What to do if you’ve started a course and feel like the work is just too hard. By now you’ll be approximately four weeks into your course of study – the amount of content that you have actually covered will depend on where you are studying and their induction length (some places like to allow plenty of time to make sure that you are on the right course)Whatever you do DON’T suffer in silence or avoid attending – this will make the problem much worse. Talk to someone – a parent / guardian or teacher that you can confide in. Talking to friends is great, but actually, right now, you need someone who can actually help you fix the problem.It’s common for students to find the work hard when they begin a level 3 course. Making the leap from GCSE to a level 3 course, such as A-levels is tough. In your first weeks, don’t expect to be able to understand everything easily so give yourself a break if you’re finding it hard going; chances are, everybody is. Very important: don’t be tempted to skip classes or avoid homework – whatever changes are or aren’t going to happen, you should keep up with the work.If you really do feel that it’s you that’s struggling where everybody else isn’t then speak up and speak up quickly – your teacher will probably have already noticed – speak to your teacher privately (or if you are studying A-levels and struggling in all subjects, speak to your form tutor / mentor).Either, you’re right and the work is too difficult for you or you may have chosen the course / subject (so many people do this because they choose what all their friends are doing or they choose what their parents expect them to do) – it’s all fixable and that’s the important thing to keep in mind!Options:
You’ve chosen the wrong course – speak up and change course now! – find your tutor or a teacher / head of year and get this sorted - don’t try to force yourself through the year in misery. This might mean changing from A-levels to vocational or changing subjects. Either way, you’ll need to make an effort to catch up with anything that you’ve missed but that‘s better than suffering long-term.
You’ve chosen the right course but you’re really struggling with the work – speak to the teacher (s) – there’s this thing called differentiation and it’s up to the teacher to make sure that the needs of each learner in the classroom are met – this means presenting questions differently and assigning different tasks for different learners.
Of course if you’re struggling because you’re not doing the work, then pull your socks up and put in the extra effort; it’s works both ways.Other options are:Get a study buddy – it really helps to bounce questions off each otherSeek some additional support – particularly if you have an additional learning need such as dyslexia, maybe you can’t keep up with note-taking and you can be provided with a laptop or a Dictaphone or maybe your teacher can give you materials before the class so that you know what’s coming up and can prepare for it in advance.The important thing is this – Speak up. The most drastic thing that will happen is that you change course; more often than not, you just need a little bit of support.
