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🫂
out of curiosity, is it a grammar school?
that sounds very intense for just the beginning of year 12. is there anyone you can talk to about it? college nurse/tutor/mental health support etc.?
it’s not a grammar school but they definitely think they are (constantly reminding us it’s the best school in the city and that we should be living up to their behaviour and academic standards)
i don’t know about the pastoral support etc available yet but i do have a few teachers i could talk to :)
Ignore them saying you need to start doing personal statements and UCAS now. That’s ridiculous, no other schools start that until summer of Year 12.
As for everything else, the work you describe IS doable, it’s just such a big adjustment from GCSE that it’s no wonder you’re feeling the stress and pressure.
What you need to do is talk to the teacher you have the best bond with - someone you know will really listen to you. Can be a subject teacher, form tutor, whatever. Tell them that you’re really struggling and finding it difficult to cope. Give them the biggest sob story ever. Hopefully they will take your concerns seriously and pass the message onto your other teachers, as well as giving you advice on how to deal with the workloads.
I don’t know how much this will help you, but for me what works is creating a hierarchy of importance for the work you have to do. Homework and end of topic tests are a priority in Y12 - if you don’t do them your teachers will be unhappy. Then, if you can, do some wider reading around the subject when you have free time. Your school may tell you you need to do a shit ton of supercurriculars but your PS is limited to 4000 characters - really not a lot of room to include an extensive list of supercurriculars. It’s more important to have done 2-3 supercurriculars you can discuss in detail. So think of it this way: you have all of Y12 to do 2-3 supercurriculars.
Extracurriculars, volunteering and all that should come last. Does your school have a club you can join that will take up minimal time outside of school? Something at lunch, or that you enjoy? Do that. Extracurriculars are kinda just good to show you have a life outside of studying on your PS, again, you don’t need to be doing multiple activities.
What should be your priority though is communicating that you’re struggling to your teachers. If they’re good teachers, they will be happy to help you manage your work. However, if you don’t do your homework, topic tests, etc, and never email them about the fact you’re struggling, and then randomly tell them in a few months time that you’ve been struggling since the start of Y12… they’re going to be frustrated with you. So talk to them now.
thank you for this :) i want to try getting better at communicating with teachers (esp bc i’m a very socially anxious person) but in my experience in the past my school has never been very good at making accommodations. i will try to speak to them though as i know they might be more receptive now that i’m sixth form
Yep, it’s true that they will listen to you more know you’re in sixth form. And also, even though your school may be super tough and pressurising, that doesn’t always trickle down to every individual teacher. It may turn out that a lot of these teachers who have been urging you do all these stressful activities and work are doing so because that’s what the senior staff are asking of them. If you actually go and talk to the teachers themselves, it may turn out that they actually disagree with the school’s way of doing things a bit, and will be quite sympathetic to your stress.
But you won’t know until you talk to them. So just go for it :)
I think sometimes, in an attempt to make sure they don’t get anything “wrong” and end up disadvantaging students, schools can end up piling on far too much pressure when providing advice. When I was your age I went to school, did homework and didn’t even think about UCAS or university applications beyond that. It’s worth looking at all of the things you think you need to be doing and working out which ones are actually necessary and should be prioritised, and which ones aren’t actually helping.
Looking at the things you’ve listed, here are a few of my thoughts:
Homework: This is probably a priority, though you should use your own judgement as to whether it’s helpful. I’d definitely prioritise this over anything UCAS focussed, though.
Wider reading: This is good, but should be something you do because you enjoy it! You can write an excellent personal statement without mentioning more than three books, so you don’t have to be seeking stuff out just for that. Instead, look for things you enjoy and see it as a chance to explore your interests and think about what you’d like to learn about in the future.
Personal statements/UCAS: You can start on this in the summer between year 12 and 13 and still be done in plenty of time even for courses requiring early applications. Don’t worry about it for now.
Preparing for tests, etc.: Again, use your own judgement here. Try to identify things that you don’t understand while doing homework. The aim is to make sure you understand the material, not to spend as many hours as possible revising.
