GCSE Grade Boundaries 2026: Understanding The Grading System And What It Means For Results
GCSE grade boundaries can shape a student’s next steps in education and their opportunities in employment. Because the boundaries move each year, they are one of the hardest parts of the qualification for students, parents and teachers to pin down.
The 9–1 grading system used in 2026 was first introduced in 2017. When GCSEs moved from the familiar A*–G letter grades to numbers, the change caused real uncertainty for schools and families, and some of that confusion has never fully cleared.
This guide explains what grade boundaries are, who sets them and how the awarding process works. It covers the standard pass, the strong pass, notional grade boundaries, the percentage you need for each grade, and every set of published boundaries for the major exam boards from 2022 to 2026.
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Get ahead on revision with the GCSE maths papers analysis from 2026:
Analysis of GCSE Maths Paper 1 2026
Analysis of GCSE Maths Paper 2 2026
GCSE Maths Paper Analysis and Summary 2026
GCSE Maths Teacher Survey Results 2026
Edexcel, AQA and OCR Maths Foundation & Higher Papers: Set 5 (2026)
Download these 6 ready-made GCSE practice papers for high-quality exam preparation. The 3 Foundation and 3 Higher tier papers feature unique questions closely matched to Edexcel, AQA and OCR GCSE maths style and format, written by current and former examiners. Answers and mark schemes included. 
What are GCSE grade boundaries?
GCSE grade boundaries tell you the minimum number of marks a student needs to achieve a particular grade. Each boundary is the lowest raw mark that earns that grade, so a student who scores one mark less drops to the grade below.
Grade boundaries are subject-specific. They differ for each subject, they differ between exam boards, and they vary slightly each year depending on the difficulty of the exam papers and the overall performance of the students sitting that exam series. Adjusting them each year is what keeps the system fair for different year groups.
Boundaries only make sense against the maximum marks available. Edexcel, AQA and WJEC Eduqas GCSE maths carries maximum marks of 240 across three exam papers, while OCR uses maximum marks of 300. Comparing a raw boundary without checking the maximum marks for that subject gives you a misleading picture.
Senior examiners set the grade boundaries once all the exam papers have been marked, and exam boards publish them on GCSE results day in August.
In short: a grade boundary is the minimum number of marks needed for a particular grade. It is set after marking is completed, published on results day, and changes every year.
What are notional grade boundaries?
Exam boards publish two different sets of figures on results day, and mixing them up is the single most common misreading of a boundary table.
Subject grade boundaries apply to a student’s total mark across the whole qualification. These are the boundaries that determine the official grades students receive on their certificate.
Notional grade boundaries are published separately and apply to individual exam papers rather than the whole subject. Because GCSEs are linear qualifications, a student’s overall grade comes from their total raw marks across every paper, not from their performance on any one paper. That is exactly why component-level boundaries are described as notional.
Pearson Edexcel puts it plainly in its published notional grade boundaries document: “component-level grade boundaries in these linear qualifications are notional only, and do not equate to a certificated grade”, and “notional grade performance at component level plays no part in the determination of a qualification grade”.
Notional grade boundaries still do useful work. Senior examiners refer to them during awarding to sense-check what a student at a particular grade should be able to do on each paper. Teachers use them when an old exam paper is set as a mock, because they give a reasonable indication of where a student sits on that one paper.
Treat them for illustrative purposes only. A student who lands on a notional grade 5 on Paper 1 has not achieved a grade 5, because their overall grade is built from every paper together testing a range of maths topics. Only the subject grade boundaries, applied to their total marks, produce the official grades on results day.
What are GCSE grades 1 to 9?
In England, GCSEs are graded on a scale from 1 to 9, where 9 is the highest grade, and 1 is the lowest. The old system ran from A*–G, with A* the highest achievable grade.
Maths, English language and English literature were the first GCSE subjects to adopt the numerical scale in 2017. By 2020, all GCSE subjects used it.
