I am also in a similar situation having started with flying more than a year back. The circuit is definitely the most frustrating one, but could be quite rewarding when you do a better landing, can hold the speed etc.
There are quite a few things that I am still frustrated about ... but ... I'll continue ..
My advice would be to finish the exams first ... all except one. PPLQUIZ is wonderful.
Afterwards, you can focus on just flying. Otherwise, it comes in the way and could break the rythm.
Concerning practical training, in my experience, many instructors are not verbose (it would have helped me if they were
). They don't give you a lot of feedback in terms of analyzing what could be going wrong. So, you just practise and as they say .... it falls in place one day at a time.