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Yea 12 mocks stress

My mocks are coming up next week and I haven’t done nearly enough revision and it’s making me feel sick. I’m so scared 😭 I do maths, geography and economics. I have only revised for pure maths and micro economics, and I haven’t done any geography. I’m so scared because in economics I got a D last time :frown: does anyone have any tips? Should I just spam past papers at this point? I know I should have revised over Easter but sixth form feels so draining and my last tests were so bad I felt so demotivated. I’m so scared of what my parents are going to say if my UCAS predicted are bad, because they want me to get into a good uni but the courses I’m looking at all want A*AA. Is there anything I can do at this point to save my grades? Any help would be appreciated :frown:

Reply 1

Do your best in the time available.
Apply excellent exam technique. Not too long on 1 question. Answer the question, not what you'd like the question to be asking. For essay type questions write lots of little bits about different things, instead of a lot on one or two things (it's how marking schemes work).

Aim to get a good night's sleep before exams. Get into the habit of going to bed at a certain time and getting up at a certain time a week before exams.

Last minute and night before revision is the most helpful, due to how our memory works. Short term vs long term memory.

Fidget in your exam chair. Keep that blood flowing to your brain and writing hand.

Treat it as if you're playing a complex board-game. You're playing to win, but if you lose it's not the end of the world. This should help give you the mentality of positivity and enthusiasm whilst damping down the nerves.

A far far better goal to have than getting A*AA is to be earning more money by the time you're 25 than your parents and secondary school teachers. And to be earning it by doing something that you don't hate.
There's plenty of ways you can do that without a single A level and without a degree.

Let your parents say whatever they want to say. Live for your own approval, not theirs.

At the end of this academic term, turn your attention to your Plan B. That of how you can have a great life without academic qualifications. And start embarking on your Plan B. Then, in September you can go back to your academic Plan A if you want. Or have Plan A and B going in parallel at the same time.

Don't be like a typical teenager that only has a Plan A. Because they're ill advised and lack the experience to realise that Plan A is a pretty sucky plan.

Reply 2

Original post
by Dunnig Kruger
Do your best in the time available.
Apply excellent exam technique. Not too long on 1 question. Answer the question, not what you'd like the question to be asking. For essay type questions write lots of little bits about different things, instead of a lot on one or two things (it's how marking schemes work).
Aim to get a good night's sleep before exams. Get into the habit of going to bed at a certain time and getting up at a certain time a week before exams.
Last minute and night before revision is the most helpful, due to how our memory works. Short term vs long term memory.
Fidget in your exam chair. Keep that blood flowing to your brain and writing hand.
Treat it as if you're playing a complex board-game. You're playing to win, but if you lose it's not the end of the world. This should help give you the mentality of positivity and enthusiasm whilst damping down the nerves.
A far far better goal to have than getting A*AA is to be earning more money by the time you're 25 than your parents and secondary school teachers. And to be earning it by doing something that you don't hate.
There's plenty of ways you can do that without a single A level and without a degree.
Let your parents say whatever they want to say. Live for your own approval, not theirs.
At the end of this academic term, turn your attention to your Plan B. That of how you can have a great life without academic qualifications. And start embarking on your Plan B. Then, in September you can go back to your academic Plan A if you want. Or have Plan A and B going in parallel at the same time.
Don't be like a typical teenager that only has a Plan A. Because they're ill advised and lack the experience to realise that Plan A is a pretty sucky plan.

At the end of your message, what do you mean by plan A and B?
I'm also in year 12 and in the same situation as the OP

Reply 3

Plans A and B are partially explained by the 2nd last paragraph of my previous post. And the 4th last.

Most year 12 pupils have a Plan A of getting the best A levels they can, then going to University. With them aiming to go to the most prestigious university they can for their predicted and actual A level grades.
With them having a certain preference for what course they will study, or what general course area they will study.
It's Plan A for Academic.

Plan B for Better.
It's better but very few year 12 pupils will realise that it's better. And it's a "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink" type of plan.
There's loads of different flavours of Plan B. And the best Plan B for any particular teenager will depend on that particular person.
Plan B works best when someone has a chip on their shoulder, or a lot of determination, or they're doers more than they're thinkers, or when they have great mentorship that they follow, or a great support and advice network, or they're "misfits", or people that don't follow the crowd and do their own stuff instead.
A good way to come up with a plan B is to reverse engineer it from the ideal goal of wanting to earn more than your parents and teachers by the time you're 25. And to work backwards from there in terms of what would you have to do to make that happen. What seems like the best route for you to earn £100,000 per year (or whatever the figure is)? And for that route to involve you doing something workwise that you're happy enough to do.

Having a Plan B, and maybe a Plan C, D, E, F etc is a superb thing to have as a 6th form student. Because it takes away so much of the stress and pressure of Plan A.
And because working on your Plan B is likely to result in significant personal development for you, as a person.

Going to university is not required in order to have a great life.
Passing A levels is not required in order to square away the money earning side of your life by the time you're 25.

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