Advanced Higher Mechanics grade boundaries 2025: marks for A to D

Advanced Higher Mechanics grade boundaries 2025

Mechanics is reported by SQA under the name Mathematics of Mechanics. The table follows the Grade boundaries 2025 workbook, released on 5 August 2025, and the minimum marks in the 2025 course report agree with it.

The course assessment is one question paper of 100 marks lasting 3 hours, with a calculator allowed, so the boundaries are plain marks out of 100 and no scaling is involved. That makes this the easiest Advanced Higher to convert in your head: the mark is the percentage. See the Advanced Higher Mechanics guide for the content, and the formula sheet guide for what the paper gives you.

Reading a mark off the table

A candidate scores 64 out of 100. That is at least 60, the B boundary, and under 70, so the grade is a B: 4 marks above the B line and 6 short of an A. A score of exactly 70 would be an A, and 69 would not. Scores of 50 to 59 give a C, 40 to 49 a D, and 39 or fewer No Award.

Only C, A and upper A are set by hand. B falls about half-way between C and A and D a fixed distance below C, by a rounding rule. With C at 50 and A at 70 the published B of 60 and D of 40 follow, since 50 + ⌊(2 × 20 + 1) ÷ 4⌋ = 60 and 50 − ⌈(2 × 20 − 1) ÷ 4⌉ = 40.

2025 against 2024

The boundaries rose by 1 to 5 marks, the largest rise being 5 marks at D. In 2024 the C boundary was 46, below the notional 50, so in 2025 the C line went back to 50%. The course report calls the paper fair and accessible, says it was positively received in centres, and does not say any question was more demanding than intended.

Advanced Higher Mechanics boundaries over time

The maximum was 90 in 2022 and 2023 and 100 in 2019, 2024 and 2025, so look at shares to compare across years. The 2025 shares of 85%, 70%, 60%, 50% and 40% are tidier than any other year in the table, which fits a paper pitched close to the intended difficulty.

Results in 2025

473 candidates were resulted in 2025, against 427 in 2024. The course report prepares its statistics before appeals are finished.

Half the entry got an A, while 17.5% got No Award.

Where the marks were won and lost

• Strong areas: the product rule in question 2, integration by substitution in question 4, volume of revolution in question 9, second-order differential equations in question 13 and integration by parts in question 15.
• Variable acceleration. In questions 7 and 17 some candidates used the equations for constant acceleration, which is the wrong strategy when acceleration depends on time or position.
• Parametric differentiation. In question 6 a few candidates did not state that dy/dx is dy/dt divided by dx/dt.
• Closest approach. In question 5 many candidates used a vector approach well, but a few used interception instead of the shortest distance.

Compare today's paper with these lines

Sit today's Advanced Higher Mechanics paper, a short timed paper with 8 questions and 25 to 35 marks. Its answers and mark scheme come once it is marked. Because the real paper is out of 100, your percentage is directly comparable: 70% on the daily paper is the level of the 2025 A boundary, and 50% the level of the C. One short paper says little, so repeat it for a week.

Read next

Scotland · Advanced HigherAdvanced Higher Mechanics grade boundaries 2026Qualifications Scotland's 2026 Advanced Higher Mechanics grade boundaries out of 100, what changed from 2025 and how many candidates got No Award.