someone save year 13 for me / or just laugh at my failure

I'm in a similar situation as you since I'm hoping to get into a Russel Group (Bristol's on my list, too) with bad grades rn

My school still does the AS exams and we're required to take 4 subjects in Y12 and I got a: B, C & 2 Us after sitting the exams.
The only reason that I got into Y13 (by the skin of my teeth, might I add), is because the second U wasn't entirely my fault 'cause
it was a result of a mix up (clash) on my timetable & I missed my second Politics exam, if I had taken it, I would have at least
gotten a C, I think.
Anyways, they told me it wouldn't affect my results but now I'm hearing that it's going to be the basis of our
predicted grades??? So, I'm feeling quite overwhelmed & I still haven't got the whole 'studying' thing down
(as we speak... type? I'm putting off revising for 3 exams I have this week) because my future is looking bleak rn
since all my target grades are As.
But, fingers crossed, we can sort ourselves out.

Hey, hope you’re okay?

I had the exact same kind of situation going into year 13 last year. I had okay ish grades, but in no way was I getting what I needed. I didn’t take the same subjects as you, but for example in business I was targeted a B, but I was getting D’s in my mocks, and Maths I was targeted a C, but was getting U’s and E’s in my mocks.

All I can say is you’ve got to keep working, be true to yourself but enjoy college life as well. I know people who literally just revised and was constantly doing work, but that just tires people and someone tired and just always doing work can become demotivated.

I did my work that I needed, I still went to McDonald’s during one of my free periods each week and sat and spoke to friends throughout also. We’re all different but this just helped me relax and keep on track of being happy whilst at college also.

Things turned out okay in year 13 though, yes the work does tend to wrack up, but if your teachers have kept on task 🤞 there’s loads of time to go back over stuff in lessons, and I always felt that sometimes year 13 is a nice wrap of everything and makes it make more sense. You do loads of practice papers, and that’s all I can really recommend to do sometimes as it helps!

At the end of it though I did reach my B in business, and I somehow did get my C in maths (a whole 3-4 grade difference!!). Apologies for such a long message, but know that it is possible for you to achieve in year 13, but there’s that element of belief and keeping care that improves you also!

Hi Glen,

What course are you thinking of taking in Bristol? That's awesome! It must be tight taking 4 A Levels. Biology & Chemistry are by far my favourite.

Genuinely I feel like I learn all the content - however my exam technique is just letting me down. I don't feel like a D grade student. My handwriting and the structuring of my answers is just ****. Geography on the other hand, I hate the way it's taught & also I did not sign up for 20 mark essays. I feel like I had potential of getting a C with the revision that I have done. It's just that my handwriting slows down my ability to write essays. I often lose track of time and my writing then becomes virtually illegible & unorganised.

I just need to convince my teachers to boost my predicted grades up and ace my personal statement, then I have somewhat of a chance of getting accepted by Bristol.

Thanks for the reply, Maksym.

Dw about it. When i went into year 12 i spent the whole year struggling with mental issues and i generally, at one point, thought about just dropping out. My grades were low in every mock i had. However towards the end of year 12, because i fear failure so much, i started to revise like crazy and did the same throughout year 13 and came out with A* A* A when in year 12 i was getting C/B for everything.

It will feel impossible right now to recover and succeed but find something that motivates you (for me it was my never ending fear of failure) and it should help you. This probably doesn't help but oh well

I'm thinking of taking Law, I didn't get into Bristol's summer school program but I ended up going to the University of Essex's instead.

It was tight taking 4, but ever since I dropped Biology I've had more free periods (although I can't say that I'm utilising them well )
My school is very unorganised, so I don't think the teachers even know what they're doing with the predicted grades, but mine have
definitely slipped after the past exams, hopefully I can get them up to an AAB without too much convincing and that should be fine
since my school is 'below average' and Bristol does conditional offers at around those grades. For me, exam technique is also the issue
as well as poor/weird teaching, I find myself losing easy marks because I don't include simple things which is holding me back Plus,
my Philosophy and Politics teachers are sub-par. Pair that with my lack of motivation and you get a disastrous mix lol.

