Year 11 desperation. CeciltheLlama's GyG

Good luck on your mocks!
I only just started out year 11 and it's not going so well.

Been procrastinating so much, it's unbelievable. Hoping to catch up during the upcoming break, or basically the whole of next week. Again, I really wish you good luck on your mocks! I don't have mine until April, I believe. Not sure.

hey, I'm in yr 11 too. i've got a gyg too if you want to check it out - it's called Chazza's Guide to Boondoggling.
i get your struggles with failure, school pressures and stuff really brings mood down but you're better than that. i'm a hypocrite cos I'm basically know as the pessimistic one at my school (although i call it realism…)
you've got some pretty awesome grades there so keep it up, ur doing brilliantly

sorry that you’ve been feeling down lately, but don’t feel like you have to work every night - I’m definitely not! Make sure to take a break

I would not suggest listening to podcasts while revising as this will make you not concentrate on your work. In order to actually remember something you need full concentration.
Don't worry about GCSEs though like they're not that big of a deal. Most universities don't care as long as you have passed maths and English. Some of the top ones care a bit more but if you just want to be a teacher you really don't need to go to a top university. Also don't worry about mocks, I did rubbish on my mocks but still got 59s 58s and an A* in the real thing so chill.
You're probably not bad at English lit, chances are you haven't been taught properly or you just have a mental block with it. If you're good at English lang then you can do English lit as they're very similar in terms of the skills you need.

Sorry I haven't replied quicker...

I completely agree with you about podcasts! When I wrote the first post I think I had just listened to a podcast whilst revising and got some done. But, this was just me tuning out the podcast, so there was no point of it being on. I can't even listen to music with words or that I know well because I will sing or hum along and concentrate more on the lyrics! Thanks for the tip! 😀

After having some time to think about it, I think I am a lot calmer about mocks. Thanks for reminding me that they don't matter because they don't. I can only do the best I can do and if I fail, I will do better on the real thing so it doesn't matter anyway... Yay!

I am not strictly speaking bad at Lit I am just least confident in it out of all other subjects. I think I feel more confident now but it's still my worst subject.

Also congrats on those grades at GSCE. 😃 Are you doing A level now? If so, how are you finding it?

I am doing A levels now. I do 4 (maths,physics,chemistry and biology) and it's a lot of work but I'm finding it alright. There isn't as big a step up as everyone says there is.
You should try your hardest in all your exams but just remember to put things into perspective every now and again. Even though right now they might feel like the most important thing in the world, there are many things that are more important, including your own well being. Don't choose grades over mental health because it isn't worth it. Try your best and whatever happens, in 99.9% of cases your grades are what you deserve. If you work hard you WILL do well, it is highly unlikely that you won't. Remember that the majority of people are happy on results day and those that aren't are the ones who either didn't work hard or set themselves too high standards. As long as you don't do either of those things you will be fine. In a few years when you're at uni all your work will have paid off, keep your goals in mind and get good grades because of your goals, not to improve your self esteem.

Thanks for all your advice! Not gonna lie I am quite naive sometimes so it's really useful to have someone telling you exactly how it really a is.

Oh and good luck! I'm sure you'll do really well. 😊 Are you going into medicine or another field? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks byeeee.

Revision that helps me? I think…

-Flashcards
-Quizzes
-Practice Papers to see what I am bad at…
-Colour coded notes

So, yeah hopefully I will update this with revision I am doing.

Byeeeeee.....

Hi there,

Procrastination can be a real productivity killer, so it's good you've recognised that is something you need to work on. Try to build a study routine and be consistent, as that way you'll accustom your body to get into work mode at certain times of the day.

Best of luck with your mocks,

Michael

I don't mind questions lol don't feel bad about asking questions. The field I want to go into is physic because it's what I'm most passionate about. I might change my mind but right now I'm fairly decided on physics. My goal is to go to Oxford or Durham but I would be fine with basically any uni that has a decent reputation. I have considered medicine but I just don't think I'm passionate enough about it and I don't think I could hack being a doctor with how long the hours are. I respect the hell out of people who are doctors though, I honestly don't know how they do it.
Being naive is normal at our age lol. There are year 12s who will tell you that GCSEs are really hard and all this and that but those people are just trying to make themselves look hard because they've been through it. Just try your best, revise as much as you can and you'll be alright. All of my friends revised and all of them were happy with their results. As i have said, people get what they deserve. I did best in the subjects I revised most for and worst in the ones I revised least for and that's the same with all of my friends. My friend didn't revise for computer science until too late and really struggled with the content and she got a 5 and she was happy with that because she set realistic targets for herself and she got what she deserved according to her work. It's the same with basically everything.

Everything in life is you get out what you put in. Like you said. In any experience, you will get nothing from it if you don't put the work in yourself.

Oh and yeah with Uni it is pretty much the course quality balanced with quality of life in the location, as for choosing I mean. Right now I think I would want to go somewhere tops 2 hours away just because of my home 'situation' (my dad has MS and y'know grandparents getting older and stuff). Maybe when it comes to the time of me applying i will have changed my mind idk.

Setting myself up for disappointment isn't gonna do me any good. Last time I got the results back for mockettes, I was realistic and if anything underestimated the grades that I would get. When I got them back I was probably happier than if I had guessed them right on. That's not to say just hope and pray you'll do better than you think. But just what my first results day like experience was.

Good luck with Physics and studies and stuff! 👍