I’ve had a horrible time at sixth form

It all started off when I messed up my GCSEs and had to pick subjects i didn’t really like at all. I didn’t really know what sixth form was in year 11 so didn’t see a point in doing good for them (a mentality NO ONE should adopt).

Year 12 was a real waste of a year for me, i didn’t have the will power to strive to do good nor the motivation since i despised my subjects (still do), and i had no idea what i was doing all of this for which was a massive factor, but i still carried on because i know dropping out was never a good option. Got mainly C to E grades, didn’t do much to put towards my personal statement etc. I tried talking to the teachers to explain why i just don’t think i’ll have a good time here and they said there’s nothing they could do about it and that they couldn’t let me do the subjects i missed the grade for, which made sense i guess. I also tried to retake some gcses to see if I could just firm it and retake year 12, but as it came closer to the tests i lost motivation as usual and ended up getting basically the same grades.

Now i’m mid way through year 13 and have never felt so lost. The grades have only gotten worse, i failed all my mocks, ucas deadline is so soon and I honestly have no idea what to do. Me and my friends always joke about how i went from top grades and top sets to rock bottom but the now the joke has basically become reality it’s not really funny anymore. I can’t help but compare myself to my siblings also. I have an elder and a younger sibling that both went to grammar schools, got top grades never lower than a B/7, working towards their future smoothly and I am just a mess; I couldn’t even get into a grammar skl back in year 7, i got 3 marks off the pass, hence why I was put in top sets in secondary, but even then i flunked.

It’s gotten to the point that i’ve worsened my habit of leaving things till too late, putting in the littlest effort possible even if i know the grade matters and not knowing what i want to do in the future makes me feel like i’m going to skl aimlessly. Seeing my friends in classes that i wanted to do with their overall school experience rather smooth or them saying to me my subjects are basically useless doesn’t help either.

But I feel like if i were to take a gap year id eventually just lose myself, and going straight into work would be even less ideal since i’m still so unsure, so i’m just gonna apply to uni and wait for clearing since i definitely wont get offers. How can i fix all this? As usual i’ve left everything till late again, and i know it’s personal issues i need to sort out, i just don’t know how. I’ve never been good at talking to teachers, and revising feels like the plague. Teachers for years have spoken about my great ‘potential’ but till this day i just can’t see it. Comparison is an awful enemy. Do i even have time to fix being a failure?

It all started off when I messed up my GCSEs and had to pick subjects i didn’t really like at all. I didn’t really know what sixth form was in year 11 so didn’t see a point in doing good for them (a mentality NO ONE should adopt).

Year 12 was a real waste of a year for me, i didn’t have the will power to strive to do good nor the motivation since i despised my subjects (still do), and i had no idea what i was doing all of this for which was a massive factor, but i still carried on because i know dropping out was never a good option. Got mainly C to E grades, didn’t do much to put towards my personal statement etc. I tried talking to the teachers to explain why i just don’t think i’ll have a good time here and they said there’s nothing they could do about it and that they couldn’t let me do the subjects i missed the grade for, which made sense i guess. I also tried to retake some gcses to see if I could just firm it and retake year 12, but as it came closer to the tests i lost motivation as usual and ended up getting basically the same grades.

Now i’m mid way through year 13 and have never felt so lost. The grades have only gotten worse, i failed all my mocks, ucas deadline is so soon and I honestly have no idea what to do. Me and my friends always joke about how i went from top grades and top sets to rock bottom but the now the joke has basically become reality it’s not really funny anymore. I can’t help but compare myself to my siblings also. I have an elder and a younger sibling that both went to grammar schools, got top grades never lower than a B/7, working towards their future smoothly and I am just a mess; I couldn’t even get into a grammar skl back in year 7, i got 3 marks off the pass, hence why I was put in top sets in secondary, but even then i flunked.

It’s gotten to the point that i’ve worsened my habit of leaving things till too late, putting in the littlest effort possible even if i know the grade matters and not knowing what i want to do in the future makes me feel like i’m going to skl aimlessly. Seeing my friends in classes that i wanted to do with their overall school experience rather smooth or them saying to me my subjects are basically useless doesn’t help either.

But I feel like if i were to take a gap year id eventually just lose myself, and going straight into work would be even less ideal since i’m still so unsure, so i’m just gonna apply to uni and wait for clearing since i definitely wont get offers. How can i fix all this? As usual i’ve left everything till late again, and i know it’s personal issues i need to sort out, i just don’t know how. I’ve never been good at talking to teachers, and revising feels like the plague. Teachers for years have spoken about my great ‘potential’ but till this day i just can’t see it. Comparison is an awful enemy. Do i even have time to fix being a failure?

Hey, I hope you're having a good morning.

I also struggled with education quite a lot, I hated GCSE's and stopped attending school between Years 8-10, Lockdown was a godsend for me as I realised how much my lack of care for school was affecting my grades, so I know how you feel. I also was often at the brunt of jokes about failing at education, and as much as I laughed, it did hurt. My friends were always in top sets, whereas I had always been in the bottom ones. As someone who turned their grades around in just a few months, do not think there is no time to change, but also do not think you are a failure. First of all, what subjects are you currently studying at A levels, depending on what subjects they are, I may be able to help with tutoring/advice.

Second, please do not beat yourself up over this, your Sixth form seems not to be as supportive as it should be, and no one should be made to study subjects they dislike. If you did have the choice, what subjects would you have chosen? Is there a particular thing you'd love to study at University?

Following on from my education, I got decent GCSE's, certainly not as high as my friends and some people in my school, but they were not awful! Then in Sixth Form I had a big passion for Psychology so ended up loving revising for this subject, which meant in my subjects that I didn't enjoy, I would struggle with grades a bit e.g. in music I got a D but in my other 3 subjects I had gotten A*'s in the end. There is still hope, and quite a bit of time till A levels, and if you do not come out with the best results, it is not the end of the world! My older brother got few to no GCSE's, and hasn't studied further beyond these, however through Access courses and foundation years, he will be able to study at University, maybe this is something you could look into as well as clearing.

I definitely think you'll be able to find a University you love and a course!