Thank you for your reply, I wasn't actually expecting any replies!

Also congratulations on your results! It feels motivating to find someone who experienced the same, hopefully Y13 treats me the same as it treated you. Perhaps there is some hope. My initial plan was to just dive into intense revision & scrap my social life. However after viewing things more realistically I just need to push through, stay motivated & balanced between work & happiness.

You are completely right, my friends and I also have a similar tradition, we go Subway to use our student discount every Thursday (Subway Thursday) ahah

My main concern is, whether a Russell Group Uni such as Bristol will give me an offer. After the Y12 mocks & not currently having an English GCSE - maybe retaking Y12/Y13 makes more sense? As well as not having any work experience. I couldn't get hold of anything this summer. I doubt i'd be able to go on any research related placements so close to my applications being sent off.

Anyway, sorry for the long reply ahaha!

Got to love going out for food once a week haha. Sadly I can’t really say about Russel group universities as I applied to Southampton, but my maths wasn’t high enough, but I knew that after gcse really as I was never strong with it and they kept raising the grades ugh haha.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the work experience, some areas of work are really hard to get. I never had any work experience since year 10, but I barely spoke about it in my personal statement, and I still managed to get 2 unconditionals in other universities. I’d recommend if you can to do an EPQ, as some universities honour it by lowering grades, but failing that speaking about it is often really good as it showed research and also determination. It doesn’t take too too long to do. We only had 1 lesson a week and then I spent probably like an extra 2 hours on top of that? I got an A for my project which if I had my maths grade for Southampton would have lowered my entry grade to A*AB.

How do you get unconditionals' & what are the chances? What unis' should I look out for to get an unconditional? My stepbrother went to Solent in Southampton which is the Btec Uni compared to the Uni of Southampton aha. But he said he enjoyed it - unfortunately it doesn't do biological sciences from what I read.

I'm glad unis don't mind about not having work experience. Anyhow I'd still like to get some out of pure interest lol. Too late for me to do an EPQ as I'm entering Y13. They only chose a limited amount of students to complete an EPQ last year. (Around 20 I think / out off 150 pupils in Y12)

Unconditional offers are quite common now honestly. It’s just when a university likes your application enough. They’re bound by conditions though, like with mine I had to make it my firm choice for it to be unconditional. I’m not sure the chances of Russel groups with unconditionals honestly, I would imagine it’s quite hard though.

Work experience would be cool though, helps a lot with helping decide what you would like to do. Shame about the EPQ though :/ otherwise generally clubs etc also. I put about how I did robotics in yea

yes, I didn't see the point of clubs in Y12 but this year II'm fulling throwing myself in. Especially that its my last year - it'd be nice to get closer to people lol.

Hi.
If it makes you feel any better, I’ve just finished A Levels. In my mocks, (4 weeks before actual exams) I got a D in English Literature, D! C in geography and a C in psychology. Honestly I’ve never cried so much with panic. It made me work super hard for the next 4 weeks. I thought I was doomed. I ended up getting an A in geography (5marks off an A*, waiting for remark), a B in psychology (also waiting for a remark) and a B in English. So I went from CCD to ABB in the space of 4 weeks + exam period. If I’ve managed these grade jumps in 4 weeks, imagine what you can achieve in 9 months. Don’t give up, and use your AS/mock grades as a kick up the arse to work harder. It worked for me. Good luck!!

Yes! You go! It’s also quite a nice reset switch sometimes. First year I did basketball, very out of my comfort range, but it was something very different to my studies and helps relax you.

I think being relaxed is overlooked when it comes to exams. They’re right by saying some stress is a good thing, but everyone needs that switch to lower the bad stress and reset sometimes

ahahaha thank you! positive vibes & open mindedness

Exactly! And don’t forget the grades given to universities are often discussed with your teachers and not just your mock grades or anything. My UCAS said a C in maths when I’d never even got higher than a D in any test I did. Have a discussion with your teachers

Planning on it, thank you!