Are GCSEs Hard? What to Expect and How to Prepare for Success

Published 23rd July 2025

Introduction

GCSEs or General Certificates of Secondary Education. You’ve heard those four letters bandying around for almost your whole life, but as you creep towards year eleven, it’s probably all becoming a little more real. And daunting.

You might have a ton of questions. When do they start? How many will I have? What do I have to do? How do I prepare? Do they matter? Are GCSEs hard?

We’ll break down the next two or three years so you can ensure you are prepared for success.

Give Me the Craic on GCSEs, Then

GCSEs are the exams you study, normally at the end of year eleven, which prove to the outside world that you’ve been doing something between those four walls that you call hell and they call school. You will normally complete GCSEs in around eight or nine subjects.

You need to present your best side. For some of you, that will be a grade nine (the best mark you can get) and for others a grade four (a pass). GCSEs are important for helping you take the next step towards whatever future you dream of (or that you might if you knew what you wanted to do!).

For most subjects, the courses will take around two years. For some, you may start earlier so you have a head start with learning.

What Subjects Will I Study?

In almost all cases, there are some subjects you must take and others you can choose.

You must take:

• English Language
• Maths
• Science (this is double award science, which means you get two GCSEs for studying a combined course that covers Physics, Chemistry, Biology)
• Normally, students are also expected to study English Literature

Students are often guided towards taking:

• A humanities subject (like History or Geography)
• A language (like Spanish, French or German)

This is because some universities request these subjects.

You will then likely get a choice of subjects that may include:

• Creative subjects like Art, Music or Drama
• Technology subjects
• Possibly social science subjects like Criminology, Law or Business Studies

Are GCSEs Hard?

GCSEs will feel more or less difficult for different students depending on their aptitude for a subject, their experience and prior teaching in a subject, their attendance and how well they keep up with their studies. So, I’m afraid there is no one-size-fits-all all answer here.

You are likely to find some subjects harder than others and some easier. Some, like History, Science and even English Literature, will test your memory, whilst others, like English Language, Hospitality and Catering and Music, are more skills-based.

The trickiest part of GCSEs for all students is that you are likely to have a multitude of important exams within weeks of each other. Sometimes, you may have more than one exam in a day.

That means that you will need to remember what you have learned across two to three years in eight to nine subjects in a relatively small timescale.

This is where the preparation comes in. There are two strands to effective preparation: long term and short term.

Long Term Preparation

This type of prep is the work that you do over the two to three years that you’re studying GCSEs. It includes:

Working Hard in Lessons

Now is not the time to chat to your mates. It is not the time to daydream about what you’ll have for lunch in the canteen. It is not the time to flirt with the girl or boy who sits in front of you. Now is the time to knuckle down.

Because what your teacher is droning on about at the front of the classroom may well be in the exam.

Take Notes

Ensure that your exercise books from lessons are bursting at the seams with the nuggets of knowledge your teacher has imparted to you. When you’re sitting in the exam hall a year or so from now, you are unlikely to remember what they said without it written down to revise from.

Practise Your Skills at Home

Take your homework seriously. You won’t have a teacher in the exam with you to tell you what to do, and homework builds independence.

Work With a Tutor

This long-term help from a professional will guide you through any issues you have with aspects of your course and is a good way to build on the knowledge from school in a quieter and calmer environment.

Short Term Preparation

When the exams start to loom, it’s time to crank up your pace and head into revision mode. But what is revision, and how do you do it?

Create a Revision Timetable

It’s important to spread out your revision across your subjects. Make sure your timetable gives you time for breaks and even a day off. On the other hand, ensure you allocate enough time to your subjects so you don’t have to cram at the last minute.

Create Revision Materials

For most students, the creation of flashcards, mind maps, notes and posters helps to get information into their brains. Use colour and images to help you to remember things, as many of us are visual learners.

Test Yourself

Once you have flashcards set up, you can test yourself. Do this often, and even those pesky hard-to-learn facts will eventually settle into your memory.

Before Bedtime Ritual

Just before you turn out your light out is a great time to read through your notes or use your flashcards. That way, as you sleep, your mind will be incorporating your learning into your memory.

Past Papers

You should be able to find copies of past papers for all your GCSEs on the exam board website. Use these papers to have extra tries at old exams. The mark schemes should be there too, so you can check your answers.

Conclusion

Are GCSEs hard, then? They’re certainly not easy. Over the coming years, you will be tested on the skills and information that you’ve spent your secondary education learning. That’s a lot!

Start to take your learning seriously, so when the exams arrive, you’re ahead of the game.