The aim of this study is to compare first-grade primary school pupils with writing difficulties and their typically developing peers in terms of the sub-skills that constitute phonological awareness. The research was conducted using a causal comparison design, one of the quantitative research designs. Within this scope, the data for the study were obtained with the participation of 47 first-grade primary school pupils attending a state primary school. The research data were collected in May of the 2023-2024 academic year. In the study, students experiencing writing difficulties were identified using the Multidimensional Legibility Scale, while phonological awareness was determined using the Early Literacy Development Assessment Tool (EGBA). The data obtained were analysed using the SPSS 24 software package. In the analysis of the data, the normality of the data was first investigated, and it was observed that the data showed a normal distribution in terms of skewness and kurtosis values. The results of the Independent Samples T-Test revealed that students experiencing difficulties in writing scored significantly lower than their typically developing peers in rhyming word matching (t(45)=-4.023, p<.05), rhyming sequence detection (t(45)=-6.705, p<.05), sound blending (t(45)=-5.721, p<.05), and total scores (t(45)=-8.850, p<.05). However, no significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of matching words that begin with the same sound (t(45)=-1.948, p>.05). These findings indicate that phonological awareness is an important skill for writing ability and writing acquisition in first-grade primary school students who experience difficulties in writing.