AQA GCSE Physics grade boundaries 2025, Foundation and Higher

AQA GCSE Physics grade boundaries June 2025

The Physics Tier H and Tier F rows of AQA's GCSE grade boundaries for June 2025 (version 1.0, published 21 August 2025). Each is the lowest total out of 200 for the grade. A dash means the tier does not award that grade.

The 200 is two papers of 100 marks. The GCSE Physics guide and AQA GCSE Physics guide cover what the two papers test, and the equation sheet guide shows what you are given.

Reading a Physics total

Suppose a Higher candidate gets 66 on Paper 1 and 61 on Paper 2, a total of 127. The 2025 grade 7 boundary is 126 and the grade 8 boundary is 139, so 127 is a grade 7 by a single mark, and 12 marks short of an 8. Two marks fewer and it would have been a 6, which needs 107.

On Foundation, 133 is above the grade 4 boundary of 131, just. It is above the grade 3 line of 95 by a long way, but 11 marks short of the top Foundation grade 5. Notice that Foundation Physics asks for 66% of the marks for a 4, and Higher asks for 35%.

How 2025 compares with 2024 and 2023

From AQA's 2024 and 2023 documents, the Foundation tier first, where 2025 stands out:

Foundation grade 5 rose from 136 to 144 and grade 4 from 122 to 131, after only small moves between 2023 and 2024. Here is Higher:

Higher rose gently and evenly, by 1 to 4 marks at every grade from 9 down to 3. The grade 4 boundary, which had held at 67 in both 2023 and 2024, went to 70.

What this means for Physics revision

• Higher grade 4 is 35%. That is a third of the paper, so Higher candidates can lose two thirds of the marks and still pass. Do not let a hard Paper 2 ruin Paper 1.
• Grade 7 is 63%. 126 marks is where dropped marks on calculations start to cost you a grade.
• Foundation grade 4 needs 66%. A much higher share than Higher, so every calculation counts.

Use today's paper to estimate your grade

Sit today's Foundation Physics paper or Higher paper. It is a short timed paper of 8 questions and 25 to 35 marks, written by us and not by AQA. Mark it and find your share: 19 out of 27 is 70%, which is level with the Higher grade 8 share of 70% (139 out of 200). Average several papers before you trust the number. See also our GCSE Physics mock paper guide.

Mistakes to avoid

• Scoring one paper out of 100 and reading the table. The boundaries are for the 200.
• Believing Physics grades got easier in 2025. The boundaries rose, which means marks were higher.
• Mixing tiers. 131 is a grade 4 on Foundation and well above a Higher grade 5, but the tiers are different papers.

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.