CCEA GCSE Biology grade boundaries 2026: raw marks by unit and tier

CCEA GCSE Biology grade boundaries 2026

The tables copy CCEA's Raw to Uniform Mark Boundaries for GCSE Biology (G9092), Summer 2026, loaded on 20 August 2026. Biology has three units. Unit 1, on cells, living processes and biodiversity, counts for 35%. Unit 2, on body systems, genetics, microorganisms and health, counts for 40%. Unit 3 is the practical unit and counts for 25%. Unlike Physics and Chemistry, Biology uses the same raw total on both tiers: 75 in Unit 1, 90 in Unit 2 and 100 in Unit 3. The tiers differ in the boundaries, not the number of marks.

Uniform marks at each boundary

Subject grade lines, Summer 2026

Same marks, different tier

Compare the two Unit 1 columns. A grade c is 34 out of 75 on Foundation, which is 45%, and 27 out of 75 on Higher, which is 36%. Both earn 84 uniform marks. The Higher paper needs a lower percentage because its questions are harder, and the Foundation paper stops at grade c*, which was 39 out of 75. If you enter Higher you must be ready to leave marks behind and still collect them where you can.

The Foundation ceiling is 290 uniform marks, from 102 + 116 + 72. That reaches the C* line of 268 and falls short of the B line of 292.

A worked example at C*

A Foundation candidate on the grade c* raw boundary in every unit scores 39, 48, 46 raw marks. Those convert to 94 + 108 + 67 = 269 uniform marks, a C*. On the Higher tier, the grade a boundaries 56, 70, 59 give 112 + 128 + 80 = 320, an A.

How 2026 compares with 2025

The practical unit moved most. Unit 3 Higher grade a went up ten marks, from 49 to 59, and the Foundation grade c* up six, from 40 to 46. That reverses the 2025 stability of the Foundation column, which had not changed from 2024. Unit 2 Higher kept its boundaries from c* down to e exactly as in 2025 (48, 38, 28 and 23), and only the top two rose by one or two marks. Unit 2 Foundation fell two or so at each grade, from 50 to 48 at c*.

Using the table

• Biology Unit 2 is 40% of the subject and the longest written paper, at 1 hour 30 minutes. It carries the most uniform marks of any unit.
• The practical unit has two parts, two pre-release practicals marked externally and a one hour written paper. The CCEA GCSE Biology guide explains both.
• You can resit a unit once, and the better result counts.

Try today's Foundation or Higher Biology paper as a timed check. It is 8 questions and 25 to 35 marks, written by us, not by CCEA.

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