GCSE Maths Grade Boundaries

Grade Boundaries

In 2017, letter grades were replaced with a new 9-1 grading system. Grades range from 9 to 1, with 9 being the highest. Grade boundaries and equivalences are as follow

9 = High A* (roughly 85%)
8 = Low A* or high A grade (roughly 70%)
7 = Low A grade (roughly 55%)
6 = High B grade (roughly 45%)
5 = Low B or high C grade (roughly 30%). This is considered a "strong pass."
4 = Low C grade (roughly 25%). This is considered a "pass."
3 = D or high E grade (roughly 20%)
2 = Low E or high F grade (roughly 15%)
1 = Low F or G grade (roughly 10%)
U = Ungraded

GCSE's are offered in two tiers, foundation or higher level. The highest grade you can obtain for a foundaton tier course is 5. The foundation tier is designed for students who are aiming for grades 1-5, and Higher tier is designed for students who are looking for grades 4-9. So, in the higher tier you can only get grades 4 to 9 or a U, which is ungraded . If a student is doing the higher tier and only just misses a grade 4 then they may be awarded a 3 which means a “nearly a pass” grade. A student should only take higher if they can confidently expect get at least a grade 4, but are really aiming for 6 or above. Approximately 50% of the marks on the higher paper are aimed at grade 7 and above (this is the usual requirement for entry to an A-level Maths course), so most of a higher paper will be too difficult to someone who’s doubtful of achieving Grade 4. Tiers cannot be mixed, so one must either take foundation or higher.

2017-2023 GCSE Grade Boundaries Higher Tier:

Pearson GCSE	Max	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
Summer 2017	240	190	157	124	96	68	41	27
Summer 2018	240	202	170	139	109	79	50	35
Summer 2019	240	198	167	130	108	80	52	38
Summer 2022	240	194	165	137	104	71	38	21
Summer 2023	240	203	174	145	112	79	47	31

Note: 2020 and 2021 are missing since exams were not taken due to Covid. Papers were still written anyway and you can find the grade boundaries by clicking the pdfs below. Grade boundaries for individual papers for all years can also be found by clicking the pdfs below.

AQA GCSE	Max	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
Summer 2017	240	189	157	125	98	72	46	33
Summer 2018	240	201	169	138	107	77	47	32
Summer 2019	240	206	171	136	105	74	43	27
Summer 2022	240	214	185	156	121	86	51	33
Summer 2023	240	214	186	158	125	92	59	42

OCR GCSE	Max	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
Summer 2017	300	248	203	159	121	83	46	27
Summer 2018	300	256	210	164	129	94	60	43
Summer 2019	300	256	213	171	136	102	68	51
Summer 2022	300	1242	200	158	120	82	45	26
Summer 2023	300	242	193	144	109	74	39	21

2017-2023 iGCSE Grade Boundaries Higher Tier:

Pearson iGCSE A	Max	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
June 2018	200	149	125	102	81	60	39	28
Jan 2019	200	155	127	100	79	58	38	28
June 2019	200	150	125	101	81	61	41	31
Jan 2020	200	159	131	104	83	62	41	30
Jan 2022	200	136	111	86	64	41	21	10
June 2022	200	142	117	92	69	47	25	14
Jan 2023	200	142	117	92	69	47	25	14
June 2023	200	152	123	95	75	55	35	25

Pearson iGCSE A (R)	Max	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
June 2018	200	160	131	103	81	60	39	28
Jan 2019	200	153	125	97	77	57	38	28
June 2019	200	159	129	100	79	58	37	26
Jan 2020	200	158	130	103	82	61	41	31
Jan 2022	200	136	111	86	64	42	21	10
June 2022	200	143	113	84	63	42	21	10
Jan 2023	200	149	124	99	75	52	29	17
June 2023	200	160	131	103	80	58	36	25

'R; stands for regional as these papers were specifically designed to cater for the different time zones. The 'R' papers are used by centers in the Asian/Pacific regions (countries that are between 5 and 9 hours ahead of the UK). This is done so that none of the papers get leaked. Otherwise, due to time difference of countries someone who already had their exam can simply leak the paper to a person in another country.

