OCR GCSE Biology grade boundaries 2026: the mark for each grade
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OCR GCSE Biology grade boundaries 2026
These are the qualification boundaries in OCR's June 2026 GCSE document. Find the suite on your entry: J247 is Gateway A and J257 is Twenty First Century B. Each is out of 180.
| Grade, June 2026 | 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 | 141 | - | 138 | - |
| 8 | 131 | - | 124 | - |
| 7 | 121 | - | 110 | - |
| 6 | 103 | - | 91 | - |
| 5 | 86 | 112 | 72 | 112 |
| 4 | 69 | 93 | 53 | 91 |
| 3 | 60 | 68 | 43 | 71 |
| 2 | - | 43 | - | 52 |
| 1 | - | 18 | - | 33 |
A recovery on Biology A, a fall on Biology B
| Biology boundaries | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Change, 2025 to 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gateway A Higher, grade 7 | 121 | 117 | 121 | +4 |
| Gateway A Higher, grade 4 | 70 | 66 | 69 | +3 |
| Gateway A Foundation, grade 5 | 111 | 109 | 112 | +3 |
| Gateway A Foundation, grade 4 | 94 | 90 | 93 | +3 |
| Twenty First Century B Higher, grade 7 | 119 | 118 | 110 | −8 |
| Twenty First Century B Higher, grade 4 | 63 | 60 | 53 | −7 |
| Twenty First Century B Foundation, grade 5 | 109 | 116 | 112 | −4 |
| Twenty First Century B Foundation, grade 4 | 96 | 101 | 91 | −10 |
Gateway A Higher grade 4 went 70, 66, 69, so 2026 climbed back to within 1 mark of the 2024 figure. Grade 7 reached 121, equal to 2024. Twenty First Century B Higher kept falling: grade 4 ran 63, 60, 53, which is a drop of 10 marks in two years, and grade 7 fell by 8 from 118 to 110 in 2026 alone. On the Foundation tier, B grade 4 fell from 101 to 91, a 10 mark fall.
A boundary that falls by that much on a 180 mark total says the 2026 B papers were harder to score on. Ofqual says boundaries are recommended by senior examiners once marking is nearly complete, using the quality of students' work. The earlier years are in OCR's 2025 document and 2024 document.
Each Biology paper in 2026
| Biology A Higher papers, 2026 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 03: Paper 3 (Higher Tier), out of 90 | 74 | 69 | 65 | 56 | 47 | 39 | 34 |
| Paper 04: Paper 4 (Higher Tier), out of 90 | 67 | 62 | 56 | 47 | 39 | 30 | 26 |
| Biology B Higher papers, 2026 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 03: Breadth in Biology, out of 90 | 67 | 60 | 53 | 43 | 33 | 24 | 19 |
| Paper 04: Depth in Biology, out of 90 | 71 | 64 | 57 | 48 | 39 | 29 | 24 |
| Biology A Foundation papers, 2026 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 01: Paper 1 (Foundation Tier), out of 90 | 57 | 46 | 34 | 22 | 9 |
| Paper 02: Paper 2 (Foundation Tier), out of 90 | 55 | 47 | 34 | 21 | 9 |
In 2026 the Biology A Higher papers were 74 and 67 at the top, so Paper 3 (B1 to B3 and B7) was the generous one at 7 marks above Paper 4. On Biology B, the Breadth paper needed only 67 for a notional 9 and Depth needed 71. Biology A Foundation Paper 1 needed null for a 5, against null for Paper 2.
Marks to grade: Biology examples for 2026
- Biology A Foundation. 48 on Paper 1 and 49 on Paper 2 gives 97. The boundaries are 93 for a 4 and 112 for a 5, so this is a grade 4 and it falls 15 short of a 5. The same total in 2025 would have been a 4 too, and it would have been 12 marks short of the 2025 grade 5 line of 109.
- Biology B Higher. 40 on Breadth and 38 on Depth is 78. The 2026 boundaries are 72 for a 5 and 91 for a 6, so the grade is a 5, 13 marks short of a 6. In 2025 the 5 line was 79 and the 6 line 98, so 78 would have been a 4.
Both examples use OCR's rule from its guide to GCSE grades: add the paper marks first, then compare.
What to take from the Biology boundaries
- Treat Biology B as volatile. Its Higher grade 4 went 63, 60, 53 across the last three years.
- Aim for a buffer. A 10 mark cushion on 69 is only 6 per cent of the total, and it is the difference between a pass and a near miss.
- Revise the whole course. The second Biology A paper assumes the first half of the course, so the topics on Paper 1 come back.
- Know your tier. Foundation tops out at grade 5, which took 112 marks on Biology A and 112 on Biology B.
Sit today's Biology paper
Biology Higher and Biology Foundation each give a short timed paper of 8 questions. It is not an OCR paper, so read your percentage as a guide only. A score of about 48% matches the Biology A Higher grade 5 line for 2026, and a grade 7 needed 67%.
Common questions
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UK · GCSEOCR GCSE Biology grade boundaries 2025: every gradeOCR GCSE Biology June 2025 boundaries for Gateway A and Twenty First Century B, Higher and Foundation, with 2024 for comparison.