Edexcel GCSE Maths grade boundaries 2026: every grade

Edexcel GCSE Maths grade boundaries June 2026

The figures are from Pearson's June 2026 GCSE (9-1) document, which Pearson's boundaries page dates 20 August 2026. Maths (1MA1) is linear, so your three papers are added together and the total is read against the boundary for your tier.

The share row is the mark divided by 240. A Higher grade 9 needs 87% and a Higher grade 4 only 21%, while a Foundation grade 5 needs 75%. The qualification is set out in our Edexcel GCSE Maths guide, and every subject for 2026 is in Edexcel GCSE grade boundaries 2026.

Three summers side by side

Adding June 2024 (Pearson's document) and June 2025 (its 2025 document) shows where 2026 sits:

On Higher, grade 9 came down 9 marks and grade 7 came down 10, after a rise in 2025. Even so, the 2026 Higher grade 7 line of 146 is 9 marks above the 2024 line of 137. Foundation went the other way: grade 5 was 181, the highest of the three summers, up 6 on 2025, and grade 4 rose 7.

A 2026 worked example

A Higher candidate scores 25 on Paper 1, 33 on Paper 2 and 30 on Paper 3. The total is 25 + 33 + 30 = 88. The 2026 Higher lines are 5 at 82, 6 at 114 and 7 at 146, so 88 is a grade 5. It is 26 marks short of a 6 and 6 above the grade 5 line. With the same total on the Foundation tier, 88 is above 69 (grade 2) and below 110 (grade 3), so it would be a grade 2.

That last line shows why you never carry a mark from one tier to the other. The papers and the tables are separate.

What 2026 means for your target

• Aiming at a Higher 9. 208 of 240 is 87%. That is about 32 dropped marks across three papers.
• Aiming at a Higher 4. 50 of 240 is 21%, so you do not need the hardest questions at the end of each paper.
• Foundation grade 5. At 181 it needs 75% and is the most demanding line on that tier.
• Paper 1 has no calculator. Practise arithmetic by hand, since it is a third of the total.

Daily paper as a check

Try today's Higher or Foundation paper. It has 8 questions and 25 to 35 marks and is not an Edexcel paper. Turn the mark into a share and compare it with the shares above. Do it on several days, not once.

Read next

UK · GCSEEdexcel GCSE grade boundaries 2026: marks for every gradePearson's official June 2026 Edexcel GCSE boundaries for Maths, the sciences and Computer Science, compared with 2025 and with AQA.