GCSEs have had a tough time in recent years.
First complete disruption due to the pandemic, then a complete reform and a new grading system.
Pupils are worried if GCSEs have become harder as a result.
According to the latest official UK government data, based on 2021/22 Key Stage 4 performance, the hardest GCSE subjects are:
- Film Studies
- Engineering
- Food Preparation and Nutrition
- English Language
- English Literature
The hardest GCSE in 2023 is Film Studies. Nationwide it only scored a 0.46 E:F ratio.
This means you are over twice as likely to fail as you are to score an 8 or 9 on your Film Studies GCSE.
So what do we mean by a ‘hard’ GCSE?
I would consider any GCSE where more students fail than do well hard.
Looking for the hardest A level subjects? Click here.
Contents
Are GCSEs hard?
As with any exam, at any age, GCSEs get easier the more months of revision you put in.
On average, just over 25% of a GCSE class will score an 8 or 9.
While around 15% will fail, scoring below a 4.
Unfortunately, despite birthing the language, English appears twice on this list of hardest A level subjects in England.
Not the list you were expecting?
Don’t worry, Maths narrowly missed being in the bottom 5!
It is however the 7th worst GCSE.
In fact, the government headline from this report is that only 49.8% of pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in English and mathematics GCSEs.
Remember: You need to have a minimum of a '5' in English Language, English Literature and Mathematics GCSE for most 6th forms and university courses. Even if you get into Sixth Form and do well at A levels, your Uni choices can still reject you if you score less than a '5' on any of those 3 GCSEs.
Calculating the Easiest and Hardest GCSEs
To work out which A level subjects were the easiest and hardest I ranked the 2021/22 data by difficulty.
The data shows what percentage of pupils scored 1-9 on all possible 38 GCSEs.
For every GCSE, the official definition of a fail is anything under a 4.
I have classed 8 and 9 as ‘excelling’, i.e. doing really well.
Grouping grades like this gives some crazy results.
The main takeaway?
It is much more important to pick one of the best/easiest GCSE subjects than it is to avoid the hardest GCSEs.
Check out why in the table below.
The Hardest to Easiest GCSEs ranked
As I said, you are more than twice as likely to fail Film Studies as you are to get an 8 or 9.
But what about the ‘easiest’ or ‘best’ GCSE?
That would be…
…drumroll…
Classical Greek!
77% of pupils who take Classical Greek GCSE get top marks, an 8 or 9.
In fact, you are 43 times more likely to excel than you are to fail.
Below is a list of all 38 GCSE subjects, ranked from ‘Worst’ to ‘Best.
The last column, rounded Excel:Fail ratios, show you how many students achieved an 8 or 9, versus those that failed and got less than 4.
The higher the number in Column H, the higher the chance of doing well.
On mobile? Open the table as an image by clicking here.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | GCSE Subject | % Pupils scoring 3 or lower | % Pupils scoring 8 or higher | Excel:Fail Ratio | (rounded) | |||
2 | Film Studies | 26.5 | 12.1 | Worst | 0.46 | 0 | ||
3 | Engineering | 27.8 | 14 | 0.50 | 1 | |||
4 | Food Prep & Nutrition | 25.7 | 13.1 | 0.51 | 1 | |||
5 | English Language | 21 | 11.9 | 0.57 | 1 | |||
6 | English Literature | 19.5 | 11.5 | 0.59 | 1 | |||
7 | Media/Film/TV | 22.8 | 13.6 | 0.60 | 1 | |||
8 | Design & Technology | 26.2 | 15.8 | 0.60 | 1 | |||
9 | Mathematics | 22.8 | 13.9 | 0.61 | 1 | |||
10 | Social Studies | 23.3 | 14.6 | 0.63 | 1 | |||
11 | History | 26.3 | 17.3 | 0.66 | 1 | |||
