Research into the relative difficulty of subjects at GCSE and A level has been carried about by Dr. R. Coe at the Durham University Curriculum, Evaluation and Management Centre.

For Coe's 2006 working paper entitled 'Relative difficulties of examinations at GCSE', click here. Latin teachers will find the graph on page 9, which shows Latin as between one and two grades harder than other subjects, instructive. Coe suggests that one reason for the lower grade scores in Latin may be lack of teaching time. However, CSCP's own research indicates that teachers of Latin were, at this time, providing on average 100 hours more than the recommended GCSE teaching time in non-selective schools, and 160 hours more in selective schools.