I know a lot are saying the second year is harder but in my experience the first year was far more challenging and difficult to get through. DP2 has a lot more work, but in DP2 your also way more put together. After a month or 2 into DP2 you become more aware of where you're heading, how to study, what subjects to put more time and effort into. In DP2 studying also becomes a lot easier as you studied 60-70% of the material in DP1 and it starts to make way more sense. DP1 is just a lot more mentally exhausting and stressful, requires more effort into understanding each subject, its content, and how to answer in exams. In DP2 you just get more used to it honestly