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Edexcel GCSE grade boundaries 2026: the marks for every grade

Published 12 Nov 20269 min read

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Edexcel GCSE grade boundaries June 2026

The numbers below are from Pearson's Grade Boundaries, Edexcel GCSE (9-1), June 2026, which its grade boundaries page dates 20 August 2026. A boundary is the minimum mark for the grade, so a mark one lower is the grade below. All the GCSEs here are linear: you sit every paper in one summer and the boundary applies to the whole qualification, in raw marks.

GCSE grade boundaries 2026: Higher tier

Higher tier, June 2026	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
Mathematics 1MA1, out of 240	208	177	146	114	82	50	34
Biology 1BI0, out of 200	170	158	147	126	105	84	73
Chemistry 1CH0, out of 200	165	146	127	103	79	55	43
Physics 1PH0, out of 200	163	148	134	113	92	71	60

GCSE grade boundaries 2026: Foundation tier

Foundation tier, June 2026	5	4	3	2	1
Mathematics 1MA1, out of 240	181	151	110	69	29
Biology 1BI0, out of 200	132	115	84	53	22
Chemistry 1CH0, out of 200	137	118	88	59	30
Physics 1PH0, out of 200	135	118	88	59	30

Foundation papers award grades 5 to 1, so a Foundation entry cannot reach a 6 or above. Higher awards 9 to 3, with a U for a mark below grade 3.

GCSE Combined Science grade boundaries 2026

Combined Science (1SC0) is graded with a pair of numbers, such as 7-6, and the total is out of 360 across six papers. The Foundation tier tops out at 5-5 and the Higher tier bottoms out at 4-3. Our Edexcel GCSE Combined Science guide sets out the six papers.

Grade	Foundation, out of 360	Higher, out of 360
9-9	n/a	282
9-8	n/a	266
8-8	n/a	251
8-7	n/a	236
7-7	n/a	221
7-6	n/a	202
6-6	n/a	183
6-5	n/a	164
5-5	231	145
5-4	212	126
4-4	194	108
4-3	168	99
3-3	142	n/a
3-2	116	n/a
2-2	91	n/a
2-1	66	n/a
1-1	41	n/a

GCSE Computer Science grade boundaries 2026

Computer Science (1CP2) has no tiers and is out of 150, from two papers of 75 marks. The 2025 column is there to compare. The Edexcel GCSE Computer Science guide covers the papers.

Grade	June 2026	June 2025
9	118	124
8	103	109
7	88	94
6	74	79
5	60	64
4	46	49
3	33	36
2	20	23
1	8	10

The subject pages for 2026 go further: Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Combined Science and Computer Science.

Turning marks into a grade, with three examples

Chemistry, Higher. Paper 1 is 62 and Paper 2 is 58, so the total is 120 out of 200. That clears 103 (grade 6) and falls short of 127 (grade 7), so it is a grade 6 with 7 marks to find for a 7.
Maths, Foundation. 62, 55 and 60 on the three papers gives 177 out of 240. That is above 151 (grade 4) and below 181 (grade 5), a grade 4 4 marks short of a 5.
Combined Science, Higher. A total of 205 out of 360 is above 202 (7-6) and below 221 (7-7), so it is a 7-6, 16 marks from 7-7.

A total equal to a boundary gets that grade. Add every paper in the subject first, because no single paper has a boundary of its own.

How 2026 compares with 2025

The June 2025 figures are from Pearson's 2025 document. Grade 4 (4-4 in Combined Science) in both summers:

Subject and tier	Out of	2025	2026	Change
Maths Foundation	240	144	151	+7
Maths Higher	240	53	50	−3
Biology Foundation	200	111	115	+4
Biology Higher	200	84	84	0
Chemistry Foundation	200	104	118	+14
Chemistry Higher	200	62	55	−7
Physics Foundation	200	114	118	+4
Physics Higher	200	71	71	0
Computer Science	150	49	46	−3
Combined Science Foundation, 4-4	360	174	194	+20
Combined Science Higher, 4-4	360	107	108	+1

Maths Foundation grade 4 rose 7 marks to 151, and Combined Science Foundation 4-4 rose 20, from 174 to 194. On the Higher tier, Maths grade 4 fell 3, from 53 to 50, and Chemistry fell 7, from 62 to 55. Biology Higher grade 4 held at 84.

