Im struggling in A levels

I started year 12 this year in a new school and was shocked with the workload. I didn’t actually have that much set work but I was struggling in my subjects, especially maths. In year 11 I was doing really well in maths and was always top of the class getting full marks. However, I was never moved up a set and remained in a middle set where I wasn’t taught everything. I learnt this this year as most of my peers had been In top sets for gcse.

I thought this was just an adjustment phase, but it’s never ending. Today I have just received a maths test result of 38%. I didn’t think I did well but I thought I’d be around 60%.

Basically what I’m saying is ever since I’ve started my a levels I’ve felt so depressed. I hate school with a passion. I hate all the revising and the limited free time. I wish I was back in year 9 with no worry in the world. I have no motivation to continue my studies and I feel like I’ll be stuck wishing for Fridays for the rest of my life.

Is anyone else feeling like this?

Reply 1

Maisielytical

Original post by ASAV21

Don't worry. I promise you, You are not the only one who is feeling like this. I have been to two high schools in the last 5 years and hated them so decided it was time for a new start and started at yet another new school this year for yr12. I must admit, I am struggling in almost every subject of the four that I picked (thinking it would be a good idea). In yr 11, I was really good at them but was in middle set as well only having done double science. I get to 6th form and everyone in chemistry has done triple science and was in top set. I have failed all but one of my assessments up until now but I will not give up!
I feel exactly like you although I wish that I had a care free yr9. School brings me massive anxiety and it has never been my scene. i would much rather be sleeping and watching netflix than doing work but I do what I have to do to stay well afloat so that I have no chance of drowning.
If you ever want to talk or want someone to help 'motivate you, just message me :smile:

Reply 2

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

I've been through something similar when I transitioned from GCSE to A Level. At GCSE I was achiveing the top grades, and I was essentially second in the entire year. By the time I reached A Level, I hit a slump.

The lessons I would recommend looking over yourself:

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The way A Level is tested is very different from GCSE - it's usually about getting the right answer and doing things correctly as opposed to knowing what you do. You're no longer learning for the sake of knowledge, you're learning to be correct, getting the marks, giving the answer the way the examiner wants it, interpret the questions the way the examiner wants you to interpret them, and that requires you to learn differently. Try to do as many practice questions (and past papers) as you can, look at where you went wrong, and redo those questions you need to redo. If you're not aiming for 100% of the marks, you're leaving yourself short.

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The way they compile your final grade is very different from GCSE - it's not how well you do overall, but where you should be banking your marks. It's like a game of the Weakest Link where you're trying to strategise and manage where you should be maximising your efforts to get the best score you can

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Learn from people with higher grades - more often than not, if you're not achieving the higher grades, it's usually because of your approach than what you know. Learning how other people get higher grades will open your mind a lot more and figure out what you need to do.

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Learn from the best teachers you can find - I've changed teachers from when I was getting the best scores in GCSE to average ones, just because of the different approaches between teachers. They're not bad teachers by any stretch of the imagination, but to get the top grades, you need the best teaching you can get. If this means you go to their classes during your free periods, do so (I have a friend who did this and he ended up with a higher grade).

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Maths is also a subject where you can only get good through practice - your memorisation skills would mean next to nothing here. You need to recognise and learn to apply your mathematical knowledge in a variety of contexts, or contexts where you need to think differently. The more you practice, the easier it will get

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Make sure you're going with a good exam board - one of the thing that really got me was how different one exam board is from another, despite the fact they're examining you on essentially the same material. Their approach to marking is incredibly different, so you need to take heed of how they mark answers (some are a lot more stingy than others). It was definitely a factor when it came to the difference in grades. If you can't change the exam board, try to recognise the way they mark their papers.

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If you came out knowing all the material very well, you can achieve a high B, but to get the As and A*s, you need to answer the questions the way the examiner wants it. It could mean the difference between a 38% and a 60%.

I think I came across someone who was in the middle set in maths for GCSE, but he ended up getting an A at A Level just because he approached things differently. He was smart by any measure, but he never got the recognition that he deserved during GCSE. You're not alone in this case, and he probably struggled the same way as you do now.

I think the main thing you need to recognise is the way the system works. It was never really that much about your intelligence as much as whether your answer conforms to what they are looking for. The sooner you are able to understand what people are looking for, the sooner you are able to progress through your slump, and you don't want to stay in your slump for too long anyway (it's not healthy).

If you need to, look at YouTube videos made by people who managed to achive the A/A*s at A Level Maths. The advice they give can be inspiring, but it's likely nothing you haven't heard of before. For most of us, it's about applying the advice we were already given.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 3

ASAV21

Thanks that actually makes loads of sense. I guess all I can do is apply it now. One thing I am struggling with is past papers. In gcse all of the practice was well organised. Now teachers are giving me links to all sorts of different websites to practice maths. I’m having a hard time working some stuff out due to the lack of organisation of material. It’s really difficult to find a website that offers good questions and a mark scheme to check my answers. Do you have any recommendations of things I can do for this?

Also talking about staying in the slump too long, this is what’s actually stressing me out. I’ve worked so much to get better marks because I know these smaller tests are important for uni applications. It has worked a bit as my grades are a bit higher than at the start of the year but it’s all come back down with the most recent test. I’m just worried about university applications really.

Reply 4

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by ASAV21

Yeah A Level is a bit of a bashing with material. Expect that at uni as well. They will be less focused on quality and organisation, and more about telling you what material you need. Welcome to the world of independent learning. This is where the spoon feeding stops.

I'd check the material that's most relevant for your exam board. I didn't have the same resources when I was doing my A Levels the first time round. There are a list of recommended exam resources such as examsolutions.net and physicsandmathstutor.com. However, I'd go for the material your teacher gave you. If you want further material (and it's recommended that you should), ask your teacher specifically, as there may be things that are specific to your exam board. Having said that, download all the past papers, specimen papers, and mark schemes for your exam board on the exam board's website where possible - you should go through all exam papers under timed conditions.

Yeah, I particularly hated the slump because it can hamper your performance a lot during tests for no good reason. Mental health is important during A Levels, and they can be some of the most stressful periods of your academic life. One thing I particularly hate is that if you receive a bad grade in one paper, it could set you an unnecessarily low expectation for the next, creating a chain of underperforming grades. I can tell you now, how A Level works is more like a rollercoaster. In one exam paper (not related to maths), I go a U in my first sitting (I think the score was in the low 30s), the resit I did for the same paper, I ended up with 96% (4 marks away from full marks). Your prior grades and performance mean nothing in the A Level arena; it's all about how you perform on the day. If you let your prior biases and expectations affect your performance, you are really selling yourself short.

Again, it's not just about how hard you work as opposed to how smart you also work. If your approach is making minor improvements, consider looking at a different strategy/approach and see what works best for you. The grades you got now are not set in stone. It will depend on how much you are willing to go through to change it.
I can't really comment on the university applications, but if you need to resit a year at A Level/take a gap year, do it. I have a friend who resat one year at A Level and he ended up going to a university he wanted to go to that he would otherwise not have been able to due to his grades the first time round. However, I wouldn't try to keep resitting years 3-4x though.