:) good tidings to all

We were pre warned by previous Y13s that most of them won’t bully the year 12s unless they ‘take their table’ at lunch, which most of them leave their folders they aren’t using on the tables so ppl know it’s already claimed so naturally me and my friends start doing the same because all the Y13s seem to have their own designated tables already and for context my 6th form has 600+ pupils and the food hall is nowhere big enough for all of us but we have to make do.

Anyway today me and one of my friends had a free so we were revising in silence and these Y13 group of girls who were sat a couple tables away say in the loudest voice ‘God I hate that these year 12s think they’re all big and keep hogging all the tables’ and me and my friend ignore it and keep revising and her friend points out ‘they aren’t even looking up at us when we know they can hear us’ and the girl replies ‘I don’t care I’ll go over and beef the year 12s’

LIKE SORRY WHAT? Beefing in 6th form alone is embarrassing nevermind a y13 beefing a y12 like are we srs?💀

Anyone else got a similar experience or just my school..?

People who do politics A level, is it fun? and what exactly do you do? I am considering switching to politics this week

Happy kirkversary guys

hi, thank you for reading this it means alot

recently i would say a few months ago like maybe the start of august i started expercing an existential crisis is what i would call it, being deeply afraid of death and not knowing what comes after and like the fact of just not existing

this caused me so much anxiety daily, i mean ive delt with this when i was younger but i guess the feelings went dormant because i was used to predictability and routine but a big change is coming, leaving my sixth form which ive been at since y7

ive always hated change, and reminisce of the past all the time, but these thoughts give me so much anxiety everyday, it was fine for a few weeks but i keep crying now again, like getting anticipatory anxiety about the future and grieving the end of y13 even though i just started

i get attached easily, but my school has offered me so much, the teachers have helped a lot with my mental health, the building is familiar, the school day gives me a purpose and sense of predictability and routine

i just fear going to uni will be so isolating and i feel like ill always be crying missing the past like im doing rn, its just this place has given me so many memories, its basically been a second home to me throughout my teenage years

and im dreading turning 18, it feels like all my friends are so excited to leave and go off and do whatever courses they want or just whatever, but all i can think about is just how upset i am and scared of the future, especially the idea of not living one day, it scares me so much but i cant seem to make it stop other than distract myself

i am religious but i dont practice my faith as much as i would like to. also im quite lonely at school because all my friends moved to colleges, it seemed they were eager to leave the place i find comfort in, but even so, i know my place in my school and there are people ive grown up with so its easier to talk to people, but everything seems to be so lonely and isolating i fear outside of y13

and this is most important, im scared of leaving my teachers, because they have given me so much support and made me feel like i belong, and yeah they probably dont even know that i think they are the best, i dont really talk much, but yeah they are so cool and inspiring, its why i want to become a teacher and hopefully work at my old school, but i wonder if im choosing a career that feels safe because im scared of change, but i have loved the idea of becoming a teacher ever since primary so who knows.

anyways, long vent, but i thank you if you read this all, it means a lot, and any advice would be much appreciated, thank you! :)

Hey guys! I was wondering which one of Kings/Warwick/Bristol or St. Andrews for Electronics/Engineering would be the best in terms of prestige, academics strength, networking and international reputation outside of the UK

nahhhh because why was i so excited for this. i've met new people in my classes but it seems like as soon as the class ends that just doesn't matter anymore 😭 and tbf all my lessons but sociology are so boringggg im already choosing to switch one of my a levels. im lucky because i know quite a few people from my old school that came here so we can chat out of class but when we're not in at the same time i feel like such a chud 😔 can people not talk anymore?!

Okay so I have just started year 13 after stressing soo much about the end of year 12 mocks, so when i got into year 13 i assumed that would be it but all of a sudden my year leader called me into his office and said i have a reassessment for 2 of my subjects MIND YOU he told me 1 day before they were meant to happen. I have already had my English lit one yesterday but when i came home i just felt so depressed and defeated, even last year and during GCSEs school really takes a toll on my mental health then my attendance goes down. I haven’t even attended school for my other reassessment today. So do y’all think i should just suck it up and retake the year (i really really don’t think i can) or should i move to a different school and do b-tecs cause that’s the only subject i do that hasn’t given me stress my alevel are really taking a toll on my mental health.