Grades 7 and 9 on the Higher tier:

Subject	Grade 7, 2025	Grade 7, 2026	Grade 9, 2025	Grade 9, 2026
Maths Higher	156	146	217	208
Biology Higher	144	147	167	170
Chemistry Higher	128	127	161	165
Physics Higher	130	134	161	163
Computer Science	94	88	124	118

Maths Higher grade 9 fell 9 marks to 208, while Chemistry grade 9 rose 4 to 165. Computer Science fell at every grade from 9 to 3: grade 9 fell from 124 to 118.

Edexcel and AQA in 2026

Candidates often set the two boards side by side. AQA's June 2026 boundaries come from its own document, and our AQA GCSE grade boundaries 2026 page has the full tables.

2026, Higher grade 4 and 7, Foundation grade 4	Edexcel 4	AQA 4	Edexcel 7	AQA 7	Edexcel F4	AQA F4
Maths, out of 240	50	63	146	166	151	154
Biology, out of 200	84	52	147	107	115	127
Chemistry, out of 200	55	43	127	120	118	110
Physics, out of 200	71	67	134	128	118	126

The totals match, but the lines do not: Edexcel Higher Biology grade 4 was 84 against AQA's 52, and Edexcel Higher Maths grade 4 was 50 against AQA's 63. The papers are different, so the lines say nothing about which board is easier. Compare your marks only with the boundaries for the board you sit.

Reading the boundaries as shares

A boundary is a mark. To compare subjects, turn it into a share of the total:

Higher share of total, 2026	9	8	7	6	5	4	3
Mathematics	87%	74%	61%	48%	34%	21%	14%
Biology	85%	79%	74%	63%	53%	42%	37%
Chemistry	83%	73%	64%	52%	40%	28%	22%
Physics	82%	74%	67%	57%	46%	36%	30%
Computer Science	79%	69%	59%	49%	40%	31%	22%

Higher grade 4 asks for between 21% and 42% of the total. Those figures, not 50%, are what a Higher grade 4 costs.
Maths Higher grade 9 asks for 87%. Biology Higher grade 9 asks for 85%.
Use a margin. Next summer's lines will differ from this one by several marks either way.

Estimate your grade from today's paper

Sit today's paper for your subject on our UK papers. It is a short timed paper of 8 questions worth 25 to 35 marks, not a full Edexcel paper, and it is not written by Pearson.

Time the paper and use the equation sheet and calculator you would have in the exam.
Mark it and convert to a share: 21 out of 30 is 70%.
Compare the share with the row for your subject. On Higher Chemistry, 70% sits between grade 7 (64%) and grade 8 (73%).
Average several days with the Mean, Median and Mode Calculator.

The papers are 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.

Common slips

Using a Foundation boundary on a Higher paper. The same grade needs a different mark on each tier.
Reading Combined Science as one grade. 7-6 is a pair, and the table has a separate line for each.
Matching a mark to the AQA table. Check the board on your paper.
Counting one paper. The boundary is for the total.

Exam answers

Answers and a worked mark scheme come with today's paper once it is marked. We do not publish official answers, past papers or Edexcel mark schemes, and the questions are our own.

Common questions

What are the Edexcel GCSE grade boundaries for 2026?

Pearson published them on 20 August 2026. Higher grade 4 was 50 out of 240 in Maths, 84 in Biology, 55 in Chemistry and 71 in Physics, each out of 200. The tables above have every grade.

What mark is a grade 7 in Edexcel GCSE Maths 2026?

146 out of 240 on the Higher tier, which is 61%.

What mark is a grade 4 in Edexcel GCSE Maths 2026?

50 out of 240 on Higher and 151 on Foundation.

What is a grade 4 in Edexcel GCSE Physics 2026?

71 out of 200 on Higher and 118 on Foundation.

What does 4-4 mean in Edexcel Combined Science?

It is the pair of grades for two GCSEs. In 2026 it needed 108 out of 360 on Higher and 194 on Foundation.

Are Edexcel and AQA boundaries the same?

No. Each board sets its own, from its own papers.

When are the 2027 Edexcel GCSE boundaries published?

Pearson publishes them after marking, on results day. The 2026 files carry the date 20 August 2026.

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