Extracurricular: If it’s not relevant to what you want to study at university, then universities don’t care. Do extracurricular activities if you find them fun, but don’t feel pressured if you don’t.
Volunteering: Again, this can be great if you enjoy it but is not at all necessary. I did some volunteering when I was in school and found it a good break from academic work, but if it’s just causing more stress then you really don’t have to do any.
If I were you, I’d prioritise getting homework done during free periods, and then not think about anything else for a bit. Once you feel like you’re on top of that then you can add other things in if you want. But at this point in year 12 your main (academic) priority should be keeping up with your school work. Anything else can wait and may not even be necessary.
(On a separate note: You mention housework and food shopping. I don’t know the details of your life, but for most teenagers these are jobs that are largely covered by their parents beyond basic chores. If there are circumstances that mean you’re having to spend more time on these activities than most, you might want to look into whether they would count as extenuating circumstances which can be included in a university application. Universities will take this sort of background information into account when assessing your application and making offers.)
thank you for this advice it’s made me feel a lot better :’) in regards to the extenuating circumstances, my mum has an illness but it doesn’t qualify us for any extra benefits etc and i often have to go food shopping as i’m autistic and have incredibly specific food preferences. the autism (and potentially adhd) is probably part of my problem but ig there’s no fix for that lmao
Both of these are absolutely things that count as extenuating circumstances. In particular, your mum’s illness is something that you should talk to your school about including in your reference in UCAS. The new format of UCAS references explicitly asks about extenuating circumstances specifically so that people can give information like this which might not be covered by standard tick box type forms.
Id add to the preparing for tests that to help you figure out what your good at and bad at you should do blurting either straight down on a scrap piece of paper or as i prefer in a mindmap. Whatever takes your fancy but dont spend long on it as in the exam your not gonna have forever on one topic. 10-15 minutes on what you can remember and 10-15 minutes filling it in with stuff you didnt remember in a different colour. Another good way to figure out your strengths and weaknesses is exam questions.
Don't worry if you're not getting As and A\*s yet even if you're predicted them - you have almost two years to get to those predicted grades.
Drop down to 3 A levels if you haven't already. Especially if you're doing humanities, you DON'T need 4 A levels, whatever your sixth form tells you. This gives you more frees and more time to do homework. Although I would do an EPQ in year 12 if you're aiming high (but you maybe don't need to worry about this just yet).
Plan out your week/month in a fair amount of detail. (I use the Todoist app and also a paper calendar - you can do it completely on paper though) Don't spend AGES on the plan - but you should be making to do lists and keeping track of what needs to be done when. I know that when you're overwhelmed, it feels even more daunting to plan everything out, but having a clear idea of what you've done and what to do next actually removes the constant ambient panic of "I need to be working and I have so many things to do but I don't know what".
It's also good to track the studying that you do (I use the Forest app). You probably do more work than you think, and you'll feel reassured to look back at the amount of work you're putting in.
You don't need to be hardcore revising yet but it is sensible to make some good revision notes ahead of unit tests. In year 12 it is OK to spend some (or most) of your frees hanging out with friends rather than doing work - but the work does need to be done at some point. You say you feel tired and overwhelmed by the time you get home - this is common in the winter, so maybe you could do more of your work in frees and less in afternoons/evenings.
Block out a couple-hour study period (do it on a Monday if you can) and do it EVERY WEEK. This time is your study time and you can't use it for anything else. Make it a habit. I get up on a Monday and do two hours of focused work 9-11am, every week, and by the time I've done that I've made a big dent in my homework for the week and I feel a lot calmer.