The numerical scale allows more differentiation at the top of the range. Grades 4 to 6 cover the old grades B and C, and grades 7 to 9 cover the old A and A*. Grade 9 sits above the old A*: roughly one in five of the grades awarded at 7 or above is a grade 9, and around 5% of all entries achieve a grade 9 each year.
Any student who would have achieved at least a grade C under the old system now achieves at least a grade 4. Holding the standard steady makes it easier for sixth forms, colleges and employers to compare the old and new grades. U, meaning ungraded, is unchanged.
GCSE grade equivalents: new grades and old grades
New GCSE grade | Old GCSE grade equivalent |
9 | High A* |
8 | Low A* or high A |
7 | Low A |
6 | High B |
5 | Low B or high C |
4 | Low C |
3 | D or high E |
2 | Low E or high F |
1 | Low F or G |
U | U (ungraded) |
What GCSE grade is a pass?
There are two types of pass in the 9–1 system: a standard pass and a strong pass. Schools are held accountable for the percentage of students achieving a strong pass or higher in English and maths.
Standard pass
Before the system changed, a grade C at GCSE was a pass. That now translates to a grade 4, the standard pass, meaning a student has met the minimum requirements to pass the subject. Where a grade C was previously accepted for further education or employment, a grade 4 should now be accepted.
Strong pass
Grade 5 is the strong pass, equivalent to a high C or low B. It shows a student has demonstrated a good understanding of the subject beyond the minimum requirement.
In tiered subjects such as maths, the Foundation exam papers cover grades 1 to 5, so students sitting Foundation can still achieve a strong pass. The Higher papers cover grades 3 to 9.
Is grade 3 a pass in GCSE?
No. Grade 3 sits below the standard pass, roughly where a D or high E sat in the old system, and it is not accepted as a pass by most sixth forms, colleges and employers.
Grade 3 matters for a practical reason. Under the 16 to 19 maths and English condition of funding in England, full-time students holding a grade 3 in GCSE English language or maths must continue to study towards the GCSE itself. Students with a grade 2 or below can work towards a stepping stone qualification such as Functional Skills instead.
What percentage do you need for each GCSE grade?
There is no fixed percentage for any GCSE grade. Because boundaries move with the difficulty of the exam papers, the percentage needed for a particular grade changes each year and differs between exam boards and subjects.
You can still work out what a published boundary represents. Divide the boundary by the maximum marks for that subject and multiply by 100:
percentage = grade boundary / maximum marks x 100
The tables below convert the 2026 Edexcel GCSE maths grade boundaries, where the maximum marks are 240 across the three exam papers.
Use them for illustrative purposes only, and always check your own exam board and exam series before relying on them.
Edexcel GCSE maths Higher tier: marks and percentages 2026
Grade | Minimum number of marks | Maximum marks | Percentage |
9 | 208 | 240 | 86.7% |
8 | 177 | 240 | 73.8% |
7 | 146 | 240 | 60.8% |
6 | 114 | 240 | 47.5% |
5 | 82 | 240 | 34.2% |
4 | 50 | 240 | 20.8% |
3 | 34 | 240 | 14.2% |
Edexcel GCSE maths Foundation tier: marks and percentages 2026
Grade | Minimum number of marks | Maximum marks | Percentage |
5 | 181 | 240 | 75.4% |
4 | 151 | 240 | 62.9% |
3 | 110 | 240 | 45.8% |
2 | 69 | 240 | 28.8% |
1 | 29 | 240 | 12.1% |
On the 2026 Edexcel maths papers, that works out as:
- 37% is a grade 5 on the Higher paper and a grade 2 on the Foundation paper
- 70% is a grade 7 on the Higher paper and a grade 4 on the Foundation paper
- 75% is a grade 8 on the Higher paper and a grade 4 on the Foundation paper, one mark short of a 5
- 80% is a grade 8 on the Higher paper, not a grade 9
The pattern holds reasonably well across recent exam series, but it is not guaranteed. Half the marks on a Higher tier paper target grades 7, 8 and 9, which is why the percentage needed for the lower grades on Higher looks so much smaller than the equivalent percentage on Foundation. Knowing the mark you are aiming at changes how to revise for maths, because it tells you which topics are worth the time.
