General

lol cambridge, good luck

try working with friends and get some notes of them? for my school with have this after - school thing known as OP Maximiser where we just do work together at the school library and there is always a teacher there to help us, so gather your friends and work together

What I try to do is keep working on something with music on, and with enough practice on that one thing, I can do it mindlessly without focusing on the work, rather focusing on what I'm listening to. This helps because it really does drill what you're doing into your head.
Try to figure out what study habits are best for you.
For example, last year I was doing pretty horribly in the grade for English, ranking about 140-150 out of 150 students (Year 10), but this year, with a nice new study habit I figured out, I got a solid 24/25 for my speech presentation and 20/20 for essay this year (Year 11).
If you can find ways to study that actually DO work, then continue to use that way to studying. Look at your past tests and see what you did wrong, and how you did it wrong, and if you can try to change your studying techniques to overcome what you did wrong and ultimately overcome your old 'failed' exams.

Befriend with some of the smartest people in your class and/or ask to study with them or ask for help.
Not sure about you but its easier for me to understand an explanation of a peer because its usually dumbed down and simpler so it might be good for you too.

Or just take a bunch of notes mindlessly then when class is over read over those notes and if you need extra explanations write like an asterisk next to the section in your notes with the page number that corresponds to that lesson in your textbook.

Ask the teacher or tell the teacher that he/she talks to fast its not embarressing or anything to ask and review some notes in ur book, cas ur books are probably ur best friend when you work

I'm not reading through all this but the only time you need to study English is memorizing definitions. Writing just comes with experience.

if you know your tutors suck, dont just sit there and whine about it. It does absolutely nothing and your just finding an excuse to why you failed exams. If you REALLY want to get good grades and learn, you'll do whatever it takes to do so. and yes, this means reading and studying the textbooks (your gonna be doing this in college anyways). If there are other chemistry teachers that you know, ask them as well. im sure they wouldnt mind at all to help you out. What are they gonna say? "oh sorry your not in my class therefore i cant teach you." Theres no point in taking a test that you hardly know about, so thats why you need to keep studying/working until you understand it.

i dont mean to bash you on this, but it serves more as a motivation purpose. and sorry if it didnt help at all...

[quote=floweroflies]If your tutors suck, leave them and find new ones. See what works for you. I personally hate group tuition and prefer private tutors that are one on one. In high school, I had to go through 2 tutors until I found the right one (and that was like at the end year 12! ... such bad timing). Also, is it your environment that's also affecting how you study? Do you procrastinate a lot? If so, head to the library and study there. Make sure you actually go to one that has the right environment. As in no one really talks so you'd feel weird if you did. It really does motivate you to study. You can try reading your textbook everyday but that's not going to help if you don't understand the material. What you can do is attempt all your homework problems (math, physic, chem etc.). and read the theory before any tutoring sessions and then ask your tutor to help you if you don't understand. Don't stop there. After your tutoring session, go back and do them yourself so you'll get a better understanding. As for English, my only advice would be to constantly pester your teacher for help.[/quote]

Ugh my English teacher is soosososo bad. He smacks me with his cane /:
And he basically SLEEPS in class..

[quote=xsupakoreanx]dude u can do it man! you got your whole life, honor, and pride ahead of you bro. you're only 15 it's not the end of the world. don't rely on your tutors too much. if u know they're not that good, stop studying with em. go to your teachers themselves and ask them to help you on stuff after school or something, i doubt they will reject your offer unless they are absolute jerks about things. have faith in yourself and dedicate to doing what you need to do. i failed most of my studies and now barely graduating, losing my college opportunity cuz of lousy academic effort, gotta make good of the second chance at community college. all because of what? i chased after a girl and got depressed and just moped about it for almost six years since fifth grade. i looked like such a hopeless idiot. what is the honor in that? things might be hard, but believe in yourself and put some willpower into it, then you'll be able to do it man.[/quote]

You know, tihs actually encouraged me a lot. Like this really brightened me up althought I am sorry to hear about that break up /:
I [b]will[/b] work my ass off this year, I'm gonna succeed. No more excuses.
@Jedi
Alright, Notes notes and more notes. Textbooks too obviously. I'm gonna do my best thank you (:

@TurtleSlaves Try writing your own notes on a piece of paper. It really helps. Well for me, I can't seem to study off textbooks unless I write it down, or when my teacher explains in class... I can't learn unless I write things down... I'm not sure about you but it really helped me wish you luck bro

[quote=Bloo]IMO relying on tutors will destroy you. So cut off the tutors.
Definitely read textbooks, and if you have any confusions google it or youtube it! There's honestly so much free information on the internet that helps so much.
Best of luck.[/quote]

True, I might keep my Physics tutor since he's a teacher at my school.
Alright, from today on I will do all my homework/read textbooks.
I picked the worst subjects, would it be recommended to drop either physics or chemistry? I have no idea what I wanna be when I grow up.

@Jedi
What' if it's like Chemistry, the equations in the textbooks are written by my teacher and the explanations are really really bad /: Don't understand a thing.
@Sikiru Yeah of course, but like I said reviewing Chemistry is a pain since equations are really hard.

Also, How do you 'study' for essays? Do I just keep writing practice ones? :s

Don't get distracted, don't procrastinate, time management, and I usually study when I write my own notes if that helps. If you get distracted in class, try moving to the front. That helps a ton. Good luck though!

Uh, well it's easier if you have a book. I usually just cover whats in class, making sure I understood everything.