnek

Hi BritishBookworm

Firstly, it sounds like you've been very unlucky with your maths exams. But there is no reason why you'll have problems the next time. I don't know what your mindset is but if you're thinking "maths is against me" then this is the first problem - you need to build your confidence. Getting a D 4 times in a row shows me that you can easily achieve at least a C.

I don't think we should be telling you whether you were right or not to resit this year since we have no idea about your mental health problems. Are you still considering entering yourself this year? You can still enter but the late fees will be high and most centres won't allow you.

One thing to keep in mind is that this year is the last opportunity to resit the old spec exam. From next year you will have to sit the new 9-1 exam - I don't know how much you know about this. This new exam is harder but the same percentage of students that got a C will get 4/5 in the new exam. But within time a '5' (and not a '4' ) will probably be considered a "pass" like C used to.

You may not need a C in maths for your university course but you'll find that you are limited when applying for jobs since many jobs ask for at least a C in Maths and English. So I think you should try resiting the exam again at some point before your course ends.

Thanks so much for replying, I really appreciate it. Since I wrote this post over 3 weeks ago, I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and depression. Although I'm currently not taking medication for it, I'm not in education currently. Personally, my goal was to get my mental health back on track before my course starts in September so the answer to the question of resitting this year is a no. I just feel that with my current health, I'm not able to sit it anytime soon.

I have also been offered no other alternative towards getting any sort of help for Maths other than those classes which I declined. So with no-one from my old college really helping me at all, that's also put me off from doing the exam.

Didn't help when my GCSE certificate arrived in the mail this morning with my fourth D grade stamped on it ahaha.

If it's any help at all, I have done Higher Tier before which I got Bs and As on but still failed the exams at the end. I attended all classes for revision and handed in all my homework on time. So I don't feel the actual subject is to blame, just the exams. I actually do enjoy Maths.

BritishBookworm.

Hey everyone!

I'm 18, nearly 19 and I received an unconditional offer to do Access to HE at my local FE College where I used to be a student at for September 2017 entry which I am very excited about. However, there's one problem. I don't have a C in Maths. I failed Maths 4 times now, receiving a D grade each time, each time I fail it, the worst I feel. For every Maths exam i sit, something bad always happens. It's nothing to do with the work or the teachers but either I get the wrong concessions or the room isn't soundproofed or in my latest exam attempt, a delivery guy walking into my room during the exam which almost caused me to have a panic attack. I have had no other problems with any other subjects apart from Maths exams.

At interview, I was advised to resit it this coming May/June exam season, however since I am currently having treatment for mental health reasons, I decided against sitting the exam as I would like to prioritise my health first before returning to full-time education. The only option available to me for pre-exam work at my old college was having 4 hour intensive classes between 5:15 and 9PM one day a week, possibly no breaks. I declined that option.

What I am really asking for is should I have gone for these 4 hour classes and resit my exam in May or was I right to take a break from it?

Please note: The degree I would like to do at University is Creative Writing which for the uni I'm interested in you don't need a C in Maths for apparently but I really don't know...

BritishBookworm.

If you're sure that it's the mental health issues that are stopping you do well in maths exams then I think that's something that you should discuss with an expert in mental health, which I am not.

It sounds like you may need a break from maths for a bit. Hopefully in a year or two you will be in a better position to take the exam. There are loads of videos which you can use to learn maths but a tutor would really help.

I am not a mental health expert either, having said that a lot of the mental health experts are not experts either. I can only speak form my own experience and what I did to eliminate a similar condition. I suffered from panic attacks for the best part of three years. I was diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder - whereby small things such as vibrations from a bus, or loud music would trigger a panic attack and I honestly thought I was having a heart attack. I always felt on edge, and kept thinking that the worst would happen. I eventually turned to alcohol to help me relax. However the only solution was guided meditation. Take a look on youtube and look up talking meditation. I started with The Linden Method, worked a treat for me. Not had panic attack now fr ten years!! As for the maths:- www.mathsgenie.co.uk