OCR GCSE Biology grade boundaries 2025: Gateway A and Twenty First Century B
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OCR GCSE Biology grade boundaries 2025
The figures come from OCR's June 2025 GCSE boundaries document, version 1.0. Biology is two papers of 90 marks, 180 in total, and each suite has its own row for each tier. Higher awards grades 9 to 3 and Foundation awards 5 to 1.
| Grade, June 2025 | Gateway A Higher, out of 180 | Gateway A Foundation, out of 180 | Twenty First Century B Higher, out of 180 | Twenty First Century B Foundation, out of 180 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 139 | - | 141 | - |
| 8 | 128 | - | 129 | - |
| 7 | 117 | - | 118 | - |
| 6 | 100 | - | 98 | - |
| 5 | 83 | 109 | 79 | 116 |
| 4 | 66 | 90 | 60 | 101 |
| 3 | 57 | 66 | 50 | 80 |
| 2 | - | 42 | - | 59 |
| 1 | - | 18 | - | 39 |
Our OCR GCSE Biology guide describes the Biology A papers, and the board-wide boundaries for 2025 cover the other subjects.
Biology boundaries fell on the Higher tier in 2025
| Biology boundaries | 2024 | 2025 | Change, 2024 to 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gateway A Higher, grade 7 | 121 | 117 | −4 |
| Gateway A Higher, grade 4 | 70 | 66 | −4 |
| Gateway A Foundation, grade 5 | 111 | 109 | −2 |
| Gateway A Foundation, grade 4 | 94 | 90 | −4 |
| Twenty First Century B Higher, grade 7 | 119 | 118 | −1 |
| Twenty First Century B Higher, grade 4 | 63 | 60 | −3 |
| Twenty First Century B Foundation, grade 5 | 109 | 116 | +7 |
| Twenty First Century B Foundation, grade 4 | 96 | 101 | +5 |
Biology moved against the rest of OCR's GCSEs that year. Biology A Higher fell at every grade from 9 to 3: grade 4 from 70 to 66, grade 7 from 121 to 117 and grade 9 from 142 to 139. Biology B Higher also fell, with grade 4 going from 63 to 60. Lower boundaries suggest that the papers were harder to score on, so the same raw mark could earn a higher grade than a year earlier.
The Foundation tiers behaved differently. Biology B Foundation went up: grade 5 from 109 to 116 and grade 4 from 96 to 101. Biology A Foundation fell by about 2 to 4 marks, with grade 4 going from 94 to 90. OCR's 2024 figures are in its document of 13 March 2025. Ofqual's general account is that boundaries vary from year to year to reflect the difficulty of each paper.
Biology A paper by paper, 2025
| Biology A Foundation papers, 2025 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 01: Paper 1 (Foundation Tier), out of 90 | 52 | 42 | 31 | 20 | 9 |
| Paper 02: Paper 2 (Foundation Tier), out of 90 | 57 | 48 | 35 | 22 | 9 |
| Biology A Higher papers, 2025 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 03: Paper 3 (Higher Tier), out of 90 | 71 | 66 | 60 | 51 | 43 | 35 | 31 |
| Paper 04: Paper 4 (Higher Tier), out of 90 | 68 | 62 | 57 | 49 | 40 | 31 | 26 |
On Higher, Paper 3 (B1 to B3 and B7) needed 71 for a notional 9 and Paper 4 (B4 to B6 and B7) needed 68. On Foundation the order flipped: Paper 1 needed null for a 5 and Paper 2 needed null. OCR says these paper figures are for information, because the grade comes from the total.
Two Biology examples
- Biology A Higher. A candidate scores 52 on Paper 3 and 45 on Paper 4, so 97 out of 180. The 2025 boundaries were 83 for a 5 and 100 for a 6. 97 is a grade 5, 3 marks short of a 6.
- Biology B Foundation. 56 and 52 is 108. The 4 was 101 and the 5 was 116, so this is a grade 4, 8 marks short of the Foundation ceiling.
OCR's How do we calculate your GCSE grade? gives the rule: add the component marks, then read the total against the boundaries.
Biology-specific advice
- Practise the six mark answers. Each Biology A paper has an extended response marked on levels, and a clear sequence of linked points earns more than a list.
- Learn the practical skills. In Biology A the practical content, B7, is examined on both papers, so it is worth marks on the whole 180.
- Use the multiple choice. The 15 multiple choice marks on each Biology A paper are quick, and 30 marks is about 17 per cent of the total.
- Mind the suite. Biology A Higher grade 4 was 66 and Biology B Higher grade 4 was 60.
Practise with today's Biology paper
Try Biology Higher or Biology Foundation, mark it and convert your score to a percentage. The paper has 8 questions and is not from OCR, so it is a pointer rather than a prediction. A Biology A Higher grade 6 was 56% of the total in 2025, and a grade 7 was 65%.
Common questions
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UK · GCSEOCR GCSE Biology grade boundaries 2026: Higher, FoundationOCR GCSE Biology June 2026 boundaries for Gateway A and Twenty First Century B, paper by paper, with 2024 and 2025 alongside.