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>very unlikely I will pass GCSEs

Nope. You can do this, you are no less capable of achieving a pass (or hell, something even higher!) than anyone else. Thats not to say that you wont find it difficult, because it's not easy for anyone.

The growth mindset:

Start learning about the growth mindset (watch that video, take it seriously, it's true.). The idea of a growth mindset is that your academic abilities aren't limited to what you were born with. Your brain is like a muscle, the more you use it and persevere with failure, the stronger and smarter you get.

The power of yet

When you get a question wrong or it feels like you can't
or won't get a particular subject, remember that the can't and won't are NOT inevitable. When you get something wrong or are struggling, even if you don't believe it; say to yourself: "I can't do this yet." This starts to set a precedence in your mind that it will one day finally click.

I did this with maths, I struggled like crazy on grade 3 maths and it was very very upsetting that I couldn't grasp a concept like fractions. I went all the way back to grade 1 and rebuilt my foundational knowledge of maths. I stuck with it and I spent a month hammering away at my grade 3 problem, again and again and again. Every single day, in half an hour chunks. I told myself that it hasn't clicked yet, but if I kept trying, eventually it would. 1 year on, I'm doing grade 8 maths and am far more comfortable with numbers now. I've also passed my functional skills maths qualification (which is a grade C in GCSEs)

Work smarter, not harder

Right here is an opportunity to look at your learning process, spot what went wrong and work towards fixing it. This may take a couple months, it may take a year. What matters is you set out to make a change and fix the problems. This isn't to say you didn't work hard enough last time even, but if your application of effort is incorrect, it won't matter.

Its a case of working smarter, not harder. I don't know how many hours you've spent revising before, or even if you have at all. But either way, this will serve you well: when you revise, take advantage of the pomodoro technique.

The idea of the pomodoro technique is that you only work for 25 to 30 minutes at a time and you have 10 minute breaks in-between. Your brain can only effectively focus on something for around half an hour to 45 minutes anyway, so this is a perfect way of working.

The beauty of working this way is that you can motiviate yourself to get started with work. I mean, come on! It's only half an hour, right? You won't exhaust yourself and it's not a lot of time to dedicate to it. The key is making sure you build a sustainable routine. So order some revision books and get started on a topic like English, maths or science and just start a routine of half an hour every day.

After a couple of weeks (or maybe even a month, up to you), you will have built a solid routine of just 30 minutes a day studying. Great! Now increase it. An hour a day. Rinse repeat. The key to building routine is to start small and built up from there.

The unrivalled power of flashcards and noting.

Flashcards are an extremely powerful tool, more powerful than you could ever realize. Order some index cards, some good quality coloured pens and a notebook . Once you've got those, I'd recommend that when you read through your revision books, to note any key information you want to remember. Use the red pen for any key words, black for the rest of the sentences etc.

Once you're at the end of a page in your revision book, start making flashcards of the stuff you've just noted. BUT don't just use text. Get creative! Ask a question about the thing you want to remember, and on the other side, write out the answer but not completely in text. Use symbols or imagery to represent certain words or even parts of words. Why? Because this will weaponize the visual part of your brain. Your brain has an easier time remembering imagery than it does text. This will help you recollect the information you want to remember easier.

Spaced repetition

Once you've got a stack of flashcards for a chapter, I would reccomend that you start going through each flash card and answer the questions. Read the question, and answer it without looking at the answer on the back. Got it wrong? Great, now you know thats a card you need to work on, put it on an area of your desk seperate from all the other cards. Got it right? Awesome! Make a success pile.

Speak the questions out loud, and do the same for the answers. Why? Because this takes advantage of the auditory processing part of your brain which is important for memorisation and recollection.

Once you've gotten through all your flashcards, you should have a correct stack and a wrong stack. Dont worry about the sizes of either, you will learn them eventually. Now, go over the wrong stack just as you did before, rinse repeat until you have only a correct stack.

Once you've done this, the next day I'd recommend that any cards you get right, you put into a repeat every 2 days stack, which is where the spaced repetition comes in. Got them right after that 2 days? Fantastic, increese the space by 4 days. Rinse repeat. Got them wrong? Don't worry! Just take the repetition interval back by 2 days. You will get there eventually.

If this is too much effort (it is a huge pain in the arse), use Anki which is available for both Android and iOS . This automates the whole process, and you can take pictures of drawings on paper for the answers!

Quiz yourself! (Active recall)

This is pretty important. Mostly because you will want to avoid this as much as possible becasue its frustrating. Just try and go over some of the stuff you remember questions to and try answering them when you're out of the house or in the car. Try your best to recollect the answers.

It will be hard, thats because your brain will associate it with something unpleasant because it takes a lot of effort and youre not likely to get it correct as easily. Push through that, this is what will make it easier to remember this stuff in your exams.

Try to see all the things you've learnt in every day life. For example, I'm taking a GCSE biology course at college. We've been learning about photosynthesis. Whenever I'm out in nature, I look at all the green parts of plants and think about why theyre green. They're green because their cells contain organelle called chloroplasts, which are made green by the pigments in chloroplasts called chlorophyll.

See how I just incorporated something I learnt in an every day moment? This helps you remember and recall what you've learnt. This is a powerful tool. Use it!

Focus and diffuse mode

Another suggestion is to take small naps in-between studying too. This is what many famous scientists and inventors have done over the years. See, your brain has 2 modes: focus and diffuse modes. Focus mode is when your brain is focused on whatever you're studying, diffuse is when you're sitting idle not really doing anything that requires focus. Hence why power napping for 10 or 20 minutes at a time is good for this.

Diffuse mode is important because this is when your brain is subconsciously going over all the information that you've learnt. So when you have your 10 minute breaks in-between studying, maybe go for a little walk, or move rooms, make yourself a tea, have a power nap, whatever it might be to give your brain a chance to just go over what you've just been focusing on. This is why some people get good ideas in the shower, they're not focusing on anything in particular but their brain is going over ideas and things they've learnt before then.

In short... (TL;DR)

In short, here's what I would do in your situation (key points are here, but please read it in full!):

• Learn that I can learn anything by adopting a growth mindset. You can learn anything, start trying your hardest to believe that your academic abilities aren't fixed. They can be expanded!
  
  
• I will change my perception of failure, embrace it as a way of getting one step closer to answering the question correctly: "I can't do this yet. I've learnt that this is not how you do it and I will learn."
  
• I will start working smarter by taking advantage of the pomodoro technique. I will work for half an hour at a time and take 10 minute breaks in between each pomodoro.
  
  
• I will build a routine of working smarter by starting small. Commit to half an hour every day for a couple of weeks or a month. This will help you build up dedication and consistency. Boost the time spent studying slowly over time.
  
  
• I will take advantage of noting and flashcards by noting key points in my revision books and making flashcards of them. This will build the foundations of memorisation! Il also take advantage of spaced repetition in conjunction with this.
  
  
• I will take advantage of my brains diffuse mode by spending my breaks doing something that doesn't require a lot of brain power. A simple walk or making a tea, grabbing a snack or hell, even a power nap! Whatever it is, just nothing too intensive. Let your brain go over the stuff its just learnt!