Help english literature

Hello, I'm in year 11 and I'm trying to revise english right now. I've been really good at english for ages and I consistently got 9s in english mocks from year 7-9, but recently I've been getting low 8's and 7's. My goal for GCSE is all 9's and I find it doable for most subjects but I just can't hack english anymore. For language it's just a matter of time management and I can do it pretty easily, but literature is where I've been suffering. I tried paper 2 just now (Jekyll + Hyde, poetry, 2hr15) and I could not get past maximum 15 mins without stopping the timer and sitting there crying. Doing long past papers like this is the only way I can productively revise since I know my quotes and themes and everything, my only thing to work on is time management and stamina but I just mentally can't. I've talked to my teachers god knows how many times and they tell me to "take a break, I'm just burnt out" but I have and nothing's changed. I feel so stuck, all of my other subjects are maths-based and I can get through 3-4 hours straight of them like no problem but I cannot sit and write an essay. I'm convinced my brain only thinks in numbers and not in words because no topic in the sciences or maths, even in French, has made me feel this way. I cannot write for over 5 minutes in English without getting nauseous or a headache, I've been focusing on reversing my burnout and resting all half term. Help.

Hi Shayla
7s and 8s are amazing, and that's at your WORST! So take a deep breath, all it goes to show is the high standards you have set for yourself, and the higher the standard the better you are likely to achieve but it does not always necessarily mean we hit our standards. Me personally I always set my goals really high and I do Mechanical Engineering, so often I don't actually hit my grade targets but I am never far off because I was aiming high! So your high standards are a good thing, just don't let it control you, its not a life or death situation! Although this still means you should aim high as i said. Try switch up the long 2hr paper revision method as that may only be making your progress worse. As you strive in Maths and sciences (so do I) try treating English as a sort of puzzle that you need to solve step by step rather than a big 2hr essay ahead of you. Perhaps ditch the 2hr timer for a bit, and try smaller time frames of work such as 15 mins of 1 high quality paragraph or 30 mins for 2. Even once you have started the timer, as hard as it is, try ignore it and focus on the quality of your paragraph and then stop writing wherever you are once the timer goes off and assess your work. The quality should be there, but perhaps not the quantity, so read over what you did and analyse where you can save writing time so you could go for that little bit longer.
Its great to aim for 9s and you should keep aiming for them, but just remember 8 or even 7 will not stop you from doing almost anything in further education, so take that pressure of yourself as you might just perform even better without stressing about it! 🙂
Jad, LJMU Rep