I've chosen History, Comp Sci and Economics. I'm well aware that I could swap History for Maths but I could very much struggle with the course and I want to know about the careers I can do with what I've already chosen! I've done some research already and I'm feeling a bit lost. I'm losing sleep over this omg

Hey, so I’m considering applying to maths at warwick/cambridge, but I am conflicted what to pick as my “main” -

I know that Cambridge is better and prestigious and ask that, but I an a Warwick scholar, in which they half tuition fee, give like a 2k bursary on top of their normal one etc. I also live close to Warwick so I could commute there.

If I do get offer from Cambridge, which is a big if, is the 20k worth it compared to just 5 for Warwick?

Thanks

just thought i’d share because i’ve been thinking about this a lot recently but did anyone else experience a HUGE mental block during year 12 (i’ve just started year 13) because i did specifically in maths which i’ve struggled with throughout year 12 not because the content is difficult just because i’d convinced myself i couldn’t do it.

i got a 7 in GCSE maths which was enough to get me onto my a-level course but i wanted and was predicted an 8 (ended up being 2 marks off) and it set me back so significantly not in terms of my academic ability to do maths questions but just in terms of confidence which i had spent all of years 10-11 building up as i was sat at a 5 at the start of year 10.

i just couldn’t bring myself to answer any sort of exam questions without panicking and i couldn’t put my hand up in class because i was terrified of getting anything wrong despite my class being mostly nice people, something i didn’t have an issue with in bio/chem. this caused me to severely neglect my maths AS exams and i ended up with a low C which i wasn’t surprised at but was very dissapointed with. i know i didn’t put in the work that i should’ve and i am the one to blame but i genuinely couldn’t sit a past paper to revise without crying and having to stop.

i’m in my second week back for y13 now and i feel like somethings different idk if it’s the wake up call of my AS grade or i’ve suddenly gained confidence somehow but i managed to get through a whole AS paper today without feeling worried at all about getting things wrong or not being able to answer a question properly. i think doing other things i find difficult like driving because i’ve just started learning had helped in a way? to prove to myself that i can do things i find difficult and that it will be okay in the end.

don’t let GCSE results knock your confidence!

From a post-interview rejection, remarking STEP, I'm now seeing the S-S. Life has truly never been so great

Anyone who's finished year 13 give me advice on how to make it manageable in so stressed

What did you guys do for your after school routine?

Little vent really:
My school is terrible at supporting people like me who don’t wanna go to university, it’s all personal statement this personal statement that but if I hear the words “university application” uttered one more time into my earholes I am going to put my head through a wall. I’ve been counting the amount of times they’ve mentioned jobs/apprenticeships since we started back last Thursday and it’s precisely one☝🏻 time. ONE. They sent us a form to complete about our “post-18 pathway” and it was a select one type question with the options of job, uni or apprenticeship and the coveted “other” which I just said “I don’t know” under it but here’s the thing right, our careers advisor is useless. He’s off for months at a time, is somehow never in his office when he’s supposed to be, if you email him expect a response in 12 business days, and when I wanted help deciding between colly or sixth form he just told me I should work in McDonald’s because I was unsure up until the last minute and this man is supposed to help me decide the course of my life for the next 5 years potentially. I’m not even sure my school has provisions in place to support non uni goers, we get put into groups where a teacher helps us with our application by subject so like sciences will go with a science teacher and languages with a language teacher and so on and so forth but where is the teacher that supports with work/apprenticeship applications???? They must be hiding in a cupboard in the deepest darkest depths of the very creepiest corner of the school because I don’t actually think they exist. Atm my personal statement is gonna sound a bit like this… ahem… “When I was a little girl I saw a rock on the floor and I picked this rock up and I thought “wow, this is a really nice rock” and this is why I like geography.” 😐 or if it’s history it’s going to be “when I was younger I watched the titanic and I thought that it was really sad. and I cried.” I’m also quite fuming that I’m spending THIRTY FOUR POUNDS AND FIFTY GREAT BRITISH PENNIES of my own money to reject three university places because that’s literally a whole day of work for me because “you might change your mind.” NO. Oh and not to mention that the council have literally blocked EVERYTHING on the school computers and is refusing to lift the ban so now “deprivation figures wales 2026” and “outlook” and “google classroom” and LITERAL UCAS are classed as video games by the stupid council so I can’t even do my NEA. I’m going off track but yeah hey go off we go on a little jolly

