I have lost all hope and have no motivation.

Soldato
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Those are all brilliant subjects to use post cards for because (as far as I'm aware) they are all fact based subjects at A level.

Just go through your books and notes a lesson at a time and try and condense one days worth onto one card, perhaps put it into bullet points that someone can test you on.

Test yourself with past papers, but as you are revising don't sit there struggling, have an open book policy. If you don't know the answer go and find out, try and get 100% on each paper - again it's the deep processing method as you are figuring out how to do something.

As others have said, have you decided where you want to go with your life after college?
 
Associate
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I was in the same position as you two years ago, when I came out with a single D and nearly had a break down. My family had essentially split in half the same year with parents divorcing and I'd fallen in with a bad crowd afterward, essentially getting mangled on anything to avoid the stress of the situation. The year afterward upon resitting I managed to get away with 3 C's but the toll of constant education had essentially reduced me to the same state of finding it near impossible to study. I'm now doing an apprenticeship at the moment and before that I was a call center operative and I can seriously tell you by comparison now the studying looks so easy and so much less time consuming that when I go back I wont have any problems. I feel like I'm ready now and have that much more life experience and can seriously recommend you do something like this to refresh you. If you're from a privileged background then a gap year is a viable alternative and will provide you with a good opportunity to experience another lifestyle and your money will go so far you won't have to do much real work and can just relax, most of the mates I've had who have done this have come back pretentious and self-decidedly world weary but some have genuinely had a real boost to their self esteem and been properly refreshed by the experience.
 
Associate
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I have the same problem but with my MSc. I did not take a year out before studying the MSc and came straight off the back of gaining a bachelors in mechanical engineering. So I felt exhausted and on top of this I had a major operation 13 days before I started my course which prevented me from eating solid food for 6 weeks so my energy levels were basically none existent for the first semester. I've flunked all but one of my exams and my thesis is in tatters, I really don't know whether to just call it a day or go back next year and resit.

I believe this has happened because I've had enough of education and should have given myself some time out in the working world and perhaps done an MSc (if I felt I needed it) in 4-5 years. I basically have no passion for education right now and rue my decision to start this course, I can't even force myself to open my books and study I would rather climb mount Everest than do this. Can anyone offer me some advice? Sorry for hijacking the thread.

I know how you feel about going straight into an MSc. I'll be handing in my dissertation in about 2 months. I just want to get my MSc over with tbh. The whole routine gets a bit monotonous and dull when you reach a certain point.

As for the op, i buggered up some of my AS exams and got less than satisfactory grades, but i stuck with it and persevered with hard work. I Passed my A2's with decent grades, got into uni, got my degree and now i'm months away from hopefully gaining an MSc as well. Keep at it.

In fact I'm pretty sure i failed my one exams at Geography A2, taught by shall we say a woman that was evil incarnate, but a fantastic teacher. I stuck with it, worked my arse off and i found i got an A iirc in that exam when i retook it.

I know exactly how you feel with sitting down to do some work and then giving up tbh. I've felt like that a dozen times when trying to produce a decent 3d model/2d work for my MSc. It's only after several attempts that i've really managed to make some headway. You hit a brick wall sometimes, you just have to knock it down. Excuse the cheesy metaphor but it's true.

Plenty of people bugger up and fail at school/uni/exams. If you fail, the key is to go back and give it another shot, not walk away. The personal satisfaction in that alone is a great motivator for work.

Also

1. Agree with the WoW point, for anyone playing it and doing exams, burn it with fire. Seriously.

2. Working in a stimulating environment is a good idea. Revising on your own while productive can get incredibly boring. I think i was more efficient at doing work when i was having lectures and had people next to me doing the same work that i could bounce ideas/criticism off of.

Good Luck with whatever you do OP :).
 
Soldato
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Experiance > Qualifications

I think it depends what industry/sector you are in.

I'm guessing that since this is an IT based forum, that most people will agree with the above, but I can't see anyone being a doctor or many other professions without the adequate qualifications.
 
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There's nothing dishonourable about doing a good hard-working manual role.

And ironically, because the British public are so anti actually getting your hands dirty they think working in an office for £18K a year is somehow better or more professional then repairing drains or installing electric showers for £58K a year.


