The Student Room Group

How on earth can essay subjects be rigorous and harder than real science/maths?

I find this to be slightly comical, for real subjects and I am ofc talking about maths, fm, physics,chemistry etc. how do some people have the audacity to think that they are easier than english lit lol.

Baseline: STEM subjects more academically rigorous than arts subjects.

Is there not a reason why people going to Cambridge for STEM subjects have higher grades per a level than their "arts (kek)" counterpart.

And these people are the ones that get B's for maths gcse and don't even take real a levels.

It is what it is. It is what it is.

Scroll to see replies

Original post by fnatic NateDestiel
I find this to be slightly comical, for real subjects and I am ofc talking about maths, fm, physics,chemistry etc. how do some people have the audacity to think that they are easier than english lit lol.

Baseline: STEM subjects more academically rigorous than arts subjects.

Is there not a reason why people going to Cambridge for STEM subjects have higher grades per a level than their "arts (kek)" counterpart.

And these people are the ones that get B's for maths gcse and don't even take real a levels.

It is what it is. It is what it is.

I take Maths + sciences and Id like to think it is easier than me having to take maths + 2 sciences and hmmm English lit for example... Its all about work load.

I mean come on you could easily learn physics just by reading the text book and understanding stuff same goes for the other sciences. Everything is learn't and applied for science but with English and subjects of the same nature, you have to use analytical skills and imagination which takes developing.
Original post by Angelo12231
I take Maths + sciences and Id like to think it is easier than me having to take maths + 2 sciences and hmmm English lit for example... Its all about work load.

I mean come on you could easily learn physics just by reading the text book and understanding stuff same goes for the other sciences. Everything is learn't and applied for science but with English and subjects of the same nature, you have to use analytical skills and imagination which takes developing.


I take the 3 sciences and the 2 maths a levels. I struggle to think that arts kids who often take 3 a levels (speaking from those at my col) have a higher workload than me.

I did well at gcse in my arts subjects, I just preferred the fact that with my a levels there were fixed answers and not subject to doubt well you get the picture.
Original post by fnatic NateDestiel
I take the 3 sciences and the 2 maths a levels. I struggle to think that arts kids who often take 3 a levels (speaking from those at my col) have a higher workload than me.

I did well at gcse in my arts subjects, I just preferred the fact that with my a levels there were fixed answers and not subject to doubt well you get the picture.

lol probably because the arts are done by less able peeps (GENERALLY SPEAKING). Non the less someone who's taking 3 A levels as opposed to 5 should not speak. If I did 3 AS level arty subjects, I'd probably go to parties 24/7/52.
I do Biology, Chemistry and English Lit at A2 (and I did Maths to AS level). I enjoy my English Lit more as the course is more varied whilst I feel the sciences are just regurgitating facts in the exam- there's no personality to them. They aren't more rigorous but they both just test different things. English Lit is being able to write a logical argument taking into context all factors that impacted on the author's work whilst adding in your own interpretation. And memorising tons and tons of quotes. Biology and Chemistry are being able to write out lots of little snippets of information in a logical way. So maybe they aren't so dissimilar in reality... Either way I think it is more difficult to write an essay that is completely flawless (and it is near on impossible to get full UMS in them as full UMS most often equals full marks) and original in an hour than it is to remember a mark scheme and statements. But then again the sheer mass of content of the sciences makes them pretty tricky too.

I think what I'm saying is that in my eyes they are equal. You need different skills for both and if you struggle with one of them then of course you will be more inclined towards the other.
Original post by Angelo12231
lol probably because the arts are done by less able peeps. Non the less someone who's taking 3 A levels as opposed to 5 should not speak. If I did 3 AS level arty subjects, I'd probably go to parties 24/7/52.


I can accept that people doing 5 a2's in artsy subjects could have a higher workload but not a higher difficulty level.

But I have yet to find anyone on tsr that does that or even in irl.

Everyone here takes maths or physics though lmao, or gets subject to the stem master race scorn.
The difficulty of one subject doesn't really need to be understood in terms of how difficult it is in comparison to another. I won't go too much into why humanities can be difficult even with the knowledge of the difficulty of more technical subjects in mind. But it's important to mention that good writing is pretty difficult. It takes a lot of practice and training to write so well that it looks easy to do. Many of your favourite authors have simply mastered a skill that isn't as deeply valued in the sciences. That's no reason to dismiss the difficulty of doing well in those subjects.
I did Biology, Chemistry, Maths, and English Lit for A Level. I found English Lit the hardest.
Original post by Chief Wiggum
I did Biology, Chemistry, Maths, and English Lit for A Level. I found English Lit the hardest.

Why was that the case?
Reply 9
I found Maths and Physics easy.
I chose A Levels by making a pile of text books needed for each course and choose the smallest pile. Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Art.
This was 1981.

My son is dyslexic, I think maybe I am too, but we didn't know about such things. I just knew it took far longer to read all the backgound information to write an essay than to do the equivalent Maths.

Different brain set-up perhaps.
Original post by Angelo12231
Why was that the case?


Because there was so relatively little content in Bio, Chem, and Maths, that learning it didn't take as much time as learning the material for English Lit.
Original post by fnatic NateDestiel
I can accept that people doing 5 a2's in artsy subjects could have a higher workload but not a higher difficulty level.

