Relative difficulty of subjects at secondary education certificate level

Abstract

It is commonly held that an examination body should maintain a standard level of difficulty across different years, tiers, and subjects. Grade setting does depend, to a certain extent, on expert judgement and, not surprisingly, different studies have suggested that the same standard of difficulty is not maintained across different examination boards and subjects. In this study the level of difficulty of subjects is measured by comparing the mean general ability of candidates who obtain the same grades in the different subjects at Secondary Education Certificate (SEC), which are offered by the MATSEC Examinations Board of the University of Malta. The research method and the ensuing results are explained in detail and discussed. The outcomes show that although some differences between subjects are present, with one subject in particular being flagged as being possibly graded much easier than other subjects, differences between most subjects were not significant enough to allow a clear ordering in terms of difficulty.