Who sets GCSE grade boundaries?
Exam boards set grade boundaries through a process known as awarding, which combines statistical evidence with expert judgement. The process is standardised across all exam boards, so AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR and WJEC Eduqas each work to the same principles.
Awarding begins once marking is completed as per the mark scheme, at which point exam boards decide the subject grade boundaries. Exam boards analyse data on the students who sat the papers and compare it with previous cohorts to establish potential grade boundaries that reflect overall performance trends. Senior examiners then review scripts around each proposed boundary, looking especially carefully at the work of students sitting between one grade and the next grade.
Senior examiners take a number of factors into account:
- feedback from examiners about the particular paper
- question papers from previous years
- data about the previous achievements of the cohort of students taking the exam
- previous statistics
The principle underpinning all of this is comparable outcomes. Exam boards work to ensure it is neither easier nor harder to achieve a particular grade from one year to the next. If a paper is harder than the previous year, the grade boundaries are lower to reflect that, so students of similar ability achieve the same grade whichever year they happened to sit the exam.
Boundaries cannot be adjusted for individual schools, regions or groups of students. They apply to everyone sitting that paper.
The National Reference Test
For GCSE English and maths, exam boards have one extra piece of evidence. Every February and March, a sample of Year 11 students in more than 330 schools in England sit the National Reference Test (NRT), a short test using GCSE-style English language and maths questions. The test has stayed consistent since 2017, so it shows whether attainment is genuinely rising, falling or holding steady rather than simply reflecting a harder or easier paper.
The NRT changed the 2026 results. Ofqual reported a small but sustained rise in maths attainment at grade 7 against the 2017 benchmark, which it described as “a genuine improvement in what students know, understand and can do”. Exam boards were instructed to reflect that evidence in the upper grade range, so the 2026 maths grade boundaries are lower than they would otherwise have been and slightly more students received the higher grades. English language showed no statistically significant change at grade 7, so no adjustment was made there.
Ofqual rules on exam paper design
As part of the redesigned maths course, Ofqual set rules on the design of exam papers so that exam boards are consistent when setting their papers. These rules state that:
- in a Higher tier paper, half of the marks should target grades 9, 8 and 7, with the other half targeted at grades 6, 5 and 4
- in a Foundation tier paper, half of the marks should target grades 5, 4 and the top of grade 3, with the other half targeted at the bottom of grade 3 and grades 2 and 1
Ofqual aimed to ensure sufficient challenge across the ability range. Higher papers now contain more demanding questions, and around just 20% of the questions on a Higher paper sit at grade 4 level. That helps explain why the grade 4 boundary on a Higher paper looks so low against the maximum marks available.
Why did the GCSE grading system change?
Reforming GCSEs in England made all courses linear qualifications. One set of examinations takes place at the end of the course rather than in modules throughout it, and there is far less coursework. The reformed GCSEs also contain new and more demanding content, with the aim of bringing English standards closer to those in other high-performing countries.
Changing the grading system was a clear way of signalling that the courses themselves had changed. The 9–1 scale also gives sixth forms, colleges, universities and employers a sharper read on what level someone is working at, because it distinguishes between grades 7, 8 and 9 where the old system offered only A and A*.
When are GCSE grade boundaries published?
Exam boards publish grade boundaries on GCSE results day, which falls in August each year. AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR and WJEC Eduqas all publish at the same time, and every set stays available on their websites afterwards.
Boundaries used to be published in advance of results day. That changed to reduce the stress on students trying to predict their own grades from a remembered raw mark.
- GCSE grade boundaries 2026 were published on Thursday 20 August 2026
- GCSE grade boundaries 2025 were published on Thursday 21 August 2025
- Results day usually falls on the third Thursday in August, so the 2027 boundaries are expected in the second half of August 2027
Every published set from 2018 onwards is linked in the table further down this page.