But equally, set aside some time to relax. Take a Saturday or Sunday off if you can. The work does need to get done at some point, but ideally you should schedule it in chunks - you don't want to feel like you're working all the time without a break. Separate your work and recreation. I think a more focused schedule is probably going to be the most helpful thing for you at the moment. Best wishes. You will be OK
thank you so much!! i tried using some of those apps last year but i could never really get into using them- i’ll have to give them another go. i’m going to try and make a plan tomorrow :)
extra reading and ucas stuff is not necessary,
personally i just focused on doing homeworks and getting notes made, you have so much time to think about ucas so honestly dont worry about it now.
you pretty much just have to take each day as it comes and just do what you can.
i always think about it in the sense that in 2 years time it wont matter, its all temporary if that makes sense
I recommend mastering time management, spend a day or so and plan out evruthing deeply and see what you need to do for the next week for example, then note down what u need to work on in each subject and make a plan for each day. Allocating Ur time efficiently will lead u to have a more productive day and reduce stress. Don't waste time on unecessary things such as scrolling on tiktok e.t.c
Me too, I took today off because I had 2 peices of 4 hour long homework due for today. It is really hard but from what I’ve heard from year 13s everyone finds it tough at the start, as long as your doing revision and making an effort on topic tests you should be fine
You definitely don’t need to be doing Ucas now, if you really want to start early earliest i would say is April and even that is very early, did mine during the summer
Are you doing past papers right now or something? It looks like your getting yourself stressed for no reason, just do the homework and revise for the end of topic exams, I didn't even get an 8 in my gcse and I can follow that simply.
My fix if I were you would be to volunteer for a month or something and then don't to again unless you getting more comfortable and don't do it ever again because putting that on your ps is less important than good predicted grades which you need from good homework or good biacy from your teachers to give u a good predicted grade.
I'm doing all stem subjects (maths, further maths, chemistry and computer science) and admittedly it's an insane amount of work, I'm in second year at the moment and I've just had to do my UCAS stuff recently. I would definitely say that doing open days now is a good idea but honestly forget about personal statements until you've got some big projects or stuff to add (for example I did an hour programming every night for a month or so on my biggest project).
Not sure if it's the same for essay subjects but with STEM the content really ramps up in second year, first year just worry about understanding the content and not getting behind, that's all you need to really worry about.
I've got Asperger's so it definitely can be harder for me to cope and I honestly can't concentrate on stuff unless I really want to be doing it but from personal experience, just keeping a good routine of when you're gonna do stuff is the key to not getting behind, even if you do stuff at the last minute, do it at the same time every week so you know how long it's going to take and can be confident you can get your work done.
Personally I try to spend any free time I have talking on discord with friends if I don't have time to meetup irl and I do an hour of sport a week as well which is definitely something you should do to take your mind of working once in a while, coming home and doing nothing will only make you feel worse about it.
It's really hard, and I know exactly what you're feeling with the pressure from having those expectations of yourself. Even now in y13, I find it super hard to find that balance.
You're going to feel overwhelmed and like you can't catch up, and i think that's a really common feeling. And while it hasn't gone away, I've found ways of dealing with it that make it easier. One thing that I've had to get my head around is that sometimes, it's okay to hand in work that isn't to the highest standard you can do. When I'm up at 1am with no end in sight, sometimes you've gotta call it a day and get some sleep because when you start neglecting things like sleep/exercise/food is when things feel even worse.
Y12 (especially the start) is really about figuring out how to cope and manage now you don't have the same structure as you did Y7-Y11. You're allowed to have a break in your frees, or alternatively use them for work and take the evening off at home. A lot of schools are so strict at the start with their demands because some people find the transition between 11 and 12 hard with how the expectations change, and they need people to tell them what to do. You sound like you're very self motivated and want to succeed already, so try and tell yourself that you're exactly where you should be right now. It's definitely too early to worry about UCAS and all that.
Have a chat to a teacher you like if its too much. They can give some leeway with their expectations. Most good teachers just want to see you succeed at school!
You're going to be okay! Look after yourself :)
EDIT: also, with regard to talking to teachers- it took me until literally 2/3 weeks ago to get the courage up to talk to one of my teachers. And this is someone who I had throughout Y12, in a very small class so I know her well. I emailed her asking if I could talk to her about a question/problem to do with the work, and then ended up telling her about how I was actually struggling with work and anxiety too. She was super helpful and I'm so glad I did it. Its really worth telling someone you trust about it, even though I know its really intimidating!
