Has anybody else found university easier than previous education?

So I find myself in this situation, and I’ve often wondered have other people? Basically I was never that great in school. Before GCSE’s I was in the middle band and I got below average grades at GCSE (1A, 2B, 3C, 2D, 1F). I never cared really until I got those GCSE results and then realised i wanted to actually go to university so I buckled up a bit and studied a BTEC in Medical Sciences.

Anyway, fast forward a few years and I’m in my 3rd year of 4 at university studying biomedical sciences and I’ve only gotten firsts. I’ve made the dean’s list both years (basically a list of the top performers in the faculty) and the only 2:1 I’ve managed was in statistics and it was still 69% but I genuinely struggle with maths so I was impressed!

I’m just wondering do other people also find university a little easier? Perhaps it suits my learning style a little better? Maybe I’ve just gotten much better at motivating myself and revising to my strengths? My passion for science could be driving me?

Im just pondering it all, any input would be appreciated

I find it significantly more difficult to get top grades, but not as impossible as I thought it would be before starting uni

You're also doing really well, much more than the average student.

I'm not sure about this but I think uni marks are moderated within that uni so if 80% of people get between 40 and 60 on a test and you get 65 then you'll get 85% on that test. So if you got in a bottom league uni that might be the case.

Yes, it's more difficult to get top grades but I found I managed the workload easier. GCSE's were fine, A Levels almost destroyed but my undergraduate degree (from a purely work-related point of view) was bearable. This was helped in part by my first year essentially being a repeat of what I did at A Level to make sure everyone is on the same page, which I think is true for a lot of the science subjects as not everyone will have picked all the science's and maths for A Level like I did.

Could mean soft subject or soft uni. Or you changed your whole personality and have become a genius.

Perhaps because this is the subject you have chosen and this is a field you are interested in, you are more motivated and inspired to work harder and engage in the content? With A-levels and GCSEs, you have to follow the learning styles as given to you by your teachers, and you may not like all of the choices of subjects (in terms of GCSEs, there are some compulsory subjects). At university, you are more independent and given more freedom for study. When I started university, the workload seemed quite hard and it was a little difficult to make the jump from A-levels at school to a university style education. However, I was really interested in the subject and got more involved than I did with previous study. It seems like you are doing really well - keep up the good work!