a level motivation and grades advice

ok so im an international student in the uk doing a lvls in yr 13 who takes regrettingly English lit, history, and psychology.
mocks are coming up soon and i completed my first one for ocr English, The Tempest and got a solid grade A on which im happy with but atm im currently sat at a consistent C in history despite being predicted an A
I’ve constantly been getting 12-13/20 throughout year 12 and now, and even with a tutor who provides me with structures, better understanding and I do practice essays with tells me im at a high band of a B/A.
i believe my school has incredibly harsh markers and is ran by pure favouritism, and I’ve found this year to be heavily demoralising.
I study 17-22hrs a week outside of school yet I feel I get no where, and im very anxious for my exams and mocks and failing. Does anyone have any advice on how to keep going mentally, not be disheartened, and to just simply keep pushing? I’m telling myself it’s worth it as I’ve got an offer from my dream university which needs 3 a lvls between A*-C so as long as I pass, but even still it’s highly pressuring.
please can someone give advice on how to just mentally keep going when I hate all of my subjects for the next 6 months and biggest tips for history revision? I do active recall, essay plans, and mind maps yet im failing.

Hey @thatblondee , thank you so much for sharing. And I am hoping I will be able to help you out. Your situation makes a lot of sense. I will split this into two: mental and practical advice 🙂
A few important things to ground you:

I would definitely say, from what you have shared, your perception of failure is louder than the evidence!
In my experience, I would say History marking is subjective, often harsher in schools than in real exams, frequently used as "motivation" which sounds horrible but common.
So the fact that your tutor says high B/A band but the school keeps you at a C strongly suggests that internal marking is not equivalent to exam reality.
When I revise but do not see grade movement, I start associating my effort to be equal to failure when that is not the case at all. And it sounds like you do the same thing.
I did History too and I would say, History requires specific exam behaviour and not just knowledge hence feeling stuck.
History is definitely more about judgement, comparison, precise use of evidence and answering exactly what the question wants. Back when I struggled I realised my mistake was that I did explain well, I just did not argue sharply enough which can be a hinderance.

This is what usually helps me during these stressful times:

As an international student myself, I completely understand the pressure. However, nothing you have said suggests that you are incapable of success. You have absolutely got this 🙂
Ru
BCU student rep.