What's Harder: GCSE or National 5? Which Subjects Are the Hardest?

By Clarissa Joshua
May 17, 2022

What is harder GCSE or National 5?
Is GCSE harder than National 5 to do well in?
Is National 5 harder than GCSE to fail?

Students like yourself often want to know what's harder: GCSE or National 5. To work this out, we’re going to share the exam results for recent years and let you know which subjects are the hardest based on the grades awarded. Some of the results are probably going to surprise you too! Which do you think is the hardest GCSE and which is the hardest National 5? exam

What is harder GCSE or National 5?

The Scottish National 5 qualifications are broadly equivalent to the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) used in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The National 5 is generally considered more academically advanced than the GCSE, although it’s tricky to compare them because they’re not like for like.

For starters, the grading system used is different for both. GCSE grades are from one to nine and replace the old range of G to A*. The National 5 system awards a D, C, B, or A. Also, the GCSE qualifications are designed to take two years to complete, whereas the National 5 is just one. That means there’s more content covered in GCSEs.

Let’s get to work and find out how many students get good grades in the different subjects and how many fail. 💫

Is GCSE harder than National 5 to do well in?

We’re going to share the results for GCSEs over the past few years first. Below is the total percentage of students in England who received a grade seven, eight, or nine which are equivalent to the old scores of A to A*. We’ve ordered the table by the 2021 results. It’s good to look back over the past three years because 2020 and 2021 saw a lot of disruption thanks to the pandemic.

Rank	GCSE	2019	2020	2021
1	Double science	7.5	10.4	12.2
2	Maths	20.4	24.3	25.9
3	English literature	20.7	24.7	26.0
4	English	17.4	23.5	26.3
5	Design and technology	19.4	27.7	30.1
6	Art and design subjects	22.8	29.6	30.2
7	History	24.6	29.4	32.3
8	French	22.9	29.5	32.4
9	Business studies	18.0	28.0	33.1
10	Spanish	25.7	31.9	33.8
11	Geography	24.5	30.1	34.2
12	German	22.9	33.3	37.3
13	Religious studies	30.5	35.0	37.7
14	Computing	21.4	33.4	39.2
15	Drama	23.6	36.8	40.6
16	Physical education	21.2	33.4	40.8
17	Music	31.6	45.8	50
18	Chemistry	44.1	53.5	54.9
19	Physics	44.0	53.2	55.4
20	Biology	43.3	54.0	56.7

As you can see, double science is the hardest GCSE to get good grades in with only 12.2 per cent of students receiving a seven to nine. Maths and English also proved more challenging than most. The subjects that the highest percentage of students did well in were biology, physics, and chemistry. If we take the average across all subjects for 2021, 36.45 per cent of students received a seven, eight, or nine (or A to A*). 😃

Meanwhile, here is the percentage of students in Scotland who were awarded an A to C for their National 5 qualifications. This table is also sorted by results for 2021.

Rank	National 5	2019	2020	2021
1	Applications of Mathematics	59	75	64
2	Care	80	82	71
3	Mathematics	66	79	73
4	Biology	71	83	76
5	Philosophy	61	85	81
6	Physics	75	86	81
7	Environmental Science	49	86	82
8	Chemistry	77	88	82
9	Business Management	78	90	83
10	Media	66	92	84
11	Health and Food Technology	75	92	85
12	Psychology	58	89	85
13	Sociology	69	88	85
14	Computing Science	75	90	86
15	Design and Manufacture	71	91	86
16	Engineering Science	84	93	86
17	Practical Electronics	87	86	86
18	Graphic Communication	72	92	87
19	Practical Metalworking	83	94	87
20	Religious, Moral and Philosophical Studies	69	90	87
21	Accounting	84	91	88
22	Gaelic (Learners)	73	94	88
23	History	79	90	88
24	Geography	72	90	89
25	Classical Studies	80	95	90
26	English for Speakers of Other Languages	78	93	90
27	Modern Studies	73	89	90
28	Dance	87	96	91
29	English	86	91	91
30	Fashion and Textile Technology	59	92	91
31	French	85	94	91
32	German	86	95	91
33	Italian	89	94	91
34	Practical Woodworking	86	94	92
35	Spanish	88	95	92
36	Administration and IT	79	92	93
37	Practical Cake Craft	60	93	93
38	Practical Cookery	83	95	93
39	Art and Design	87	96	94
40	Chinese Languages	96	98	94
41	Music Technology	85	95	94
42	Drama	94	97	96
43	Music	94	97	97
44	Physical Education	94	98	97
45	Economics	91	98	98
46	Gàidhlig	92	98	99
47	Latin	96	99	99
48	Urdu	99	100	100

Interestingly, some of the highest-scoring GCSEs were the lowest scoring National 5’s and vice versa. Maths is a subject that students in both systems seem to find harder. However, GCSE students scored best in biology, chemistry, and physics, whereas these subjects saw some of the lowest National 5 results.

