National 5 Physics grade boundaries 2025: A, B, C, D marks

National 5 Physics grade boundaries 2025

The table is the Physics row of the National 5 sheet in the SQA's Grade boundaries 2025 (release 25GB, 5 August 2025); the grade counts come from the SQA's 2025 course report.

That is 67.2% for an A. The "lowest share of any course" claim comes from comparing every National 5 row in the same workbook: Physics at 44.8% for C was below Environmental Science at 46.4% and Modern Studies at 47.0%. See the National 5 Physics guide for the course.

What the 125 marks are made of

In 2025 the course had a question paper and an assignment. The paper had two sections, an objective test of 25 marks and a written section of 110 marks, 135 in all, sat in 2 hours 30 minutes. The assignment was 20 marks. The paper counted for 80% and the assignment for 20%, which is why the course total is 125: the paper scaled to 100 and the assignment to 25. The marks and timings are in Qualifications Scotland's improving assessment paper, which describes them as the current arrangements before the 2027 change.

That structure ends after 2026. From 2027 the paper is shorter, so the boundaries on this page will not carry over; see the National 5 Physics guide for the new format.

How many candidates got each grade in 2025

A third of candidates, 4,483, reached an A, and 12.1%, 1,659 candidates, got No Award. Entries went up slightly from 13,353 in 2024 to 13,678. The grade shares are as published in the report, compiled before appeals.

Turning a mark into a grade

Say a candidate scores 81 out of 135 on the paper and 16 out of 20 on the assignment. The paper scales to 60 out of 100 (81 × 100 ÷ 135) and the assignment to 20 out of 25 (16 × 25 ÷ 20), for 80 in all. That is above B at 70 and 4 marks below A at 84, so it is a B.

The B and D marks are not set separately. Only A, C and upper A are decided at the awarding meeting and the B follows from them: with A at 84 and C at 56, the gap is 28, so B = 56 + ⌊57 ÷ 4⌋ = 56 + 14 = 70. The formula is on the grading page.

2025 against earlier years

The A boundary was 86 in 2024 and 84 in 2025, C was 60 then 56, and D was 47 then 42, so every boundary fell. The 2022 and 2023 columns are out of 100, not 125, so compare shares: C was 40% in both years, 48% in 2024 and 44.8% in 2025. In 2019 the course was out of 125 with an A at 86, which is 68.8%, a little above 2025's 67.2%.

What the SQA said about the 2025 papers

The course report says the question paper was fair and had a good balance of straightforward and challenging questions. Section 1 performed as expected. In Section 2, questions 4(b)(i), 7(b), 9(b), 10(b)(ii) and 13(b) were more demanding than expected, so the upper A, A and C boundaries were adjusted. The assignment was in line with 2024, many candidates scored high marks, and no adjustment was made for it. The report also says some candidates had been presented at an inappropriate level.

Marks were lost on precise physics. On the objective test, only some candidates worked out the displacement from a velocity-time graph (question 2), and many missed that a ballet dancer stands on two feet when finding pressure (19). Only some converted Celsius to kelvin in the gas-pressure question (20). In the improvements question (17), many ticked a stopwatch even though the set-up already had a joulemeter. In the written section, a "must justify" question gave no marks to answers with no justification.

What the 2025 numbers mean for you

With C at 56 out of 125, a candidate needs under 45% of the total, but the report says marks go on precision: kelvin conversions, units, and justifying a statement. Practise those with the SUVAT calculator for motion and write the reason in a sentence next to the answer.

For the next series see National 5 Physics grade boundaries 2026. For every course, see SQA grade boundaries 2025.

Check yourself with today's paper

Sit today's National 5 Physics paper, a short timed paper of 8 questions and 25 to 35 marks written by us. It has no assignment. Divide your mark by the total: 20 out of 30 is 66.7%, just under the A share of 67.2%, and 15 out of 30 is 50%, which is above the C share of 44.8%. Do several and average them.

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Scotland · National 5National 5 Physics grade boundaries 2026: A, B, C, D marksNational 5 Physics grade boundaries 2026 from Qualifications Scotland: A needed 83 of 125, B 68, C 54 and D 39, with 31.9% getting an A, and 2025 compared.