What were the GCSE grade boundaries in 2026?
In 2026, some grade boundaries went up and some went down, with variation between exam boards and individual exam papers. For example, the mark required for a grade 7 on the Edexcel Higher paper dropped from 156 in 2025 to 146 in 2026. On the OCR Higher paper, the mark required for the same grade rose from 166 to 170.
Maths was the subject to watch. Following the 2026 National Reference Test, exam boards were told to reflect evidence of rising attainment in the upper grade range, which pulled the maths boundaries down at grades 7 and above. The 10-mark drop at grade 7 on the Edexcel Higher paper is the clearest example of that adjustment in the published tables.
The papers themselves drive the rest. Teachers’ reactions to the 2026 maths papers picked up on the questions that stretched students most, and examiners see the same picture reflected in the marks when they come to set the boundaries.
Comparing boards is revealing. In 2026, students sitting maths with Edexcel needed 146 marks for a grade 7, while those sitting with WJEC Eduqas needed 116. That does not mean a grade 7 was easier with Eduqas. Boundaries only mean something against the difficulty of the papers and the maximum marks available, which is why it is important to check your exam board before looking at grade boundaries.
Maximum mark note (applies to every table below): Edexcel, AQA and WJEC Eduqas GCSE maths carries maximum marks of 240. OCR raw marks are out of maximum marks of 300; the figures in brackets show the scaled boundary had the maximum marks been 240.
Edexcel GCSE maths grade boundaries 2026
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 240 | 208 | 177 | 146 | 114 | 82 | 50 | 34 | ||
Foundation | 240 | 181 | 151 | 110 | 69 | 29 |
AQA GCSE maths grade boundaries 2026
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 240 | 219 | 192 | 166 | 131 | 97 | 63 | 46 | ||
Foundation | 240 | 187 | 154 | 115 | 76 | 38 |
OCR GCSE maths grade boundaries 2026
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 300 | 264 (211) | 217 (174) | 170 (136) | 132 (106) | 94 (75) | 57 (46) | 38 (30) | ||
Foundation | 300 | 183 (146) | 133 (106) | 96 (77) | 59 (47) | 23 (18) |
WJEC Eduqas GCSE maths grade boundaries 2026
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 240 | 185 | 150 | 116 | 86 | 57 | 28 | 13 | ||
Foundation | 240 | 154 | 121 | 88 | 55 | 22 |
What were the GCSE grade boundaries in 2025?
The 2025 grade boundaries were consistent with the previous couple of years, allowing for the usual year-on-year variation. Ofqual stated that the picture that year was “one of stability”, which showed the system had left behind the uncertainty of a new grading scale followed by the teacher-assessed pandemic grades.
The pandemic still shaped the cohort. Students who sat GCSE maths in June 2025 had their education disrupted in earlier year groups, and for that reason they could still use the formula sheet, as every cohort has done since 2022.
Edexcel GCSE maths grade boundaries 2025
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 240 | 217 | 186 | 156 | 121 | 87 | 53 | 36 | ||
Foundation | 240 | 175 | 144 | 105 | 67 | 29 |
AQA GCSE maths grade boundaries 2025
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 240 | 219 | 191 | 164 | 130 | 96 | 63 | 46 | ||
Foundation | 240 | 188 | 160 | 119 | 79 | 39 |
OCR GCSE maths grade boundaries 2025
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 300 | 258 (206) | 212 (170) | 166 (133) | 126 (101) | 86 (69) | 47 (38) | 27 (22) | ||
Foundation | 300 | 182 (146) | 134 (107) | 95 (76) | 56 (45) | 17 (14) |
WJEC Eduqas GCSE maths grade boundaries 2025
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 240 | 196 | 155 | 115 | 85 | 56 | 27 | 12 | ||
Foundation | 240 | 141 | 111 | 81 | 51 | 21 |
What were the GCSE grade boundaries in 2024?
