Is it too late to change my mind about going to sixth form?

I've just finished year eleven and, with it, my GCSE courses. From November 2019 through to around early this month (July 2020), I was adamant that I wanted to go to Sixth Form - in the same school I'd attended since year seven. However, I'm beginning to have second thoughts.

I chose to study A-Level Art, English Literature and Sociology. This wouldn't have been a problem, as I'm predicted a high passing grade in art, and grade nines in both Language and Literature. But I've been beginning to seriously consider the shift from GCSEs to A-Levels, and I don't think I'll be able to cope with it. I now want to take an apprenticeship, but I'm afraid that it's too late to do anything about it now.

I struggle with severe mental health issues and hardly coped with the workload for my GCSE courses: I don't know if I'll be able to keep up at *all* with my A-Level courses, regardless of how I performed overall in Key Stage four. Secondary school was Hell for me, and I don't think I could see myself living for much longer under two more years of intensive studies and stress.

Please help! I want to do an apprenticeship in textiles or something of the sort, but I'm terrified that I've screwed myself for choices in the panic to keep up with my school work and not seriously thinking about what would be best for me.

Unfortunately, it may be difficult to find an apprenticeship at the moment. I know a lot of students who have had apprenticeship offers withdrawn due to the pandemic. There's no harm in looking, though, and continuing to look throughout the year.

However, I would be wary of characterising an apprenticeship as low stress or necessarily a good environment for your mental health. School is tough, but they can cut you a lot of slack in relation to mental health, for example you could do A-levels over 3 years if you struggle in Y12, or you could maybe drop a subject if things get too much. An apprenticeship is basically a work environment, and whilst they will try to help/support you, it's likely they will have policies around absence and work performance etc which may make things difficult for you.

I think the most important thing is accessing some mental health support- are you doing this at the moment? Are you able to?

I'm unable to get genuine support for mental health aside from the school's run of the mill "counselling" that almost always leaves you feeling worse. I would like to, but as things stand right now with my family's insistence that nothing is wrong with me and the pandemic, it would be hard to do so.