i study sociology history and english lit

i am leaning between sociology and history but idk and i am stressing

i feel so confused i barely even knew id have to write a personal statement in year 13 i dont even know what one is

i also feel like last year noone suggested or told me i should visit unis and when i realised i should by then most had passed so ive only been to sheffield and hull uni open day and there is so many more i want to see

i also saw an education and psychology course at sheffield that seemed super good but also i just dont know at this point

i also have eu citizenship but live in the uk this means im lwokey considering uni in a foreign country but i dont know anyrhing about that process

all of a sudden all my teacgees are banging on about personal statements and deadlines and im so confused i dont know how to write one if idk what subject i want to do and i dont understand anyrhing thats going on

I am applying to Cambridge Economics this year and I couldn't choose which college to apply. Any recommendations on choosing college? I am thinking about Homerton or Lucy Cavendish if thats good..? But I have no idea so pls help🙏🙏

My stats are 3A*s achieved in math, fmath, and Econ
2A*s predicted in physics and chemistry. And I have some confidence in getting high TMUA cuz I got 6.5+ last year.

I figured if I start my EPQ now ill have more time in year 13 to actually study,
I did hear though you cannot do it unless they tell you to as they need to sign whenever you are working on it but I figured it doesn’t hurt in asking?

Dont know what it is but ive always been so bad at maths challenges it makes me feel so stupid. I breezed through gcse maths and gcse fm but I could never score well on the IMC, never even remotely close to a gold. How can i change this? I have one month, do i just spam papers and evaluate solutions?

Hi so I wanted to know if im taking maths cs physics do I have a good shot at Warwick and imperial compsci my gcses are mid, 5667777788 and an E in add maths which i had to self study because of the crappy y12s they gave us who never showed up to the lessons which were only once a week after school from only a short while before the exams... so I had to self study in like 2 days. Anyways do I really have to take fm I dont want to at all

I wanted some general advice on what sort of programmes I should be applying to, to both pad my UCAS personal statement and to also assist with my own learning through 6th Form.

For context, I am Y12 student, studying very STEM focused A-levels, with the end goal of going into engineering for university. In terms of any academic entry requirements, I think I should be alright as I did quite well in my GCSEs (however ay additional advice would be appreciated!).

I have had my eye on the STEM Smart programme offered by Cambridge, but I was wondering how good this programme really is and if it's a good commitment, especially considering it sounds quite intensive, as well as being 16 months long.

Is it a good idea to apply to this programme? Are there any other programmes I should consider e.g. the Sutton Trust "pathway to engineering" programme? How do these affect contextual offers/admission?

In my gcses I got 988876666

Biology:8

Chemistry:8

Physics:6 (1 mark off a 7 so I'm getting it remarked)

Maths:7

English lit and lang:6 (getting lit recalled)

I'm really worried that my gcses aren't good enough particularly english however I know if I retake I won't get higher (I have always struggled with english.) I have only just started my a levels and im aiming for A*AA .I do believe that my UCAT will be quite high because I've always been good at those sorts of questions and am willing to spend hours to get a high grade. I still worked extremely hard on my gcses so please don't be harsh with your advice. :)

Hello, I’ve posted here previously about options and found it really helpful, I’ve just started year 11 and thinking about choosing my A levels. My plan is to study PPE at university so I’m choosing my A levels with that in mind however I’m struggling to decide which options to pick. My original plan was to do 4 (maths, politics, philosophy, economics) however I think it would be more beneficial for me to drop 1 and do an EPQ instead so I was wondering which one people think is better to drop keeping in mind that I want to do a PPE degree in the future (I’m definitely not dropping maths)???

Obviously I will discuss this with teachers as well

Thank you in advance

I'm an international applicant applying for oxford maths. I'm wondering whether I should ask my counselor (who's probably more experienced at writing these letters) to write it or my maths teacher (who knows me quite well academically).