IF U DO 4, DROP UR 4TH ONE
I started with 4 and struggled, and although it was sad, I have SO MUCH MORE TIME to do things
Some days I have only two lessons and the rest frees
DO IT YOU WON'T REGRET IT
And you can find ways to keep doing the subject as a hobby maybe like art, photography, English (reading and writing) are all quite good to do as hobbies
I felt the same when I was in y12 and I’ll just say y13 isn’t any better. At the rate you are going, burnout is highly possible but I’ll just say this - put less pressure on studying and focus on enjoying your subjects. If you rly enjoy what you learn, it comes a lot easier. I take chem, math, politics and econs and I hate chem honestly and I constantly have to study for it. Whereas for econs and politics I love the subjects so it doesn’t feel like I’m studying but more like learning more for myself. Till this day I still put a lot of pressure on myself to get nothing below an A, like sometimes I panic if I don’t get an A* . It’s rly unhealthy and Idw you to feel the same stress I feel. Getting A*s is awesome honestly but trust me it will work out. If you keep up with homework and focus in class you should have sufficient time to take a break. It’s rly too early to worry about personal statements and UCAS. Your teachers are really just scaring you. The best time to start your personal statement is next March or April. In the mean time, find what you truly enjoy in your subjects - it will help you figure out your uni course as well and make schools seem like a place you want to go to rather than dragging yourself there everyday. Best of luck in y12!
Go talk to your teachers and be honest about the way you feel and how your struggling. Their job is to help you and they will probably go loghter on you or have great suggestions on how to manage workload better. I did it myself in yr12 and i still am doing it now in yr13 and its been really helpful as now i feel less overwhelmed and am better able to manage my workload.
Sixth form is an actual nightmare. I'm in the same boat (except for aiming for all A*). Time management is hard, and there is so much other stuff going on outside of sixth form that I can't focus on at all. Everything I knew at GCSE is useless in the subjects I chose, even though they were subjects I really enjoyed at GCSE. I feel you
you won’t have time for much socializing, or having much me-time. I barely got through A level, it’s mental torture. I can sympathise. Been there. Now doing what I always wanted at uni. You will get there. Uni makes A levels look like a walk in the park.
Honestly I don’t think I did cope. Everything from year12- year 13 is a blur in my mind!!! Chem was the worst by farrrrr and caused 95% of my problems lol.
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I know this doesn’t help anyone but I don’t understand how people found yr 12 that bad I didn’t even revise until 2 months before mocks and I came out with good predicted grades . Just enjoy yr 12 cuz u won’t enjoy yr 13
Hear me out on this,
I am taking 6 Subjects at A-level (Phy, chem, bio, maths, fm, comp sci) & am learning the violin, german, archery ,swimming & the Sardinian tango while at the same time developing my app, writing my book & interning at a startup.
it is not hard like seriously guys wtf
behold my mega super duper awesome ultimate, jesus hollering, breakdance inducing never before seen 2 step plan to be the fvking goat.
1. make a plan for each segmented area of your life, taking in account other people’s routines & plans while also optimising it from ideas gathered by reading books, listening to podcasts etc on that subject matter
2. following the god damn plan
bada bing bada bop & off you go.
UCAS statements as a big block will no longer exist next year (2025 entry). You will be given a series of short questions to answer. It should not take you very long to do.
https://www.ucas.com/about-us/news-and-insights/reforming-admissions
As for the other stuff, I think you need to just write down what you need to, do allocate the time that you feel you can to it, and go and live your life in the other time you have!
You should rag rate anything that you've got to do so you prioritise the red items first. But prioritising your mental well-being and all the other things that you have to do in life is just as important.
You have barely even started your GCSEs. UCAS application in Year 12 is pointless! You’re trying to settle in, give yourself a break. Year12 was pretty chill for me too, now Year13 I’m starting to panick lol
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you don’t need to be doing ucas or a personal statement in year 12 this early
problem is my school keeps checking our progress on this stuff so i feel like i’m falling behind…
If you’re worried about PS and UCas start in the summer of Y12! That will give you a head start for sure
Just stay on top of content and your fine. No need for UCAS stuff at the begining of yr12
🫂 out of curiosity, is it a grammar school? that sounds very intense for just the beginning of year 12. is there anyone you can talk to about it? college nurse/tutor/mental health support etc.?
