New study reveals the UK’s hardest subjects- its not what you expect

The research has analysed 100,000 essay requests made by students in the UK & USA to discover the subjects that students require the most additional help with when it comes to writing assignments.  

The top 10 subjects students find the most difficult: 

UK students struggle the most with Business and Entrepreneurship qualifications, with 9.15% of UK students requesting essay assistance across topics such as Human Resources, Market Research, Communications and Management. 

English is the second hardest subject for UK students, with 4.29% of essay requests made by English students. Those requiring help needed assistance with essays about literature such as Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Of Mice and Men, as well as creative writing, persuasive and comparative essays.

3.24% of students requested help with engineering, making it the third most difficult subject for UK students. Students asked for help surrounding topics such as health and safety, design and construction technology. 

There are numerous similarities in the top ten subjects both UK and US students find the most difficult, with four subjects featured in the top ten for both countries, including English, Business and Entrepreneurship, Psychology, and History. 

Meanwhile, UK students require more assistance with engineering, computer science, sport, law, economics and management. Whilst US learners find literature, sociology, education, nursing, political science and healthcare a lot more challenging than those in the UK. 

Avery Morgan, Chief Communications Officer at EduBirdie comments on the research:

“It is clear that English is one of the hardest subjects for students across the USA and the UK. The demand for additional support is likely to be due to English traditionally being an assignment based subject, with more long essays and required reading expected than other subjects, which takes a considerable amount of time. It can also be hard for those studying English Literature to find the passion to write about books they don’t enjoy, whilst those studying English Language often struggle to understand the semantic shifts in language from Old English up to the present day.” 

“In the UK, Business and Entrepreneurship qualifications require the most assistance. This may be due to the breadth of disciplines business degrees cover, including the likes of economics, management, marketing, human resources and so on. This means students benefit from a wide range of skills and knowledge, from maths to essay writing, group work to presentations, which means there are likely to be areas of weakness for every student.

“Students require help with their essays for a multitude of reasons. For some, English is not their first language, and EduBirdie offers support on essay structure, spelling corrections and amending grammatical errors. Whilst others struggle with time management and organisation, requiring additional assistance to meet their deadlines on time.”