I’m 16, I probably won’t get my GCSEs and I have missed the deadline for college. Have I majorly screwed my life over?

Nah, kid, you're still good. Like, you should definitely go for your qualifications, *especially* since you like learning. But you're not for the dung heap just because you're behind. I fucked up royally at college level. Long story short, I was in an abusive relationship, and it went a good way towards breaking me. Certainly fucked my grades up - got a C, a D, and an E (No matter that Ds and Es used to be passing grades at A-Level, they were still worthless). *Ultimately* turned out to be a good thing. I did an extra year at college, resat a whole A Level in one year, resat a couple of exams, got myself BCC and an A grade in an AS (would have been A*, but we didn't have that for A-Levels then), and I got into a university I actually wanted to get into, doing a course that, while it has made certain parts of my life harder, made my life infinitely better. But certain parts of the way you describe things strikes a chord with me. Top sets, but gets in trouble. Loves learning, but chucks school. Knows deadlines are important but misses them, knows they need to apply for things, but hasn't. *Do not* take offence at this next bit. Do you have ADHD? Either diagnosed or undiagnosed? Because it sounds like you *could* have ADHD. Doesn't matter that you got top grades and love learning - I used to get top grades in everything *but* exams, and I was always in top sets, and at 27, I found out I have ADHD. ADHD isn't a 'stupid kid' disorder - it can affect our memory, and ability to 'behave', 'control ourselves', and 'concentrate' in school, but if you *enjoy learning*, it makes that learning easier. What gets harder is the other crap. Not punching the that that keeps chucking his rubber at you. Staying completely silent for the authoritarian teacher. Sitting perfectly still while they explain something. Not going off on tangents in class. Wrapping up that conversation you were having in break, and so on. Very often, we wind up getting in trouble, *and have no idea why*. Or we know *why*, but we *don't really know why we did the thing that got us in trouble*. And we have a *hell* of a lot of trouble with *deadlines*. They're just not *real* until they're *right fucking now*. By which point, it's usually too late to do anything about them, so we miss them. If any of these strikes true with you, I'd suggest looking into an ADHD diagnosis. Meds are *life-changing* if you have ADHD. Don't be put off by anti-med propaganda - if you *have* ADHD, and there's no specific health reason you can't take meds, they can *very literally* save your life. Unmedicated ADHD leaves one vulnerable to addictions to *basically everything*, it can stop us getting the qualifications or jobs we want, it can stop us from saving up for homes, cars, weddings, it can make us overweight, it can wind us up in debt... Medicating can protect us from *all* of this. The *right* med for you, at the *right* dosage for you, taken *correctly* won't 'turn you into a zombie' or any of that other nonsense. My meds let me be the me I *choose* to be, rather than the me I *have* to be because 'I' am always trying to play catch-up with my *actions* and living with the consequences of them. Having ADHD is like running with a heavy pack, and wondering why all the other kids run faster than you - and in this metaphor, 'running faster' doesn't mean 'getting better grades', it means *everything else*. Meds take away some of that weight. For advice specific to the things you listed, however: Your very first step should be rocking up to your school, or even to the college you wanted to attend, explaining your situation, and explaining what it is you actually *want*. At the end of the day, these people are the ones sitting on the information, and these people are the ones who can tell you what you *need*. You may not even need to sit anything privately - I knew a bunch of people at college taking some of their GCSEs in their first year (usually Maths and English), and that was free. They went onto A-Levels in their second and third years (at least back then, you were entitled to three years of college, even though A-Levels usually ran for two years. It was in case you needed to resit anything). Do not get me wrong. Whatever path you choose is *going* to be hard. Even though you're not for the scrap heap, you have time to make up for, and that will be *difficult*. *But that doesn't mean you can't do it*. You may even find that the greater challenge motivates you more, and lets you perform better - god knows it did for me. That third year of college? Sure, I had to study a lot harder, but I *aced* most of those things. I almost failed out of uni because I failed four modules in my first year. Rest of my degree I took an extra module per semester, and took a laptop to my lectures. Between *actually* being able to make notes, being able to *actually* listen to my lectures, and the increased pressure, I *flew* through my courses. Slow tempos have always been harder for me. Could be as it's harder for you, too. Anyway, that's my piece. Gotta go do my shopping - I'm already late :P If you have any questions, kid, feel free to reply, or even drop me a PM/DM if you prefer. I'll reply when I can. Either way, I wish you the *very* best of luck going forward, and I *truly* hope any of this helps. You got this.