Pearson iGCSE B	Max	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
June 2018	300	216	190	165	132	99	67	51
Jan 2019	300	216	190	165	133	101	69	53
June 2019	300	245	204	164	134	104	74	59
Jan 2020	300	244	210	177	144	111	78	61
Jan 2022	300	196	155	114	84	55	26	11
June 2022	300	185	146	108	87	66	46	36
Jan 2023	300	185	146	108	87	66	46	36
June 2023	300	231	189	148	122	96	71	58

Pearson iGCSE B (R)	Max	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
June 2018	300	230	198	166	133	101	69	53
Jan 2019	300	231	199	167	134	101	69	53
June 2019	300	245	211	177	143	109	75	58
Jan 2020	300	241	208	175	142	109	77	61
Jan 2022	300	196	157	118	87	56	26	11
June 2022	300	227	181	136	110	85	60	47
Jan 2023	300	189	150	112	90	68	46	35
June 2023	300	231	189	148	122	97	72	59

Pearson iGCSE B Further Pure	Max	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
June 2019	200	184	168	152	125	98	71	57
Jan 2020	200	183	166	149	122	95	68	54
Jan 2022	200	149	110	72	59	47	35	29
June 2022	200	135	105	76	60	45	30	22
Jan 2023	200	136	106	77	61	46	31	23
June 2023	200	165	145	126	99	72	46	33

Pearson iGCSE B Further Pure (R)	Max	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
June 2019	200	169	153	138	116	94	72	61
Jan 2020	200	184	168	152	124	97	70	56
Jan 2022	200	149	110	72	59	46	34	28
June 2022	200	167	141	116	92	69	46	34
Jan 2023	200	140	110	81	66	51	36	28
June 2023	200	170	150	131	104	78	52	39

2017-2023 GCSE Grade Boundaries Foundation Tier:

Pearson GCSE	Max	5	4	3	2	1
Summer 2017	240	158	122	90	58	26
Summer 2018	240	169	136	101	66	31
Summer 2019	240	184	149	111	73	36
Summer 2022	240	173	135	100	66	32
Summer 2023	240	182	147	109	71	33

AQA GCSE	Max	5	4	3	2	1
Summer 2017	240	156	124	91	59	27
Summer 2018	240	161	125	92	59	27
Summer 2019	240	157	122	89	57	25
Summer 2022	240	172	135	101	57	33
Summer 2023	240	189	158	117	76	35

OCR GCSE	Max	5	4	3	2	1
Summer 2017	300	174	126	99	60	28
Summer 2018	300	187	146	105	64	24
Summer 2019	300	189	144	104	64	24
Summer 2022	300	170	119	85	52	19
Summer 2023	300	178	129	92	56	20

2017-2023 iGCSE Grade Boundaries Foundation Tier:

Pearson iGCSE A	Max	5	4	3	2	1
June 2018	200	136	110	80	51	22
Jan 2019	200	137	113	83	53	23
June 2019	200	134	114	84	54	24
Jan 2020	200	145	120	88	56	24
Jan 2022	200	119	90	66	43	20
June 2022	200	130	100	74	48	23
Jan 2023	200	128	98	73	48	23
June 2023	200	140	117	86	55	24

Note: June 2020, Jan 2021 and June 2021 are missing since exams were not taken due to Covid. Papers were still written anyway and you can find the grade boundaries by clicking the pdfs below. Grade boundaries for individual papers for all years can also be found by clicking the pdfs below

Pearson iGCSE A (R)	Max	5	4	3	2	1
June 2018	200	136	109	80	51	22
Jan 2019	200	141	111	81	52	23
June 2019	200	140	114	84	54	24
Jan 2020	200	141	112	83	54	25
Jan 2022	200	118	89	66	43	20
June 2022	200	122	87	65	43	21
Jan 2023	200	135	104	78	52	26
June 2023	200	137	108	78	48	18