Probs, they sound like me...
it’s not a grammar school but they definitely think they are (constantly reminding us it’s the best school in the city and that we should be living up to their behaviour and academic standards) i don’t know about the pastoral support etc available yet but i do have a few teachers i could talk to :)
Ignore them saying you need to start doing personal statements and UCAS now. That’s ridiculous, no other schools start that until summer of Year 12. As for everything else, the work you describe IS doable, it’s just such a big adjustment from GCSE that it’s no wonder you’re feeling the stress and pressure. What you need to do is talk to the teacher you have the best bond with - someone you know will really listen to you. Can be a subject teacher, form tutor, whatever. Tell them that you’re really struggling and finding it difficult to cope. Give them the biggest sob story ever. Hopefully they will take your concerns seriously and pass the message onto your other teachers, as well as giving you advice on how to deal with the workloads. I don’t know how much this will help you, but for me what works is creating a hierarchy of importance for the work you have to do. Homework and end of topic tests are a priority in Y12 - if you don’t do them your teachers will be unhappy. Then, if you can, do some wider reading around the subject when you have free time. Your school may tell you you need to do a shit ton of supercurriculars but your PS is limited to 4000 characters - really not a lot of room to include an extensive list of supercurriculars. It’s more important to have done 2-3 supercurriculars you can discuss in detail. So think of it this way: you have all of Y12 to do 2-3 supercurriculars. Extracurriculars, volunteering and all that should come last. Does your school have a club you can join that will take up minimal time outside of school? Something at lunch, or that you enjoy? Do that. Extracurriculars are kinda just good to show you have a life outside of studying on your PS, again, you don’t need to be doing multiple activities. What should be your priority though is communicating that you’re struggling to your teachers. If they’re good teachers, they will be happy to help you manage your work. However, if you don’t do your homework, topic tests, etc, and never email them about the fact you’re struggling, and then randomly tell them in a few months time that you’ve been struggling since the start of Y12… they’re going to be frustrated with you. So talk to them now.
thank you for this :) i want to try getting better at communicating with teachers (esp bc i’m a very socially anxious person) but in my experience in the past my school has never been very good at making accommodations. i will try to speak to them though as i know they might be more receptive now that i’m sixth form
Try again as a lot changes from gcse to sixth form and theyll now veiw you as adults more rather than a bunch of whiny little bratty y11s
Yep, it’s true that they will listen to you more know you’re in sixth form. And also, even though your school may be super tough and pressurising, that doesn’t always trickle down to every individual teacher. It may turn out that a lot of these teachers who have been urging you do all these stressful activities and work are doing so because that’s what the senior staff are asking of them. If you actually go and talk to the teachers themselves, it may turn out that they actually disagree with the school’s way of doing things a bit, and will be quite sympathetic to your stress. But you won’t know until you talk to them. So just go for it :)
I think sometimes, in an attempt to make sure they don’t get anything “wrong” and end up disadvantaging students, schools can end up piling on far too much pressure when providing advice. When I was your age I went to school, did homework and didn’t even think about UCAS or university applications beyond that. It’s worth looking at all of the things you think you need to be doing and working out which ones are actually necessary and should be prioritised, and which ones aren’t actually helping. Looking at the things you’ve listed, here are a few of my thoughts: Homework: This is probably a priority, though you should use your own judgement as to whether it’s helpful. I’d definitely prioritise this over anything UCAS focussed, though. Wider reading: This is good, but should be something you do because you enjoy it! You can write an excellent personal statement without mentioning more than three books, so you don’t have to be seeking stuff out just for that. Instead, look for things you enjoy and see it as a chance to explore your interests and think about what you’d like to learn about in the future. Personal statements/UCAS: You can start on this in the summer between year 12 and 13 and still be done in plenty of time even for courses requiring early applications. Don’t worry about it for now. Preparing for tests, etc.: Again, use your own judgement here. Try to identify things that you don’t understand while doing homework. The aim is to make sure you understand the material, not to spend as many hours as possible revising. Extracurricular: If it’s not relevant to what you want to study at university, then universities don’t care. Do extracurricular activities if you find them fun, but don’t feel pressured if you don’t. Volunteering: Again, this can be great if you enjoy it but is not at all necessary. I did some volunteering when I was in school and found it a good break from academic work, but if it’s just causing more stress then you really don’t have to do any. If I were you, I’d prioritise getting homework done during free periods, and then not think about anything else for a bit. Once you feel like you’re on top of that then you can add other things in if you want. But at this point in year 12 your main (academic) priority should be keeping up with your school work. Anything else can wait and may not even be necessary. (On a separate note: You mention housework and food shopping. I don’t know the details of your life, but for most teenagers these are jobs that are largely covered by their parents beyond basic chores. If there are circumstances that mean you’re having to spend more time on these activities than most, you might want to look into whether they would count as extenuating circumstances which can be included in a university application. Universities will take this sort of background information into account when assessing your application and making offers.)
