hi guys hope u are all well.
So basically every other subject other than english im fine in and achieving highly but it feels as if no matter how much work i put in im never reaping any rewards in English.
All of year 11 I got B's and some B+'s so I decided to try a bit harder this year. My first sac this year was a creative, in which I studied hard and did a lot of practice sacs but to no avail, as my classmates who had read the book for the first time the night before had done better than me, which was really disheartening tbh.
I don't know how to get better. I really want to achieve a 40+ but I just don't know how and am beginning to think its impossible.
Just wondering if there were any tips as to how I could improve.
Hey, I just thought I might add to what The Cat in the Hat said, that it definitely isn't impossible! There were cases in my school, where students were at C's in year 11 and managed to crack 40+ scores at the end of the year. Also, in my year, there was a friend of mine who didn't perform so well in the creative, but smashed his analysing arg and comparative sacs, and crucially the exam, to receive a 40+ score. Getting a 40+ isn't reflective of one sac - luckily! You have the entire year to 'redeem' yourself, and speaking from my own position, my skills improved astronomically throughout the year (I was lucky enough to get a 45 despite my creative sac being at a B+)
In terms of advice for improving in English generally, I found simply being REALLY critical with my own work, and consistently applying feedback was the way to go. If you are unaware how to apply feedback, speak to your teacher and seek guidance on how exactly you should improve. This might look like asking 'when you say my work choice is funny here, have I done that anywhere else in my piece?' or 'what phrases do you think I should avoid?' Expression is a big problem that really only requires you rewriting your work and being ruthless (even if you delete a whole paragraph you know that you're improving your writing to a clearer and stronger piece). But definitely try to detach your own self-esteem from your work! You are so capable of improving and your work is simply one measure in one time period of where your ability was at, you are always capable beyond where you are at! Once you see your work through an examiner's eyes with zero attachment, and zero 'I don't want to delete because I can't really be bothered rewriting', you can definitely make steps to getting more marks!
I would also say improve in elements, like analysis or depth of analysis, but a lot of the time, marks are lost for things like expression, sophistication of language, word choice, structure. These can usually be improved and quickly elevate your writing to stronger marks. But good luck! And try to stay hopeful, with the right work and dedication to improving, English can become a subject you'll enjoy and do amazing in