6 Minute Read
Contents:
If your teen is receiving their A Level results this year, you may have come across the term “grade boundaries” and wondered what it means. With so much riding on these results—whether it’s university offers, apprenticeships, or other future plans—it’s important to understand how the A Level grading system works.
In this guide to A Level grade boundaries 2025, we’ll explain what grade boundaries are, how they’re determined, and why they vary from year to year. We’ll also update this article with the 2025 grade boundaries as soon as they’re released, along with data from previous years to give you useful context for your teen’s results.
What are A Level grade boundaries?
A Level grade boundaries are the minimum number of marks a student must achieve in an exam to be awarded a specific grade (A*, A, B, C, D, or E). These thresholds convert raw marks from an exam paper into final A Level grades.
Grade boundaries are influenced by the overall difficulty of an exam paper, which means they can vary slightly from year to year. For example, if an exam paper is more challenging than in previous years, the boundary for a grade A may be set slightly lower to ensure fairness.
Understanding how these boundaries work is important when interpreting results. It can help explain how your teen’s raw marks translate into a grade and is especially relevant if you’re considering a review of marking. For instance, if your teen is just a couple of marks short of a higher grade, it may be worth requesting an exam remark.
How are A Level grade boundaries set?
Grade boundaries for A Levels are set after all exam papers for a subject have been marked. This process—known as awarding—involves senior examiners analysing performance across the entire cohort of students sitting a particular exam. They also compare the difficulty of this year’s papers to those from previous years.
This method allows grade boundaries to be adjusted to reflect the relative challenge of each paper. The aim is to ensure that results are consistent and fair, so that, for example, a grade A in 2025 represents the same standard as a grade A in earlier years.
When do A Level grade boundaries come out?
A Level grade boundaries are typically released by exam boards on the morning of A Level Results Day, just before students receive their grades. In 2025, A Level Results Day falls on Thursday 14th August.
The grade boundaries are published for each subject, giving students, schools, and parents clear information about the number of marks needed for each grade.
A Level grade boundaries 2025
The A Level grade boundaries for 2025 will be added here once they are published by the exam boards on Results Day. We’ll include data for key subjects, including maths, English, biology, chemistry, physics, and geography, across all the major exam boards.
What were the A Level grade boundaries for 2024?
Looking back at the A Level grade boundaries for 2024 can provide helpful insight into how A Level grades were awarded last year. While the exact thresholds may vary each year, this data can help set expectations and highlight trends across subjects and exam boards.
Below, we’ll include the 2024 grade boundaries for popular A Level subjects across the main exam boards. This information is drawn from the June 2024 exam series and shows the total number of raw marks required to achieve each grade.
For subjects not included below, please refer to the following exam board documents:
- AQA A Level grade boundaries 2024
- Edexcel A Level grade boundaries 2024
- Eduquas A Level grade boundaries 2024
- OCR A Level grade boundaries 2024
A note on notional grade boundaries
Notional grade boundaries reflect the approximate mark thresholds for individual exam papers within an A Level qualification. Exam boards publish notional boundaries for reference only—they’re not used to determine final grades. However, they can help you understand how your teen performed across different parts of the exam. For example, they might reveal that they performed strongly on one paper but struggled on another.
The tables in this article display overall grade boundaries only. To see the notional boundaries for specific papers, visit the websites of the relevant exam board.
A Level Maths grade boundaries 2024
A Level English Language grade boundaries 2024
A Level English Language and Literature grade boundaries 2024
A Level English Literature grade boundaries 2024
AQA offers two specifications—English Literature A and B—with different text options, leading to multiple paper combinations. See AQA’s June 2024 document for grade boundaries for each.
A Level Biology grade boundaries 2024
A Level Chemistry grade boundaries 2024
A Level Physics grade boundaries 2024
A Level Geography grade boundaries 2024
A Level grade boundaries for 2019-2023
The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on A Level assessments between 2020 and 2022. In 2020 and 2021, exams were cancelled, and students were awarded grades based on teacher assessments or centre-assessed grades. As a result, no formal grade boundaries were published for those years.
When exams returned in 2022, some adjustments were made to reflect the disruption to learning. These included supporting materials such as formulae sheets, advance information on topics, optional content in some subjects, and more generous grade boundaries than usual.
In 2023, Ofqual began the process of returning to pre-pandemic grading standards. This meant grade boundaries became stricter again, aligning more closely with the levels used before 2020. That approach continued into 2024 and is expected to remain in place for the 2025 exam series.
AQA A Level grade boundaries 2019-2023
Edexcel A Level grade boundaries 2019-2023
Eduqas A Level grade boundaries 2019-2023
OCR A Level grade boundaries 2019-2023
Grade boundaries are crucial in converting raw exam marks into final A Level grades. While they may shift slightly each year to reflect the difficulty of exam papers, understanding how they work can give you a clearer picture of your teen’s performance. They can also help inform important decisions, such as whether to request a review of marking or resit an exam, and can help guide your teen’s further study or career plans.
We’ll add the 2025 A Level grade boundaries here as soon as they are released, so keep an eye on this page around Results Day.
Copy URL
Comments