Top 10 Easiest A Level Subjects - 2023 Ranking - Think Student (2023)

As a step up from GCSEs, A levels can be completely different. This can make it difficult to know how well a subject suits you, even if you studied it at GCSE. Watching how other students have found a course can be a great way to learn about courses you can take without having to experience them yourself.

Read on to find out which A subjects are easiest for students. This article will take you through the rankings and give you an insight into why the course can be easy for students.

Let us advise.The ranking of the A-level items on this list is not final. Each student has individual strengths and weaknesses, so some subjects will be more difficult than others. In addition, the ratings of the hardest A-levels depend on the criteria on which they are based. In this article, we've tried to consider the many different factors that make certain A-level items challenging, but keep in mind that this list is based on opinion based surveys. While you may want to keep this in mind when choosing A-level subjects, you should also think about your specific skills and what interests you when choosing A-level subjects.

Easiest Levels: Student Perception vs. pass rates

Below is the visualization difficulty at level A (top - the easiest, bottom - 11ᵗʰ the easiest). The graph shows both the results of our own internal surveys and our analysis of graduation rates (Grade C or above) for the 2022 cohort.

Click the chart legend (color key) to filter the ranking by specific metrics.

(*) Perception of Difficulty represents the percentage of students who voted this subject the easiest at A-Level in our survey. You can read more about how we collected this data at the end of this article.
(**) Pass rates refer to the percentage of students in 2022 who achieved grade C or higher. This data was collected from bothheron the Ofquali websitethis pagez JCQ.

Make your way through the A-level difficulty levels

This section explains whether there is a correlation between the easiest subjects and graduation rates, and explains why students might consider these subjects to be the easiest. If you want to speak up, please vote in the poll at the end of this article.

10. Level math

2.12% of those surveyed found A-level mathematics to be the easiest A-level, placing it in 10th place.In 2022, 78.5% of students achieved a C grade or better, and 22.8% of students achieved an A* grade. Given that the average across all subjects was 14.5% and an A* grade, it seems that A-level maths really is one of the easiest A-level subjects because students are doing so well.

However, A-Level math is also considered one of the hardest A-Level maths and ranks 4th in difficulty in our rankings.While this is not entirely accurate, it is important to note that different students' perceptions of A-Level Difficulty are entirely individual and can vary greatly, as shown in this topic.

Students may find A-level math easy because there are often restrictions on who can take it.This means that students generally have very good math skills even before they start their Abitur.

For this reason, students are more likely to choose other subjects that are considered difficult, such as A-Level Chemistry, A-Level Physics, or even A-Level Math.This may mean that they have it easier compared to other subjects that are considered difficult. For more information on this, please read our article onthe most difficult items on level A.

9. Basic ICT

2.54% of those surveyed considered A-level ICT to be the easiest A-level, placing it in 9th place.In 2022, 80.5% of students achieved a C grade or better and 9.6% of students achieved an A* grade.

The proportion of students achieving a grade above C suggests that A-level computer science is easier than A-level mathematics. However, this is still slightly below the average for all subjects, with 82.1% of students achieving a C or higher.

Students will often find A-Level ICT easy as most of the course will be in class.This means that students have the chance to work on part of their assessment instead of doing it throughout the exam. This can make it easier because it allows students to improve their work and make sure it is the best.

In ICT A Level, students learn how to present information, network, use ICT, database systems, and more.While it will be more in-depth and complex than the GCSE, students may find it easier as it is still quite straightforward. Find out more about itthis guidedor WJEC.

8. A-Level Business

4.66% of respondents considered A-Level Business to be the easiest A-Level, placing it in 8th place.In 2022, 83.2% of students achieved a C grade or better, and 7.3% of students achieved an A* grade. This suggests that A-Level Business is one of the easiest A-Levels, as the percentage of students who get a C or above is higher than average.

In A-Level Business, students learn about various areas related to business, such as management, marketing, operations, finance, HR and business strategy. While there is some theory and calculation involved, this content is quite simple and easy to use.

As an A-Level Business student, I find that, as with GCSEs, A-Level Business relies heavily on common sense and reasoning to answer the questions, which makes them much easier than other subjects.The exams also have a series of questions, so even if essays are not your forte, you can still score enough on shorter questions to get a good grade.To learn more about what an A-Level business looks like, visit the websitethis ThinkStudent article.

7. Religious studies at the matriculation level

6.78% of the respondents considered religious studies at A level to be the easiest A level, placing it in 7th place.In 2022, 87.6% of students achieved a C grade or higher, and 12.5% ​​of students achieved an A* grade. This suggests that A-Level Religious Studies is easier than A-Level business management, as more students were able to achieve a C or higher.

In A-Level Religious Studies, students learn about a particular religion as well as religious philosophy and ethics.With this content, A-Level Religious Studies students can easily find it as it is simple and easy to understand. For more information on A-Level Religious Studies, please visitthis pagedie AQA.

6. Art and design subjects at A level

8.47% of the respondents considered A-Level Art and Design to be the easiest A-Level, placing it in 6th place.In 2022, 90.3% of students achieved a C grade or higher, and 18.7% of students achieved an A* grade. This suggests that A-level arts in particular is an easy subject that also allows students to get top grades.

This is probably because students who choose elementary arts or similar subjects are likely to take the subject seriously and have a strong interest in it. This is mainly because creating an art portfolio in courses takes a lot of time and effort.

Being something that students like and even find easy, A-Level Art and Design can be considered one of the easiest subjects as there is no real content to learn or anything difficult other than actually applying art skills.For more information on what is being studied, please visitthis pagedie AQA.

