Why is it so hard to get a first?

Less likely than you.

why is the attitude so different in uk?

Thanks for weighing up my career prospects; I'll come to you if I ever need romance advice or to decide which car insurer to choose.

At least there will come a time when you might come to me to seek advice. On the other hand with you...

I don't get it. In Biology couldn't you just learn the textbook and get near full marks?

With regards to biology, what is the 'natural flair'? A natural flair for being able to memorise information? I still don't get it. I asked this question in another thread, but how do you have a natural flair for a descriptive science? Would this just imply that the top 10% of biology students were much better at retaining masses of information than others?

I don't get where this comes from. Why do you believe that biology doesn't require understanding, creativity, etc?

You can memorise everything if you want. If you don't understand it you're not going to do well.

What would be an example of creativity or understanding (as above knowledge) then in Biology?

it's the same as any other science. You're faced with things you dont know the answer to and given the tools with which to find the answer out. Additionally, to answer an essay you need to bring multiple concepts together in a way that can only be properly done if you understand the significance of these concepts. Getting a 2:i would probably be doable with mostly fact learning, but you're not going to be getting many 70% + marks via regurgitating facts from books.

Oh, I hope I didn't offend you with my previous comment The thing is, a large portion of my course is descriptive science and I was genuinely curious to know how some sciences like Biology or Geology - which both have a lot of descriptive material - could be perceived as 'challenging'. I'll have to see for myself when I get to university, but... are the concepts supposed to be difficult to truly understand or grasp? What would first-grade material biology essays look like anyway?

I'm not a biologist. I study medicine, which is pretty much the "easy to grasp, but effin loads of it to remember" course that you accused biology of being. I'm not offended in the least bit, I just don't get how people could think a biology exam can be aced with only facts.

I'm genuinely curious to know how a science essay is difficult in comparison to a literature or history essay. Are biologists often confronted with conflicting theories that make 'Discuss' or 'Evaluate' questions much more complex? Trust me, I know I'm being really naive about university level biology - I'm just waiting for someone to give me a little more insight because high school biology is one hundred per cent regurgitation (so in a way it's not my fault I'm of the impression that an exam essay will specifically test your fact recollection).