12 | Geography | 25.9 | 17.9 | 0.69 | 1 | |||
13 | Business | 23 | 16.6 | 0.72 | 1 | |||
14 | Statistics | 13.6 | 11 | 0.81 | 1 | |||
15 | Spanish | 21.1 | 17.2 | 0.82 | 1 | |||
16 | Art and Design | 17.5 | 15.1 | 0.86 | 1 | |||
17 | French | 20 | 18.6 | 0.93 | 1 | |||
18 | Computer Science | 22.3 | 21.1 | 0.95 | 1 | |||
19 | Religious Studies | 19.5 | 19.8 | 1.02 | 1 | |||
20 | Physical Education | 17.4 | 20.9 | 1.20 | 1 | |||
21 | Dance | 17.2 | 20.8 | 1.21 | 1 | |||
22 | Drama | 17.5 | 21.7 | 1.24 | 1 | |||
23 | German | 15.7 | 20.9 | 1.33 | 1 | |||
24 | Ancient History | 15 | 27.3 | 1.82 | 2 | |||
25 | Music | 15.6 | 29 | 1.86 | 2 | |||
26 | Economics | 11.6 | 28.3 | 2.44 | 2 | |||
27 | Urdu | 12 | 29.6 | 2.47 | 2 | |||
28 | Other Sciences | 9.6 | 36.3 | 3.78 | 4 | |||
29 | Arabic | 7.3 | 30.4 | 4.16 | 4 | |||
30 | Classical Civilisation | 8.3 | 34.6 | 4.17 | 4 | |||
31 | Biology | 6.7 | 33 | 4.93 | 5 | |||
32 | Chemistry | 6.5 | 32.7 | 5.03 | 5 | |||
33 | Physics | 5.6 | 33.2 | 5.93 | 6 | |||
34 | Italian | 6.4 | 42.1 | 6.58 | 7 | |||
35 | Chinese | 4.5 | 50.3 | 11.18 | 11 | |||
36 | Oth. Modern Languages | 2.9 | 43.5 | 15.00 | 15 | |||
37 | Latin | 3.2 | 62.3 | 19.47 | 19 | |||
38 | Polish | 1.4 | 52 | 37.14 | 37 | |||
39 | Classical Greek | 1.8 | 77.3 | Best | 42.94 | 43 |
Choosing the right GCSEs
I said earlier it is much more important to pick one of the ‘Best/Easiest’ GCSE subjects than it is to avoid the hardest GCSEs.
Why?
Because of the extremes.
For the bottom 5 subjects listed, around twice as many students fail than excel.
The ‘difficulty’ or chance you will fail is capped at an E:F of 0.46 (Film Studies).
Choosing one of these subjects isn’t hurting your chances much, as most subjects have an E:F of 1.
On the other hand, picking one of the ‘best’ GCSEs really boosts your chances of getting a good mark in a big way.
For the 5th ‘best’ subject, Chinese, 11 times as many students excel than fail.
By the time we get to the best subject, Classical Greek, that lead has grown so much pupils are 43 times more likely to excel than fail.
Pretty good odds!
How do I use this to pick my GCSEs?
Although some subjects do seem to be a better choice than others, you shouldn’t let these numbers influence your GCSE choices too much.
Why?
Because most GCSEs are balanced.
In 21 of 38 total GCSEs, the Excel:Fail ratio is ~1, rounded to the nearest whole number.
So the chances of getting a 1-3 or 8-9 is around the same.
Ignoring the extremes, about 60-75% of students get between a 4 and 7 in their exams.
Shouldn’t everyone pick the easiest GCSEs?
These aren’t the easiest or hardest GCSEs – there are too many factors influencing the numbers.
Right at the top, we have Modern and Ancient languages.
Some students will speak these languages at home, or know them as a second language from childhood.
Classical Greek on the other hand, is taught in a limited number of state schools, and overwhelmingly in private.
Within the schools that do teach it, class sizes for Classical Greek GCSE can be in single figures, meaning more personalised attention from the teacher.
Note: All of the data in this article is for state-funded schools in England only
At the bottom, we have a varied mix of subjects, starting with the highest fail rate:
- Engineering
- Film Studies
- History
- Design & Technology
- Food Preparation & Nutrition
These subjects span humanities and science, purely academic vs practical, and pedagogy so there is little similarity that would explain their place in the list.
In the end, everyone should pick GCSEs based on their interests, what they enjoy and what they hope to become in the future.