My Mazda local dealer now charges £104 PER HOUR to work on the car. He ain't got any fancy qualifications, he just knows how to do a hard graft of work and is interested in his motors. His diary is always filled up for months at that price, because he lives and breaths cars and mazda, and works a HARD GRAFT when he is doping your car. If the idea of hard work doing kinda anything gets you down - sorry - you're frankly doomed to a council house, worrying about the leccy bill each quarter, and 'let's save hard for 4 years, so we can buy an 8 year old car' :(
 
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Associate
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[TW]Fox;17210870 said:
Bin the whole idea and get an apprenticeship in a trade.

That.

Or go to work. I'm doing a combination of both, I don't want to work in retail but when I've got the chance to progress and do a bloody expensive apprenticeship as well.
 
Associate
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Assuming you actually do want to still do A-levels, then firstly, follow what most people have said- take a break! You've only just received your results. Give it a week or two. Get drunk, mess around, do whatever makes you happy. Also, accept full that you messed up, and ultimately, that it was your fault. That alone should help motivate you, knowing that you can put right your results, and in the end, you will be proud of turning it around.

Then, decide whether to just do resits during your A2 year, (lots of work, but you don't 'lose' a year), or restart year 12 (a clean slate, lots of time to get prepared, but another year until university).
Which you choose should depend on how bad your grades were relative to what you need for university, if you feel you can cope with the pressure of resits alongside A2 exams, and finally if you want to change one or more subjects.

Just have a break though first, before you rush into any decisions. Ring up your sixth form also, ask if you can resit year 12, and how to go about signing up for resits. I've had friends resit the whole of year 12, and they all came out a lot better for it, as their problem was their state of mind, not a lack of ability.
 
Associate
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Bin the whole idea and get an apprenticeship in a trade.

What a load of crap, cannot say this without actually knowing the situation.

Ask yourself;

What do you think are the reasons you didn't succeed?
Do you enjoy it?
Do you need A-levels for what you want to do in life?
 
Soldato
Joined
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12,957
I've met a lot of people, mainly in the engineering industry who are very successful and didn't have an A Level to their name.

I know this guy, in his late 20s who really wanted to do an engineering degree. When he did his A Levels he didn't get the results required to progress to university and obtain an engineering degree. Exams and stuff aren't his strongest attribute. He knew this at the time. So instead of sitting around at a desk and revising again for resits he spent his time applying to apprenticeships to literally hundreds of companies.

He got a good response and offers from different companies. He chose to go with Rolls Royce and works in the Derby plant in manufacturing, and research & development.

Fast forward 10 years to now: he now project manages an engineering project relating to the Trent 900 engine and has a team of engineering graduates under his wing. He's on quite a handsome pay packet too conisdering his age. He always says one of his main gripes is graduates with all those qualifications fresh out of uni can't do the simplist of things - basic fundamental engineering stuff. To him, having a grade next to someone's name is a bit crap.


The point is, A Level exams aren't the end of the world.
 
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Soldato
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What if the kid wants to be a doctor, or a lawyer or anything that you need to study for?

Yeah ditch the whole dreams and become a sparky kid, be smart.
 
Soldato
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On the flip-side I know a few people who worked as apprentices then went to uni afterwards because they realised that the job/career wasn't what they wanted to do.

It really does depend on what you want to do.
 
Soldato
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you need motivation I got told I have 10-15 years tops to live and I am going back to college this September to do my Hnd in networking because gaining a qualification is on my list of things to do.

Just think really hard on what you want to do and go for it.
 
Soldato
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16 Feb 2006
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Stick at it.
I messed about in college and have had a couple of crappy jobs here and there and now im 23 and still in the same situation and i regret it so much.
I love how people i meet/know keep telling me to get a new job like its no big deal when i sent out 80 cv's and letters and the only people who got back to me was a wetherspoons.
People keep saying go back to uni yet i dont want to be there until i'm 28, have crazy debt and take a risk as i see it on having a degree but still not getting a job

I swear some people dont realise how depressing and low it makes you feel when you dont feel like you have anything going for you in life, have no money and no hope.

[/emomodeoff]
 
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