Science subjects really hard

A new research has shown that school kids studying science and technology subjects like Maths, Physics and Chemistry find it much harder to achieve the top exam grades than candidates of similar ability studying subjects like Media Studies and Psychology.For the study, researchers at Durham University analysed and compared data from nearly one million schoolchildren sitting GCSE and A-level exams and reviewed 28 different studies of cross subject comparison conducted in the UK since 1970.They found significant differences in the relative difficulty of exams in different subjects with the sciences among the hardest.On average, subjects like Physics, Chemistry and Biology at A-level are a whole grade harder than Drama, Sociology or Media Studies, and three-quarters of a grade harder than English, RE or Business Studies.Researchers voice concerns that students will be more likely to choose to study ‘easier’ subjects and will not opt to study science subjects that are desperately needed by employers in the knowledge economy.