But I have yet to find anyone on tsr that does that or even in irl.

Everyone here takes maths or physics though lmao, or gets subject to the stem master race scorn.

Yup, all about workload. And yes, the vast majority take very academic subjects. Sometimes it amuses me at how dedicated some TSRians are :tongue: not that it's a bad thing of course.
Original post by ThePhoenixLament
I do Biology, Chemistry and English Lit at A2 (and I did Maths to AS level). I enjoy my English Lit more as the course is more varied whilst I feel the sciences are just regurgitating facts in the exam- there's no personality to them. They aren't more rigorous but they both just test different things. English Lit is being able to write a logical argument taking into context all factors that impacted on the author's work whilst adding in your own interpretation. And memorising tons and tons of quotes. Biology and Chemistry are being able to write out lots of little snippets of information in a logical way. So maybe they aren't so dissimilar in reality... Either way I think it is more difficult to write an essay that is completely flawless (and it is near on impossible to get full UMS in them as full UMS most often equals full marks) and original in an hour than it is to remember a mark scheme and statements. But then again the sheer mass of content of the sciences makes them pretty tricky too.

I think what I'm saying is that in my eyes they are equal. You need different skills for both and if you struggle with one of them then of course you will be more inclined towards the other.


I'm doing this exact combination. Biology is my best subject by far while I find english to be much more difficult. The sciences have such strict syllabuses, making it very easy to revise for. English literature on the other hand has no such guideline and instead requires learning the text in depth through a range of wider reading which really is useless for the sciences...and you have to learn the art of writing a good essay. In biology and chemistry only a good memory (and some understanding)

And if you haven't done both, how can you judge?

So yes, essay subjects can be just as rigorous as science/maths- I see how you decided to exlcude biology....RUDE.

The art of writing has just as much place as applied maths.
Original post by fnatic NateDestiel
I find this to be slightly comical, for real subjects and I am ofc talking about maths, fm, physics,chemistry etc. how do some people have the audacity to think that they are easier than english lit lol.

Baseline: STEM subjects more academically rigorous than arts subjects.

Is there not a reason why people going to Cambridge for STEM subjects have higher grades per a level than their "arts (kek)" counterpart.

And these people are the ones that get B's for maths gcse and don't even take real a levels.

It is what it is. It is what it is.


Interesting thesis but I think you'll need to provide a little more evidence than Cambridge entry requirements lol.
Original post by Chief Wiggum
Because there was so relatively little content in Bio, Chem, and Maths, that learning it didn't take as much time as learning the material for English Lit.

Yeah but lets say 2 people, A and B, did 1 AS level each. A done English Lit. B done Physics. Who would struggle the most? (assuming both have equal intelligence :tongue: )
Maths is one of the easiest a level subjects imo

I'd struggle far more with a subject like psychology

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Angelo12231
Yeah but lets say 2 people, A and B, did 1 AS level each. A done English Lit. B done Physics. Who would struggle the most? (assuming both have equal intelligence :tongue: )


It depends on the person.

In that situation, I would struggle the most with English Lit.
I've seen more STEM students who are also good at the Arts than Arts students who are also good at STEM. For example, in my form, there are three of us who got full marks in GCSE Art, and got A*s in GCSE History and English Language, yet none of us do any Arts subjects at A Level. My friend who does 3 essay-based subjects (and Chemistry) is better at the Arts and very weak at STEM subjects (and regrets taking Chemistry).

However, I'm not sure I'd agree STEM subjects are always more rigorous. I barely revise for AS Maths and Physics and I'm on an average of 90+% in both subjects so far. If I'd taken AS History for example, I'm sure I'd have to revise many hours to get the equivalent grades just because of the sheer workload.
Original post by Dannyboy1236
I'm doing this exact combination. Biology is my best subject by far while I find english to be much more difficult. The sciences have such strict syllabuses, making it very easy to revise for. English literature on the other hand has no such guideline and instead requires learning the text in depth through a range of wider reading which really is useless for the sciences...and you have to learn the art of writing a good essay. In biology and chemistry only a good memory (and some understanding)

And if you haven't done both, how can you judge?

So yes, essay subjects can be just as rigorous as science/maths- I see how you decided to exlcude biology....RUDE.

The art of writing has just as much place as applied maths.

Assume a person did no revision for biology and no revision for english lit. Its fair to say that the person would do better in english lit than biology - making biology harder :tongue: ( I can already see people killing my argument)
****'s sake. This thread again.

I have a great idea, let's round up all the STEM and give them a nice t-shirt saying 'STEM MasterRaceCrewCheckingInBrah'. Let's then round up all of the non-STEM and brand them. Yeah, brand them on the arm. And the ass. With a nice hot poker.

The STEM people then should get priority seats on transport, in queues, at interviews, on dating sites, on NHS waiting lists, at A+E, it'll be great. Let's also add 'STEM candidate' as a mitigating factor in a court of law, or 'Non-STEM' as an aggravating factor. Obviously we'll give the non-STEM candidates all the menial jobs like washing the cars of the STEM MasterRace and licking my shoes after I stood in dog ****.

Whatever we can do to get those filthy second-class Arts Humanities and Social Sciences scum in their place, ****ing plebs.


All of the butthurt, Godwin's Law not even once

Latest