SQA grade boundaries 2025: what each grade needed

SQA grade boundaries 2025: the source

The tables use Grade boundaries 2025, an SQA statistics release (reference 25GB) dated 5 August 2025, the day results came out. SQA was still the awarding body then; Qualifications Scotland replaced it on 1 February 2026, which is why you may see either name on the files. Each boundary is the minimum mark for the grade in that course. The same workbook lists boundaries back to 2019, so everything compared on this page comes from one document. Our page for the next series is the SQA grade boundaries 2026 guide.

The board's grading page says 2025 saw a return to well established awarding procedures. Before that, grades in 2020 and 2021 relied on teacher judgement, and 2022 to 2024 had arrangements of their own, so 2025 is the cleanest recent baseline.

National 5 grade boundaries 2025

A National 5 Maths A needed 64 of 90, about 71%, and a National 5 Physics A needed 84 of 125, about 67%. Applications of Maths and Maths were set 1 mark apart at A that year, with 65 and 64. Course pages: Maths, Applications of Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Computing Science.

Higher grade boundaries 2025

The sciences were set out of 150 and Maths out of 120, so the same total means different things: 60 is a C in Higher Maths, but in Higher Physics it clears the D boundary of 53 and sits 9 marks below the C. Check each course's own row before comparing. Course pages: Maths, Applications of Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Human Biology and Computing Science.

Advanced Higher grade boundaries 2025

Mechanics set its A at exactly 70 of 100 and Computing Science at 94 of 135, both 70% of the total, while Statistics needed 82 of 120. Biology had the lowest C share of the Advanced Higher sciences here, 69 out of 160. See Maths, Mechanics, Statistics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Computing Science.

Turning a total into a grade, step by step

Add your component marks into one course total, then find the highest boundary it reaches. For Higher Maths in 2025 the boundaries are A 86, B 73, C 60 and D 47. A total of 78 is above 73 and below 86, so it is a B, 8 marks short of an A and 5 above the B line. A total of 44 is under the D boundary of 47, so the result is No Award, 3 marks short of a D.

Only three boundaries are set for each course: C, A and upper A. The official grading page calculates B and D from A and C. With a as the A boundary and c as the C boundary:

National 5 Maths in 2025 had A at 64 and C at 47, a gap of 17. So B = 47 + ⌊35 ÷ 4⌋ = 47 + 8 = 55, and D = 47 − ⌈33 ÷ 4⌉ = 47 − 9 = 38. Both agree with the table. Any course's B and D can be checked this way, apart from the 2019 columns, where D used an older formula.

How 2025 compares with 2024

The biggest moves were in the Higher sciences. The C boundary rose from 65 to 77 in Higher Chemistry and from 68 to 75 in Higher Biology, while National 5 Chemistry went from 60 to 62. The 2025 course reports explain why: Higher Chemistry Paper 2 and both Higher Biology papers were slightly less demanding than intended, so the boundaries went up to hold the standard. Higher Physics went the other way, with C falling from 73 to 69, because its Paper 1 was more demanding than expected.

Compared with 2019

2019 was the last full series before the pandemic, and the totals were different then, so compare shares of the maximum, not raw marks.

In 2025 the A boundary sat at or above its 2019 share in every course here except National 5 Physics, which slipped from 68.8% to 67.2%. The Maths courses rose most: National 5 Maths went from 67.3% to 71.1% and Higher Maths from 67.3% to 71.7%. Higher Physics did not move at all, 100 of 150 in both years. The totals changed too: National 5 Maths was out of 110 in 2019 and 90 in 2025, and Higher Maths out of 150 and 120.

What happened to the pass rates

The provisional statistics for August 2025 say 78.4% of National 5 entries were awarded A to C, up from 77.2% in 2024, and 39.2% got an A. At Higher the figures were 75.9% for A to C and 30.8% for an A. Boundaries and pass rates move together: when a paper is less demanding than intended the boundary rises, so the share of candidates reaching each grade stays steady.

What the 2025 boundaries mean for your revision

• Think in shares. The courses in the National 5 and Higher tables set their A at 67% to 72% of the total and their C at 45% to 52%, close to the 70% and 50% notional marks.
• Keep a buffer. Higher Chemistry went up 12 marks at C in one year, and Higher Maths C went from 59 to 60 in the same period. A cushion of 5 to 10 marks is sensible.
• Check your own paper structure. Component totals differ, and the prelims guide explains how school marks fit in.
• Then read the bands. SQA grades explained sets out bands 1 to 9.

Check yourself against today's paper

Our Scottish daily papers are short timed papers of 8 questions and 25 to 35 marks, written by us and not by the SQA. Sit one for your course, mark it, and turn the result into a percentage. If you scored 21 out of 30, that is 70%. Higher Chemistry in 2025 put the A at 108 of 150 (72%) and the B at 92 of 150 (61%), so 70% sits in the B range, a little under an A. Treat the comparison as a guide and repeat it over several days.

Papers: National 5 Maths, Higher Maths: Algebra and Functions, Higher Physics, Higher Chemistry, Higher Biology and Higher Computing Science.

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Scotland · Dates and gradesSQA grade boundaries 2026: National 5, Higher, Adv HigherThe official 2026 grade boundaries for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher Maths, sciences and Computing, with 2025 compared and how to read them.