In 2024, the published grade boundaries continued the return to the pre-pandemic years. The proportion of students achieving each grade in maths in 2023 and 2024 is very similar, which indicates a stable situation of comparable outcomes. The pandemic still had a significant impact on the education of students who sat exams in June 2024, so they could still use the formula sheet.
Edexcel GCSE maths grade boundaries 2024
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 240 | 197 | 167 | 137 | 105 | 73 | 42 | 26 | ||
Foundation | 240 | 175 | 142 | 103 | 65 | 27 |
AQA GCSE maths grade boundaries 2024
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 240 | 219 | 191 | 163 | 129 | 95 | 61 | 44 | ||
Foundation | 240 | 186 | 157 | 117 | 77 | 37 |
OCR GCSE maths grade boundaries 2024
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 300 | 245 (196) | 195 (156) | 145 (116) | 110 (88) | 76 (61) | 42 (34) | 25 (20) | ||
Foundation | 300 | 180 (144) | 131 (105) | 93 (74) | 55 (44) | 18 (14) |
WJEC Eduqas GCSE maths grade boundaries 2024
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 240 | 191 | 151 | 111 | 84 | 57 | 30 | 16 | ||
Foundation | 240 | 132 | 104 | 76 | 49 | 22 |
What were the GCSE grade boundaries in 2023?
2023 was the second exam series following the Covid-19 pandemic. Students sitting exams in 2023 did not lose time to school closures during their GCSE years, but they had suffered significant disruption in the year groups leading up to them, so the government took steps to ensure fairness.
Maths students were given a formula sheet in the exams. Grade boundaries were also set in a similar way to when the grading system first changed: examiners looked at the grades achieved in pre-pandemic years alongside the prior attainment data of those cohorts, aiming to set boundaries so that students with similar prior attainment achieved the same grade before and after the pandemic.
Edexcel GCSE maths grade boundaries 2023
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 240 | 203 | 174 | 145 | 112 | 79 | 47 | 31 | ||
Foundation | 240 | 182 | 147 | 109 | 71 | 33 |
AQA GCSE maths grade boundaries 2023
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 240 | 214 | 186 | 158 | 125 | 92 | 59 | 42 | ||
Foundation | 240 | 189 | 158 | 117 | 76 | 35 |
OCR GCSE maths grade boundaries 2023
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 300 | 242 (194) | 193 (154) | 144 (115) | 109 (87) | 74 (59) | 39 (31) | 21 (17) | ||
Foundation | 300 | 178 (142) | 129 (103) | 92 (74) | 56 (45) | 20 (16) |
WJEC Eduqas GCSE maths grade boundaries 2023
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 240 | 187 | 152 | 117 | 88 | 60 | 32 | 18 | ||
Foundation | 240 | 133 | 105 | 77 | 49 | 21 |
What were the GCSE grade boundaries in 2022?
Summer 2022 saw the first full exam series for GCSE qualifications since 2019. No GCSE exams were sat in 2020 and 2021, and students received grades through teacher assessment instead.
To recognise the disruption to teaching and learning, exam boards offered several adaptations: optional content, additional support materials such as formula sheets, and advance information on the topics that would be examined. Results reflected a mid-point between summer 2019 and the summer 2021 teacher-assessed grades, so overall results were higher than 2019 but lower than 2021.
Edexcel GCSE maths grade boundaries 2022
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 240 | 194 | 165 | 137 | 104 | 71 | 38 | 21 | ||
Foundation | 240 | 173 | 135 | 100 | 66 | 32 |
AQA GCSE maths grade boundaries 2022
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 240 | 214 | 185 | 156 | 121 | 86 | 51 | 33 | ||
Foundation | 240 | 172 | 135 | 101 | 57 | 33 |
OCR GCSE maths grade boundaries 2022
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 300 | 242 | 200 | 158 | 120 | 82 | 45 | 26 | ||
Foundation | 300 | 170 | 119 | 85 | 52 | 19 |
WJEC Eduqas GCSE maths grade boundaries 2022
Tier | Max mark | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Higher | 240 | 170 | 136 | 103 | 77 | 52 | 27 | 14 | ||
Foundation | 240 | 125 | 99 | 73 | 47 | 21 |
GCSE grade boundaries for 2018–2026
Every set of grade boundaries published by the four main exam boards since 2018, including the November exam series:
Edexcel | AQA | OCR | Eduqas | |
June 2018 | ||||
Nov 2018 | ||||
June 2019 | ||||
Nov 2019 | ||||
Nov 2020 | ||||
Nov 2021 | ||||
June 2022 | ||||
June 2023 | ||||
June 2024 | ||||
June 2025 | ||||
Nov 2025 | ||||
June 2026 |
What proportion of students achieve each GCSE grade?
