AQA GCSE Maths grade boundaries 2025: Foundation and Higher

AQA GCSE Maths grade boundaries June 2025

The table copies AQA's GCSE grade boundaries for June 2025 (version 1.0, published 21 August 2025), the rows for Mathematics Tier H and Tier F. Each figure is the lowest total out of 240 that earns the grade. A dash means the tier does not award it: Higher goes from 9 to 3, Foundation from 5 to 1.

The 240 is three papers of 80 marks each, and your grade comes from the total of all three, not from any one paper. AQA also lists notional boundaries for each paper but says they are for illustration only. Our guides to GCSE Maths and AQA GCSE Maths cover the three papers topic by topic, and the AQA GCSE Maths formula sheet guide lists what you are given.

From marks to a grade, step by step

Take a Foundation candidate who scores 57 on Paper 1, 52 on Paper 2 and 53 on Paper 3. That adds up to 162. Against the 2025 column, 162 is above the grade 4 boundary of 160 and below the grade 5 boundary of 188, so it is a grade 4, 26 marks short of a 5. If the same candidate had been 3 marks lower, 159 would have fallen under the grade 4 line and become a grade 3.

A Higher example: 24, 21 and 19 is 64 out of 240. That is only 27% of the marks, yet 63 is the grade 4 boundary, so 64 is a grade 4 with 1 to spare. The Higher tier gives grade 4 for a low share of the marks because its papers are harder. Higher candidates who fall short of the grade 3 boundary of 46 get no grade at all, which is the risk of the tier.

2025 against 2024 and 2023

The Higher boundaries from AQA's 2024 and 2023 documents:

Higher moved most between 2023 and 2024: grade 9 rose from 214 to 219, and grade 7 from 158 to 163. In 2025 it barely changed: grade 9 stayed at 219, and grade 4 rose by 2 to 63. Now the Foundation boundaries:

Foundation grade 4 dipped to 157 in 2024, then rose to 160 in 2025. Grade 5 was 188, so a Foundation candidate needed about 78% of the marks for the top grade the tier offers.

What the boundaries mean for Maths candidates

• Grade 9 leaves room for 21 slips. 219 out of 240 is 91%. Dropping 22 marks across the three papers costs you the 9.
• The step from 4 to 5 on Higher is 33 marks. 96 minus 63, so a student moving from a 4 to a 5 needs a lot more than a mark or two, while the top three grades sit only 28 marks apart.
• Foundation grade 4 is a pass at 67%. Because the tier is capped at grade 5, it is worth checking with your teacher whether Higher grade 4 at 26% is within reach.

Use today's paper to estimate your grade

Open today's Foundation paper or Higher paper. Each is a short timed paper of 8 questions worth 25 to 35 marks, written by us and not by AQA. Mark it, divide by the total, and compare with the share each boundary takes of 240. For instance, 18 out of 26 is 69%, which is above the Foundation grade 4 share of 67%. A few days of results, averaged, give a steadier answer than one paper. See GCSE Maths mocks for how to sit them.

Common mistakes

• Looking up Paper 3 alone. The grade is set on the sum of the three papers.
• Using Foundation marks on Higher boundaries. The two columns are different qualifications for this purpose.
• Assuming 2025 predicts 2026. Foundation grade 4 moved by 3 marks in 2025, and it can move again.

Read next

UK · GCSEAQA GCSE grade boundaries 2025: marks for every gradeAQA's official June 2025 GCSE grade boundaries for Maths, Combined Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Computer Science, with 2024 and 2023.