5. Level A law

8.69% of those surveyed found A-Level Law to be the easiest A-Level, ranking it 5th.In 2022, 71.3% of students achieved a C grade or better and 8% of students achieved an A* grade.

Since these numbers are relatively low, this may suggest that A-level law is actually harder than students think. The reason for this is unclear, suggesting that it may be a subject that some find easy and others find difficult.

At A-Level Law, students learn how the law works and study subjects such as the UK legal system, human rights and criminal law.Students may find a Level A law easy if they find the content clear.For more information on A-level legal content, please visitthis guidedie AQA.

4. A-Level Geography

11.44% of respondents considered geography at A level to be the easiest A level, placing it in 4th place.In 2022, 85.6% of students achieved a C grade or better, and 11% of students achieved an A* grade.

This suggests that it is one of the easiest A-level exams, as students fared much better than A-level Law, achieving above-average scores in all subjects. However, as the percentage of students who achieve 10 is slightly lower than for all subjects, this may mean that it is more difficult to obtain top grades.

In A-Level Geography, students learn about both physical and human geography, with an emphasis on topics such as the water cycle, ecosystems, and resource security.This makes it easier for students to find A-level geography as the content is often quite simple and easy to understand. In addition, compared to other subjects, there is little of it, which allows you to study deeper and faster.

As with many A-Levels in the Humanities, part of the program is reviewed by the NEA.This can make life easier for students as it means not everything depends on their final exam.

For more information on A-level geography, please visitthis guideby AQA. For more information on A-level geography, visit the NEAthis ThinkStudent article.

3. A-Level Drama

12.50% of those surveyed found A-Level Drama to be the easiest A-Level, placing it in third place.. In 2022, 91% of students achieved a C grade or higher and 14.9% of students achieved an A* grade. This suggests that A-Level Drama is an easy A-Level because so many students have been able to do it so well.

This is likely because students in A-Level Drama already have the basic skills needed to compose plays and study a variety of plays,making it easier for them to access new A-level content.

Also, A level drama can be considered easy due to the nature of the exams.This is because instead of written exams, as with most matriculation exams, A-Level Drama also includes practical tests, which make up a large percentage of the grade.

This can make students feel that A-level drama is easy because they would choose it because of their interest in the subject, and therefore are likely to be good at the practical side of A-level drama as well. For more information on the A-Level Drama rating, please visitthis pagedie AQA.

2. Film/Media/Television at level A

20.13% of those surveyed found A-level film/media/television studios to be the easiest at A-level, placing them in second place.In 2022, 87.5% of students achieved a C grade or higher and 6.3% of students achieved an A* grade. A-Level Film/Media/Television Studies, while slightly lower than A-Level, still have a very high proportion of students achieving a C or above, suggesting that it is one of the easiest A-Level subjects.

At A-Level Film/Media/TV Studies, students learn about various aspects of media or film/television content.This could be learning the industries they exist in and studying specific aspects in depth, such as A-level media magazines or social media, or studying specific movies or TV shows at A-level film/television studios.

This allows students to find these A levels easy because the content is simple.Since students may already know some of this content due to their knowledge of the world, this can make it even easier.

For more information on what is studied in A-Level media, please visitthis guideby AQA. For more information on what is studied at A-level film studios, please visitthis guidez OCR.

1. A-Level Sociology

20.76% of the respondents considered Sociology A-Level to be the easiest matriculation exam, placing it in first place.In 2022, 82.1% of students achieved a C grade or higher, and 9% of students achieved an A* grade.

While the figures for the percentage of students achieving a C or above are high, this suggests that it is one of the easiest subjects. The proportion of students achieving an A* grade is quite low, especially compared to the average of 14.5% across all subjects.

This is probably due to students' belief that A-level sociology is easy. This is because, looking at it this way, which apparently many do even based on this ranking, some students may not realize how much effort they still have to put in to get the best grades.

In A Level Sociology, students learn about various aspects of society such as education, crime, culture, poverty, media, and health. While students learn this with some theory, the rest will be key elements, some of which you may already be familiar with.

This allows students to feel that A-level sociology is easy because of its simple content.For more information on A-Level Sociology, please visitthis pagedie AQA.

It is important to note that for Sociology A Level and other subjects, students may find them easily for a variety of reasons, and the topics suggested here may not be suitable for all students.

How were these rankings determined?

For each A-Level subject on this list, we cover both of the following factors:

1. Our results from student surveys (ranking factor)
2. Our success rate study (based on Ofqual data release)

To avoid the complexity of trying to combine them, we evaluate each subject solely based on the results of student surveys. As mentioned, it is not perfect and students should definitely take this ranking with a grain of salt.

How was voting data collected?

Between January 2021 and January 2023, we posted a poll on this page asking readers to vote which A level subject was the easiest. During this time, we collect 472 votes, not counting submissions that were excluded from the dataset due to formatting issues or other errors.

Below are some important limitations of our testing methods that may have affected the results:

• Static order of topics on the voting form:The previous iteration of our survey form contained A-level topics in the same order each time. One could argue that this would favor the best items. This issue has been resolved in our updated voting form below.
• Only a subset of A-Level items appeared on the survey sheet:Previously, only a small selection of A-level subjects were included in the survey. We have now extended this selection in the voting form.
• Potential bad actors:Despite anti-spam software installed, multiple entries could be made by individuals. Regarding privacy, we do not ask for more information than we need, and as a result, it is almost impossible to identify users of reports to verify their uniqueness.

This article is part of a series of A-Level ranking articles featured on this page. If you find our data and analysis in this article useful, you can also take a lookthis ThinkStudent articleto find out which Grade A items are considered the hardest.