Edexcel GCSE Chemistry grade boundaries 2025: every grade
GCSE Chemistry Higher
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Edexcel GCSE Chemistry grade boundaries 2025
The figures below are Chemistry (1CH0) from Pearson's June 2025 GCSE document. Every line is the lowest total, out of 200, that earns the grade.
| Higher tier, out of 200 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Higher, June 2025 | 161 | 144 | 128 | 106 | 84 | 62 | 51 |
| Foundation tier, out of 200 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation, June 2025 | 124 | 104 | 78 | 52 | 27 |
The Edexcel GCSE Chemistry guide covers the course. For the other subjects see Edexcel GCSE grade boundaries 2025.
What the 200 marks are made of
| Paper | Length | Marks | Topics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (1CH0/1F or 1H) | 1 hour 45 minutes | 100 | 1 Key concepts; 2 States of matter and mixtures; 3 Chemical changes; 4 Extracting metals and equilibria; 5 Separate chemistry 1 |
| Paper 2 (1CH0/2F or 2H) | 1 hour 45 minutes | 100 | 1 Key concepts; 6 Groups in the periodic table; 7 Rates of reaction and energy changes; 8 Fuels and Earth science; 9 Separate chemistry 2 |
Topic 1, key concepts, appears in both papers, which is why atoms, formulae and equations keep returning. A calculator is allowed throughout.
The big jump from 2024
Pearson's June 2024 document is the comparison. Chemistry Higher moved up at every grade:
| Grade | Higher 2024 | Higher 2025 | Change | Foundation 2024 | Foundation 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 148 | 161 | +13 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 8 | 128 | 144 | +16 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 7 | 109 | 128 | +19 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 6 | 87 | 106 | +19 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 5 | 66 | 84 | +18 | 119 | 124 | +5 |
| 4 | 45 | 62 | +17 | 99 | 104 | +5 |
| 3 | 34 | 51 | +17 | 75 | 78 | +3 |
| 2 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 51 | 52 | +1 |
| 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 28 | 27 | −1 |
Grade 4 went from 45 to 62, grade 5 from 66 to 84 and grade 7 from 109 to 128. At the top, grade 9 gained 13 to reach 161. Foundation moved by between 1 and 5 marks at every grade. A candidate who aimed at 45 for a Higher 4 using the 2024 table would have fallen 17 marks short in 2025.
Ofqual explains that grade boundaries often vary from year to year to reflect the difficulty of each paper, so a jump like this tells you about the 2025 papers and not about a harder standard.
Worked examples
- Higher. 44 on Paper 1 and 49 on Paper 2 is 93 out of 200: above 84 (grade 5), below 106 (grade 6). A grade 5, 13 marks from a 6.
- Foundation. 98 out of 200 is above 78 (grade 3) and below 104 (grade 4). A grade 3, 6 marks from a 4.
Reading the table for Chemistry
- Higher grade 4 was 31% of the total and grade 7 was 64%.
- Foundation grade 4 was 52%. The tiers are not comparable mark for mark.
- Calculation questions such as moles and concentration are where Higher candidates collect the middle marks, so practise the method.
Try today's Chemistry Higher or Foundation paper (8 questions, 25 to 35 marks, not an Edexcel paper), then compare the share with the table.
Common questions
What were the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry grade boundaries in 2025?
What mark is a grade 4 in Edexcel GCSE Chemistry 2025?
What mark is a grade 9 in Edexcel GCSE Chemistry 2025?
Why did the Chemistry boundaries rise in 2025?
Revision cards
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UK · GCSEEdexcel GCSE grade boundaries 2025: marks for every gradePearson's official June 2025 Edexcel GCSE boundaries for Maths, the sciences and Computer Science, with 2024 alongside to show what changed.