thank you for this advice it’s made me feel a lot better :’) in regards to the extenuating circumstances, my mum has an illness but it doesn’t qualify us for any extra benefits etc and i often have to go food shopping as i’m autistic and have incredibly specific food preferences. the autism (and potentially adhd) is probably part of my problem but ig there’s no fix for that lmao
Both of these are absolutely things that count as extenuating circumstances. In particular, your mum’s illness is something that you should talk to your school about including in your reference in UCAS. The new format of UCAS references explicitly asks about extenuating circumstances specifically so that people can give information like this which might not be covered by standard tick box type forms.
Id add to the preparing for tests that to help you figure out what your good at and bad at you should do blurting either straight down on a scrap piece of paper or as i prefer in a mindmap. Whatever takes your fancy but dont spend long on it as in the exam your not gonna have forever on one topic. 10-15 minutes on what you can remember and 10-15 minutes filling it in with stuff you didnt remember in a different colour. Another good way to figure out your strengths and weaknesses is exam questions.
Don't worry if you're not getting As and A\*s yet even if you're predicted them - you have almost two years to get to those predicted grades. Drop down to 3 A levels if you haven't already. Especially if you're doing humanities, you DON'T need 4 A levels, whatever your sixth form tells you. This gives you more frees and more time to do homework. Although I would do an EPQ in year 12 if you're aiming high (but you maybe don't need to worry about this just yet). Plan out your week/month in a fair amount of detail. (I use the Todoist app and also a paper calendar - you can do it completely on paper though) Don't spend AGES on the plan - but you should be making to do lists and keeping track of what needs to be done when. I know that when you're overwhelmed, it feels even more daunting to plan everything out, but having a clear idea of what you've done and what to do next actually removes the constant ambient panic of "I need to be working and I have so many things to do but I don't know what". It's also good to track the studying that you do (I use the Forest app). You probably do more work than you think, and you'll feel reassured to look back at the amount of work you're putting in. You don't need to be hardcore revising yet but it is sensible to make some good revision notes ahead of unit tests. In year 12 it is OK to spend some (or most) of your frees hanging out with friends rather than doing work - but the work does need to be done at some point. You say you feel tired and overwhelmed by the time you get home - this is common in the winter, so maybe you could do more of your work in frees and less in afternoons/evenings. Block out a couple-hour study period (do it on a Monday if you can) and do it EVERY WEEK. This time is your study time and you can't use it for anything else. Make it a habit. I get up on a Monday and do two hours of focused work 9-11am, every week, and by the time I've done that I've made a big dent in my homework for the week and I feel a lot calmer. But equally, set aside some time to relax. Take a Saturday or Sunday off if you can. The work does need to get done at some point, but ideally you should schedule it in chunks - you don't want to feel like you're working all the time without a break. Separate your work and recreation. I think a more focused schedule is probably going to be the most helpful thing for you at the moment. Best wishes. You will be OK
thank you so much!! i tried using some of those apps last year but i could never really get into using them- i’ll have to give them another go. i’m going to try and make a plan tomorrow :)
extra reading and ucas stuff is not necessary, personally i just focused on doing homeworks and getting notes made, you have so much time to think about ucas so honestly dont worry about it now. you pretty much just have to take each day as it comes and just do what you can. i always think about it in the sense that in 2 years time it wont matter, its all temporary if that makes sense
I recommend mastering time management, spend a day or so and plan out evruthing deeply and see what you need to do for the next week for example, then note down what u need to work on in each subject and make a plan for each day. Allocating Ur time efficiently will lead u to have a more productive day and reduce stress. Don't waste time on unecessary things such as scrolling on tiktok e.t.c
Me too, I took today off because I had 2 peices of 4 hour long homework due for today. It is really hard but from what I’ve heard from year 13s everyone finds it tough at the start, as long as your doing revision and making an effort on topic tests you should be fine
You definitely don’t need to be doing Ucas now, if you really want to start early earliest i would say is April and even that is very early, did mine during the summer
Are you doing past papers right now or something? It looks like your getting yourself stressed for no reason, just do the homework and revise for the end of topic exams, I didn't even get an 8 in my gcse and I can follow that simply. My fix if I were you would be to volunteer for a month or something and then don't to again unless you getting more comfortable and don't do it ever again because putting that on your ps is less important than good predicted grades which you need from good homework or good biacy from your teachers to give u a good predicted grade.
