not a question but just to rant and ask for advice xx

hey i am in year 11 and i am feeling very,very stressed about gcses i keep on seeing others around me being able to revise everyday but i am not able to do that and it is really stressing me as gcses are coming soon. Everytime i try to revise i fail because i get overwhelmed and cry and i don't know why i just can't deal with stress like a normal person but it is affecting my daily life like i am unable to rest or relax and i go to bed late but wake up early because i am so stressed and anxious it is draining me. my stress is making me counter-productive and i am now behind in my revision and i am REALLY REALLY scared that i am going to fail all my exams and disappoint my family and everyone around me and i feel so alone and depressed all the time, which makes me contemplate life sometimes. any advice?

Firstly, try not to focus on others and just focus on yourself. Take a deep breath. I highly suggest going for a walk or getting some exercise in, but do whatever will help you relax and de-stress. Then next time when you come to sit at your desk, just take things one at a time. Try to understand that whilst GCSEs are important, they aren't going to be the defining moment of your life or anything like that, regardless of whether they go badly or go very well, so all you can do right now is to revise the best you can with the time you have available. As far as practical advice goes with what to do going forwards:

First make a list of all of your GCSE subjects and group them into one's you are a bit more confident about and enjoy, and others that you don't like so much. For now just focus on the one's you enjoy to get an idea of the level you're working at, and to show yourself that you can achieve good scores. At this stage in the exam season, I think working on past papers would really be the best thing for you to do, so go online for the right exam board and find past papers for each of the GCSE subjects, and make some time to just do past papers (at first untimed) and then go through the mark scheme afterwards and see how you did. As you get more confident you can start doing timed practices.

Then once you've boosted your confidence a bit with those subjects, move on to the ones that you perhaps don't enjoy so much. If any of these are English/Maths, then I would prioritise those as they're a bit more important than the others, and also prioritise Science too if you can. Do the same thing, work through past papers, and make note of any topics that you really struggle with and take some time later to revise those, so that your revision becomes more focused. Eventually you'll fill in the gaps in your knowledge and also get better at exam practice.

I'd say if you can, wake up as early as possible and do those past papers in the first half of the day - I reckon you can get about 3 - 4 done, but if you only get 1 or 2 done that's still okay. Make sure you take 30-45 min breaks in between after marking them and also go outside at least once a day. Then in the latter half of the day you can go through any things you've identified that you need to revise, and then just rinse and repeat.

It sounds like you're going through a really difficult time right now. It's important to remember that you're not alone and that many students experience stress and anxiety around exam time. It's also important to know that it's okay to not be able to revise every day or to feel overwhelmed by the pressure to perform well.

Here are some tips that might help you manage your stress and anxiety:

Prioritize self-care: Take care of yourself physically and mentally. Get enough sleep, eat well, and make time for activities that you enjoy.

Break down your revision into manageable chunks: Set small and achievable goals for each day. This can help you to feel less overwhelmed and more in control of your revision.

Award yourself after task-completion-place a chocolate or any other item of your choice,if you complete your task within a given time.

Set time for stress- before starting your studies,decide firmly to handle the stress after you study time-say half an hour.during this,think all about your fears and problems,right them down in a book/diary.then promise yourself to reply your questions or problems with a solution the next day.after writing your problems, do something productive.either go for a walk, play a physical game(football), or simply talk to a friend.

Practice relaxation techniques: Deep breathing, meditation, and yoga can all be helpful in reducing stress and anxiety.

Talk to someone: It can be helpful to talk to someone about how you're feeling. This might be a friend, family member, or a professional such as a counsellor.

Don't be too hard on yourself: Remember that it's okay to make mistakes and that your worth is not determined by your exam results. Try to focus on the effort that you're putting in rather than the outcome.

Finally, if you're feeling overwhelmed and struggling to cope, please consider speaking to a professional such as your GP or a mental health provider. They can provide you with support and guidance on managing your stress and anxiety.

thankyou for the advice i really appreciate it as i was just getting stressed because i have quite a lot of content to cover but not sure how to tackle it so i'll try this method, also for sciences i do foundation combined and i need to cover quite a bit of content so at this point, would watching summary videos on the whole topic or the whole paper, and then going over stuff i didnt understand in my revision guide be a quicker, better way of revising?

Hey, I personally think past papers are always the best tool to use especially when you're closer to the exam date, because when you find a question you don't know anything about or don't quite understand then you can make a note to look at the mark scheme + specific youtube videos for it, and then move on to trying to answer other questions. By doing that for as many past papers as you can, you'll at least get enough knowledge of the paper to perform well overall. The issue with looking at summary videos on the whole paper is that it's not active learning (i.e. you're not actively working through the questions and trying to come up with answers and drawing connections, but rather just having everything told to you) so you might feel like you're learning when really you're actually not absorbing the content that much. For that reason alone I'd always say start off with past papers and then use videos to fill in the gaps.

okay thankyou so much, because i never fully understood why people would suggest to use past papers as a way of revising but now i finally understand why so thankyou.

hey i am in year 11 and i am feeling very,very stressed about gcses i keep on seeing others around me being able to revise everyday but i am not able to do that and it is really stressing me as gcses are coming soon. Everytime i try to revise i fail because i get overwhelmed and cry and i don't know why i just can't deal with stress like a normal person but it is affecting my daily life like i am unable to rest or relax and i go to bed late but wake up early because i am so stressed and anxious it is draining me. my stress is making me counter-productive and i am now behind in my revision and i am REALLY REALLY scared that i am going to fail all my exams and disappoint my family and everyone around me and i feel so alone and depressed all the time, which makes me contemplate life sometimes. any advice?
also
thought i might add that i do care about my education and i do want to do well but my stress and anxiety has led me to be unproductive and i am just gonna disappoint everyone including myself and my friends and my teachers like i feel like this may be the end for me like there's no hope for me