This varies between different year groups and different subjects. The design of the grade boundaries does not mean a fixed proportion of students achieve each grade. There are no quotas: boundaries are set according to the difficulty of the paper and the prior data of the cohort taking it.
Data from previous years does give a useful indication, and comparing with previous years is the only sensible way to read a single year’s figures. The tables below show the percentages of students who achieve each grade across the five most recent exam series, 2022 to 2026.
The percentage of students achieving grades 9 to 4 in maths is lower than the percentage receiving grades 9 to 4 across all subjects. Results for GCSE English language are similar to maths, which is likely because every student must sit maths and English, while students choose their other subjects.
The percentage achieving a 9 to 4 in maths has also fallen over the last five years. Looking at 16 year olds only, and excluding retakes, gives a much more stable picture.
What proportion of students achieve each GCSE grade in maths?
The chart below shows the proportion of students achieving grades 9 to 4 in maths over the years 2018 to 2026. Maths is a useful example, because every student sits it.
In 2020 and 2021 the percentage achieving grades 9 to 4 rose sharply against 2018 and 2019. No exams were sat in those two years, and students received teacher-assessed grades, which lifted results well above the years either side.
That is an anomaly caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and it did not just affect maths results. Over 2022 to 2024, examiners worked to bring results back to pre-pandemic levels, to the point where they are now considered stable.
The percentage achieving 9 to 4 in maths has fallen each year since 2021. Examining the data more carefully shows the largest single factor is resit entries. In England, entries from 17 to 19 year olds in maths rose by around 6% in 2026, from 187,000 to 199,000, and a smaller proportion of those students achieved a grade 4 or better than in 2025. Strip the retakes out and the picture for 16 year olds is close to flat.
What about other GCSE subjects?
The proportions achieving each grade vary considerably by subject. The table below shows the proportion achieving 9 to 4 in 2026 across a selection of GCSE subjects.
Maths and English results both sit lower than many other subjects. All students take English and maths, whereas they choose their other subjects by preference and, often, by strength. Science is worth a second look: higher attaining students generally sit separate sciences while lower attaining students sit combined science, which helps explain much of the gap between physics and double award science.
Some of the highest achieving subjects are modern foreign languages such as Urdu, Punjabi and Chinese, largely because many of those taking them are native speakers. 93% of students taking modern foreign languages in 2026 received a grade 9 to 4.
What if you are unhappy with your GCSE results?
Grade boundaries are set once and applied to every student sitting that paper, so a student who misses the next grade by one or two marks cannot ask for the boundary to move. What they can question is the marks themselves.
Access to scripts
Schools can order a copy of a student’s marked exam papers from the exam board. For students sitting close to a boundary, this is usually the most sensible first step, because it shows exactly where marks were lost before any fee is paid for a review.
Reviews of marking
Schools can request a review of marking, which checks that the mark scheme was applied correctly to a student’s answers. A review is not a fresh mark against a different standard, so a grade can go up, stay the same, or go down. Exam boards publish the deadlines and fees for reviews alongside the grade boundaries on results day.
Appeals
If a school disagrees with the outcome of a review, it can appeal to the exam board and then to Ofqual’s Exam Procedures Review Service. Appeals deal with errors in the process or in the application of the mark scheme. They do not reconsider the level at which the subject grade boundaries were set.