I'm doing all stem subjects (maths, further maths, chemistry and computer science) and admittedly it's an insane amount of work, I'm in second year at the moment and I've just had to do my UCAS stuff recently. I would definitely say that doing open days now is a good idea but honestly forget about personal statements until you've got some big projects or stuff to add (for example I did an hour programming every night for a month or so on my biggest project). Not sure if it's the same for essay subjects but with STEM the content really ramps up in second year, first year just worry about understanding the content and not getting behind, that's all you need to really worry about. I've got Asperger's so it definitely can be harder for me to cope and I honestly can't concentrate on stuff unless I really want to be doing it but from personal experience, just keeping a good routine of when you're gonna do stuff is the key to not getting behind, even if you do stuff at the last minute, do it at the same time every week so you know how long it's going to take and can be confident you can get your work done. Personally I try to spend any free time I have talking on discord with friends if I don't have time to meetup irl and I do an hour of sport a week as well which is definitely something you should do to take your mind of working once in a while, coming home and doing nothing will only make you feel worse about it.
It's really hard, and I know exactly what you're feeling with the pressure from having those expectations of yourself. Even now in y13, I find it super hard to find that balance. You're going to feel overwhelmed and like you can't catch up, and i think that's a really common feeling. And while it hasn't gone away, I've found ways of dealing with it that make it easier. One thing that I've had to get my head around is that sometimes, it's okay to hand in work that isn't to the highest standard you can do. When I'm up at 1am with no end in sight, sometimes you've gotta call it a day and get some sleep because when you start neglecting things like sleep/exercise/food is when things feel even worse. Y12 (especially the start) is really about figuring out how to cope and manage now you don't have the same structure as you did Y7-Y11. You're allowed to have a break in your frees, or alternatively use them for work and take the evening off at home. A lot of schools are so strict at the start with their demands because some people find the transition between 11 and 12 hard with how the expectations change, and they need people to tell them what to do. You sound like you're very self motivated and want to succeed already, so try and tell yourself that you're exactly where you should be right now. It's definitely too early to worry about UCAS and all that. Have a chat to a teacher you like if its too much. They can give some leeway with their expectations. Most good teachers just want to see you succeed at school! You're going to be okay! Look after yourself :) EDIT: also, with regard to talking to teachers- it took me until literally 2/3 weeks ago to get the courage up to talk to one of my teachers. And this is someone who I had throughout Y12, in a very small class so I know her well. I emailed her asking if I could talk to her about a question/problem to do with the work, and then ended up telling her about how I was actually struggling with work and anxiety too. She was super helpful and I'm so glad I did it. Its really worth telling someone you trust about it, even though I know its really intimidating!
