AQA GCSE grade boundaries 2025: the marks for every grade

AQA GCSE grade boundaries June 2025

All the figures come from AQA's Grade boundaries, June 2025 exams: GCSE (version 1.0, published 21 August 2025). A boundary is the lowest total mark that earns the grade, out of the total in each row. A dash means that tier does not award the grade: Higher papers cover grades 9 to 3, Foundation papers grades 5 to 1, and a mark below the lowest boundary is unclassified.

Higher tier, 2025

Foundation tier, 2025

For the papers behind these totals, see the subject guides: Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Combined Science and Computer Science.

Combined Science, 2025

Combined Science counts as two GCSEs, so it is graded with double grades such as 7-6. Trilogy (8464) is out of 420 and Synergy (8465) is out of 400. The 2025 figures:

Computer Science, 2025

Computer Science (8525) has one tier, is out of 180, and has the same boundaries for C#, Python and VB.NET.

How marks become a grade

Add your marks from every paper in the subject, then read off the highest boundary your total reaches. Boundaries are totals for the whole qualification, so one paper on its own tells you little. Three examples with totals we made up:

• Biology, Higher. 58 and 61 on the two papers is 119 out of 200. That is above 113 (grade 7) and below 127 (grade 8), so it is a 7, 8 marks short of an 8.
• Maths, Foundation. 55, 53 and 51 on the three papers is 159 out of 240. The grade 4 boundary is 160 and the grade 3 boundary is 119, so 159 is a grade 3, one mark short of a 4.
• Computer Science. 71 on Paper 1 and 54 on Paper 2 is 125 out of 180. That is above 111 (grade 6) and below 130 (grade 7), so it is a 6.

A total equal to a boundary earns that grade, not the one below it.

Choosing between Foundation and Higher with these numbers

The boundaries show why the tier decision matters. On Foundation, the top grade is a 5, and a Foundation grade 5 in Maths needed 188 out of 240, which is 78%. On Higher, a grade 5 needed 96, which is 40%. Marks on the two tiers are not comparable. A total of 96 out of 240 is 40% and earns a grade 5 on Higher, while Foundation reaches its grade 5 only at 188.

The risk runs the other way too. A Higher candidate below the grade 3 boundary (46 in Maths, 61 in Physics) receives no grade. A Foundation candidate cannot do better than a 5, but has grades available all the way down to 1. Your teacher will usually have mock results for both tiers, and a talk about those is the sensible way to decide. After that, the tables below show where each grade sits.

GCSE grade boundaries 2025 compared with 2024 and 2023

Here is grade 4 for each tier and subject across three summers, from AQA's 2024 document (published 22 August 2024, version 1.3) and 2023 document (published 24 August 2023, version 1.3):

The notable movers in 2025 were in Foundation Physics, where grade 4 went from 122 to 131, and Foundation Biology, from 113 to 121. In Chemistry Higher it went the other way, from 46 to 42, and grade 3 fell from 35 to 30. Maths Higher grade 4 crept up from 59 to 61 to 63.

Grade 7 on the Higher tier tells a similar story:

Maths grade 7 rose from 158 in 2023 to 164 in 2025, while Computer Science grade 7 went from 123 to 128 to 130. In Combined Science, 4-4 on Trilogy Higher was 99, then 93, then 96.

Why the same grade needs different marks each year

Ofqual explains that boundaries are set after the assessments are taken and marking is nearly complete, and that senior examiners recommend them. They vary to reflect the difficulty of the papers. A harder paper gets lower boundaries, so a rise or fall tells you about the papers, not about your own ability. Ofqual also says the bottom of grade 4 is comparable to the old C and the bottom of grade 7 to the old A.

The share of the total is a fairer way to compare. Here is 2025 as a rounded share of each total:

A Higher grade 4 sits between 21% and 35% of the marks in Maths and the three sciences. That surprises people, and it is why Higher candidates should not panic when a paper feels hard: the grades are set from a curve that expects hard papers.

Which subject needed the largest share of the marks

Set against the totals, a Higher grade 4 in 2025 needed 21% in Chemistry, 26% in Maths, 28% in Biology and 35% in Physics, while Computer Science, with no tiers, needed 41%. Grade 7 sat between 57% (Biology) and 72% (Computer Science). So the shares you should aim for in revision differ by subject, even though a grade 4 is the same national standard. Use the share for your own subject, not a single figure for all of them.

Use today's paper to estimate your grade

Sit today's paper for your subject and tier on our GCSE papers. It is a short timed paper of 8 questions worth 25 to 35 marks, written by us and not by AQA, so it is a quick mock and not a replacement for a full paper. Mark it, then:

1. Divide your mark by the paper's total. 20 out of 28 is 71%.
2. Find your subject's row in the share table. In Physics Higher, 71% is just above the grade 8 share of 70%, so it points to an 8.
3. Repeat on several days and take the mean with the Mean, Median and Mode Calculator.
4. Keep a buffer of 5 to 10 marks, because the 2026 boundaries will move. Our GCSE predicted grades guide shows how teachers use results like these.

The papers: Maths Foundation, Maths Higher, Biology Foundation, Biology Higher, Chemistry Foundation, Chemistry Higher, Physics Foundation, Physics Higher, Combined Science Foundation, Combined Science Higher and Computer Science.

Mistakes to avoid

• Reading a Foundation mark against Higher boundaries. A Foundation grade 4 in Maths needed 160, while a Higher grade 4 needed 63.
• Using one paper. The boundary is for the whole subject total.
• Forgetting the double grade. Combined Science gives two grades, so 6-6 is two grade 6s.
• Treating the notional paper boundaries as real. AQA says they are for illustration only.

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