GCSE resits
Schools and colleges must support students in England who do not achieve a grade 4 or higher in GCSE English language or maths, and those students continue with the subject after Year 11. Students receive a further opportunity to resit the exam rather than leaving the qualification behind. Under the 16 to 19 maths and English condition of funding, full-time students holding a grade 3 must study towards the GCSE. Students with a grade 2 or below can work towards a stepping stone qualification such as Functional Skills, or continue with the GCSE.
Students who resit GCSE maths sit a November exam series as well as the following summer. Exam boards publish grade boundaries for the November series in the same way, and they are typically higher than the summer boundaries because the cohort taking them is very different. Working back from that date is what makes exam techniques and a revision timetable realistic rather than aspirational.
Resit numbers matter for anyone reading the headline figures. Entries from 17 to 19 year olds in England rose by around 6% in maths and 7% in English language in 2026, and the proportion of those students achieving a grade 4 or better fell again.
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GCSE grade boundaries in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland
The grading system is different across the UK. Wales reformed its GCSEs in 2015 but still uses the A*–G grading system.
Northern Ireland uses A*–G with an additional C* grade, which gives nine grades in total. Students in Northern Ireland who take qualifications with English exam boards receive grades 9 to 1 in the usual way.
Scotland runs a separate system built around National 5 qualifications and Scottish Highers. A National 5 at grades A to C is broadly equivalent to a GCSE at grades 9 to 4, with a National 5 C sitting at around the standard pass.
Further reading:
- Ofqual blog: GCSE 9 to 1 grades
- Ofqual blog: The 2026 National Reference Test
- GOV.UK: GCSE and A level grading, what you need to know
- GOV.UK: 16 to 19 funding, maths and English condition of funding
- Pearson: GCSE 9–1 grades explained
- Pearson: Notional component grade boundaries
- AQA: Grade boundaries mini guide
GCSE grade boundaries FAQs
GCSEs in England are graded from 1 to 9, with 9 the highest grade and 1 the lowest. Grades 7 to 9 replace the old A and A*, grades 4 to 6 replace B and C, and grades 1 to 3 replace D to G. U, meaning ungraded, is unchanged.
On the 2026 Edexcel maths papers, 75% is a grade 8 on the Higher paper and a grade 4 on the Foundation paper, one mark short of a grade 5. This is not guaranteed, because grade boundaries change each year and vary between exam boards, but it has held reasonably true over the past few exam series.
No. Grade 4 is the standard pass. Grade 3 sits below it, roughly where a D or high E sat in the old system. Full-time students in England holding a grade 3 in GCSE English language or maths must continue to study towards the GCSE under the 16 to 19 condition of funding.
Grade 4 is a standard pass and grade 5 is a strong pass. Schools are held accountable for the percentage of students achieving a grade 5 or higher in English and maths.
Some went up, and some went down, with variation between exam boards and papers. Maths boundaries in the upper grade range were lower than they would otherwise have been, because the 2026 National Reference Test showed a genuine improvement in maths attainment at grade 7 and exam boards were instructed to reflect it. Overall, a similar proportion of students achieved each grade.
Grade boundaries were similar in 2024 and 2025, and a similar proportion of students achieved each grade. Both years reflect a stable system in which comparable outcomes are used to set grade boundaries.
Notional grade boundaries are published for individual exam papers rather than for the whole qualification. They are useful for teachers setting a past paper as a mock, but they play no part in determining a student’s overall grade. Only the subject grade boundaries, applied to a student’s total raw marks, produce the official grades.
Exam boards publish grade boundaries on GCSE results day each August, once all exam papers have been marked and the awarding process is completed. The 2026 boundaries were published on Thursday 20 August 2026.
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Skye – our AI maths tutor built by teachers – gives students personalised one-to-one lessons that address learning gaps and build confidence.
Since 2013 we’ve taught over 2 million hours of maths lessons to more than 170,000 students to help them become fluent, able mathematicians.
Explore our AI maths tutoring or find out how a GCSE maths tutor could support students in your school.