The table below displays the percentage of students that received an A for a National 5 qualification in 2021.

National 5	A grades awarded
Applications of Mathematics	23
Care	33
Design and Manufacture	34
Environmental Science	34
Health and Food Technology	34
English for Speakers of Other Languages	36
Practical Electronics	36
Biology	37
Practical Metalworking	37
Mathematics	38
Graphic Communication	39
Practical Cookery	40
Business Management	41
Practical Cake Craft	42
Physics	43
Practical Woodworking	43
Chemistry	45
Computing Science	45
Media	45
Sociology	45
Philosophy	46
Art and Design	47
Fashion and Textile Technology	47
English	48
Administration and IT	49
Music Technology	49
Psychology	50
Dance	51
Religious, Moral and Philosophical Studies	52
Engineering Science	53
Geography	53
History	54
Gaelic (Learners)	55
Modern Studies	55
Accounting	56
Classical Studies	56
German	58
Spanish	59
French	60
Italian	61
Drama	62
Physical Education	62
Music	67
Gàidhlig	69
Chinese Languages	75
Urdu	79
Economics	82
Latin	96

As you can see, applications of mathematics still tops the list in terms of difficulty but Latin is the National 5 that came away with the most A’s for 2021.

Is National 5 harder than GCSE to fail?

Now you know how many students did well in their GCSEs and National 5’s, let’s look at the other end of the spectrum. Before we do, if you’re about to start your GCSEs or National 5’s, or already have, you don’t have to do it alone. We have tutors that cover all subjects and they’ll help you achieve your academic dream, whether it’s passing that next exam or getting the best grades possible.

The following table shows what percentage of students failed a GCSE by scoring a U (ungraded), one, two, or three.

Rank	Subject / Year	2019	2020	2021
1	Double science	44.5	35.6	35.3
2	History	36.5	25.6	23.9
3	Design and technology	36.7	21.1	23.2
4	Geography	34.8	24.5	23.2
5	Maths	28.5	22.9	22.1
6	Religious studies	27.4	19.5	19.8
7	Business studies	34.4	19.9	19.5
8	English literature	25.9	19.9	19.4
9	English	29.5	19.8	19.1
10	Computing	37.5	20.1	17.6
11	French	30.6	18.0	17.0
12	Spanish	30.3	18.4	16.9
13	Art and design subjects	24.8	13.5	15.1
14	Drama	25.6	12.8	14.7
15	Physical education	28.0	14.4	13.0
16	German	24.7	13.4	12.6
17	Music	24.5	10.8	12.0
18	Chemistry	9.6	4.1	5.5
19	Biology	9.4	4.8	5.4
20	Physics	8.9	3.7	4.5

Double science is back again to prove it’s the hardest of the GCSEs with 35.3 per cent failing in 2021. Maths also caused 22.1 per cent of students to fail and English wasn’t far behind at 19.1 per cent.

When it comes to the National 5 qualifications, the lowest grade awarded is a D. In 2021, eight per cent of grades awarded were a D.

So, now you know which are the hardest (and easiest) GCSE and National 5 subjects. While the National 5 qualifications are often regarded as being slightly more challenging this does vary by subject. Some subjects will be more difficult under the National 5 system and others under the GCSE. Of course, you’ll get students from both sides arguing there’s is the hardest. 👍

At the end of the day, you’re probably not going to move so you can have an easier (or more difficult if that’s your thing) school system. You can help yourself by choosing subjects you’re interested in, are good at, and/or need in the future.

Remember, if you need any help at all during your studies we have tutors who specialise in all levels and subjects. We’ll match the ideal tutor to you based on your needs and goals. Then you’ll receive a personalised learning plan so you can see exactly what you need to do. The first lesson’s free so why not give it a try and see how powerful it can be?