Advanced Higher Mechanics grade boundaries 2026: A at 69, C at 49

Advanced Higher Mechanics grade boundaries 2026

Qualifications Scotland, which replaced SQA on 1 February 2026, released Grade boundaries 2026 on 4 August 2026 under the course name Mathematics of Mechanics. Its course report prints the same minimum marks.

There is a single 100-mark question paper of 3 hours, so a raw mark is also a percentage. Details of what it asks are in the Advanced Higher Mechanics guide.

What changed from 2025

Only a single mark separates the two years at each boundary except upper A. Because the C boundary is 49 rather than 50, a candidate on 49 passed with a C this year and would have got a D last year. The report says the paper largely performed as intended and was fair, accessible and positively received. It singles out question 5(b), which asks for work done, and question 7(b), on the force needed to turn a lamina, as more demanding than intended, and says it took them into account when setting the boundaries.

Marks to grades, worked through

1. A candidate scores 49 on the paper.
2. 49 equals the C boundary, so the grade is a C.
3. The candidate is 10 marks short of a B and 20 short of an A.
4. In 2025 the same 49 was a D, because C started at 50.

With C at 49 and A at 69, the calculated boundaries follow: B = 49 + ⌊(2 × 20 + 1) ÷ 4⌋ = 59 and D = 49 − ⌈(2 × 20 − 1) ÷ 4⌉ = 39.

Advanced Higher Mechanics boundaries from 2022

In shares of 100, the 2026 line-up is 85%, 69%, 59%, 49% and 39%, which is close to the notional 85%, 70% and 50%.

Entries and grades in 2026

The number of resulted entries was 486, up from 473. The report says its figures are prepared before the appeals process is complete.

The A rate fell from 50.3% to 40.1%, and No Award rose from 17.5% to 24.9%, which is 121 candidates against 83. Lower boundaries did not stop the pass rate from slipping, so the cut scores alone do not explain the change.

What the 2026 report tells you to practise

• Setting the problem up. Question 8(a) caught candidates who did not set out the situation and so could not find the bearing.
• Resolving forces. Some candidates lost all marks in question 10 on strings, springs and rods at angles, and in question 13 on an inclined plane by leaving out a force.
• Vertical circles. In question 18(a) few got full marks, as many did not use conservation of energy or include the centripetal force.
• Projectiles. In question 19(b) many did not use the symmetry of the motion, so recognise the word "projectile".
• Rounding. Use the Ans key or the memory, use exact trigonometric values and never truncate a terminating decimal.

Test yourself against the 2026 lines

Try today's Advanced Higher Mechanics paper, a short timed paper of 8 questions worth 25 to 35 marks. Once marked it shows worked answers. Set your percentage beside 69%, the 2026 A line, and 49%, the C line. A buffer of 5 to 10 marks guards against a harder real paper.

Read next

Scotland · Advanced HigherAdvanced Higher Mechanics grade boundaries 2025 (SQA)SQA's 2025 Advanced Higher Mechanics boundaries (Mathematics of Mechanics): A at 70 out of 100, C at 50. Full table and the change from 2024.