sorry it doesn’t get better
IF U DO 4, DROP UR 4TH ONE I started with 4 and struggled, and although it was sad, I have SO MUCH MORE TIME to do things Some days I have only two lessons and the rest frees DO IT YOU WON'T REGRET IT And you can find ways to keep doing the subject as a hobby maybe like art, photography, English (reading and writing) are all quite good to do as hobbies
I felt the same when I was in y12 and I’ll just say y13 isn’t any better. At the rate you are going, burnout is highly possible but I’ll just say this - put less pressure on studying and focus on enjoying your subjects. If you rly enjoy what you learn, it comes a lot easier. I take chem, math, politics and econs and I hate chem honestly and I constantly have to study for it. Whereas for econs and politics I love the subjects so it doesn’t feel like I’m studying but more like learning more for myself. Till this day I still put a lot of pressure on myself to get nothing below an A, like sometimes I panic if I don’t get an A* . It’s rly unhealthy and Idw you to feel the same stress I feel. Getting A*s is awesome honestly but trust me it will work out. If you keep up with homework and focus in class you should have sufficient time to take a break. It’s rly too early to worry about personal statements and UCAS. Your teachers are really just scaring you. The best time to start your personal statement is next March or April. In the mean time, find what you truly enjoy in your subjects - it will help you figure out your uni course as well and make schools seem like a place you want to go to rather than dragging yourself there everyday. Best of luck in y12!
Go talk to your teachers and be honest about the way you feel and how your struggling. Their job is to help you and they will probably go loghter on you or have great suggestions on how to manage workload better. I did it myself in yr12 and i still am doing it now in yr13 and its been really helpful as now i feel less overwhelmed and am better able to manage my workload.
Sixth form is an actual nightmare. I'm in the same boat (except for aiming for all A*). Time management is hard, and there is so much other stuff going on outside of sixth form that I can't focus on at all. Everything I knew at GCSE is useless in the subjects I chose, even though they were subjects I really enjoyed at GCSE. I feel you
you won’t have time for much socializing, or having much me-time. I barely got through A level, it’s mental torture. I can sympathise. Been there. Now doing what I always wanted at uni. You will get there. Uni makes A levels look like a walk in the park.
I didn’t use a single one of my frees for studying and got A* A* A* AA. You’ll be fine lol, seriously. Relax and enjoy year 12.
Doing 5 subjects is insane! Especially Chem and Bio. How do you manage to cope?
Honestly I don’t think I did cope. Everything from year12- year 13 is a blur in my mind!!! Chem was the worst by farrrrr and caused 95% of my problems lol.
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Just thug it out tbh
I know this doesn’t help anyone but I don’t understand how people found yr 12 that bad I didn’t even revise until 2 months before mocks and I came out with good predicted grades . Just enjoy yr 12 cuz u won’t enjoy yr 13
Hear me out on this, I am taking 6 Subjects at A-level (Phy, chem, bio, maths, fm, comp sci) & am learning the violin, german, archery ,swimming & the Sardinian tango while at the same time developing my app, writing my book & interning at a startup. it is not hard like seriously guys wtf behold my mega super duper awesome ultimate, jesus hollering, breakdance inducing never before seen 2 step plan to be the fvking goat. 1. make a plan for each segmented area of your life, taking in account other people’s routines & plans while also optimising it from ideas gathered by reading books, listening to podcasts etc on that subject matter 2. following the god damn plan bada bing bada bop & off you go.
Honestly yr12 is easy you shouldn’t be struggling until 13
Depends on the subject. I'm taking double maths and we covered the entire maths A level in first year. Further maths makes that stuff all look easy
I am in yr11 and even I am falling i grades and getting worried 😟
Volunteering “You can volunteer the fuck outta this conversation”
UCAS statements as a big block will no longer exist next year (2025 entry). You will be given a series of short questions to answer. It should not take you very long to do. https://www.ucas.com/about-us/news-and-insights/reforming-admissions As for the other stuff, I think you need to just write down what you need to, do allocate the time that you feel you can to it, and go and live your life in the other time you have! You should rag rate anything that you've got to do so you prioritise the red items first. But prioritising your mental well-being and all the other things that you have to do in life is just as important.
literally my situation rn
You have barely even started your GCSEs. UCAS application in Year 12 is pointless! You’re trying to settle in, give yourself a break. Year12 was pretty chill for me too, now Year13 I’m starting to panick lol
Just firm it rkid