OCR GCSE Maths grade boundaries 2025: Higher and Foundation

OCR GCSE Maths grade boundaries 2025

These are the qualification boundaries from OCR's June 2025 GCSE boundaries document, which OCR dated 21 August 2025 (version 1.0). Each figure is the lowest total across Papers 1 to 3 (Foundation) or Papers 4 to 6 (Higher) that earns the grade. Three papers of 100 marks make a total of 300 at either tier.

The gap between the tiers is the first thing to notice. Foundation grade 4 is 134 marks, about 45% of the total. Higher grade 4 is 47 marks, about 16%. They are not the same exam: a Higher paper is written to stretch the top grades, so the lowest passing mark sits far lower on the scale. Our guide to OCR GCSE Maths describes the papers, and the board-wide OCR GCSE boundaries for 2025 put Maths beside the sciences.

Paper by paper, 2025

OCR also publishes a notional boundary for each paper. They are for information, because the grade is awarded on the total, but they show where each paper was demanding.

On the Higher tier, Paper 4 had the top boundary of 90 for a 9, while Papers 5 and 6 both had 84. Paper 5 is the non-calculator paper, and OCR's boundaries for it match those of Paper 6 at every grade. On the Foundation tier, Paper 1 needed null for a 5 and Papers 2 and 3 needed 59.

How 2025 compares with 2024

OCR's 2024 document (version 1.1, published 13 March 2025) shows the Higher grade 7 at 145, so it rose by 21 marks in a year, from 145 to 166. Grade 9 rose by 13, from 245 to 258, and grade 5 by 10. The bottom of the Higher range hardly moved: grade 3 went from 25 to 27. The Foundation boundaries were steadier, with grade 5 moving by only 2 marks.

The pattern matters for revision. Ofqual says boundaries often vary from year to year to reflect the difficulty of each paper. A big rise in the middle grades means the Higher papers were easier to score on in 2025 than in 2024, so the same raw mark bought a lower grade.

Turning marks into a grade: two examples

• Higher. A candidate scores 58 on Paper 4, 45 on Paper 5 and 52 on Paper 6. The total is 155. That is above 126 (grade 6) and below 166 (grade 7), so it is a grade 6, 11 marks short of a 7.
• Foundation. A candidate scores 62, 55 and 60. The total is 177, above 134 (grade 4) and below 182 (grade 5), so it is a 4, 5 marks short of the top Foundation grade.

OCR's guide, How do we calculate your GCSE grade?, confirms the rule: a mark equal to the boundary gets that grade, and one mark fewer drops you a grade.

Mistakes to avoid when you read the Maths table

• Reading Higher grade 4 as an easy target. The mark looks low because the Higher papers are hard. Practise the full range, not just the first third of each paper.
• Treating Paper 5 as optional practice. It is the non-calculator Higher paper and it carries 100 of the 300 marks. Foundation Paper 2 is the same.
• Forgetting that all three papers must be at one tier. You cannot take Foundation Paper 1 and Higher Paper 5.
• Chasing last year's number. Aim for a total that clears the boundary by 15 to 20 marks, since the Higher grade 7 moved by 21 in one year.

Practise with today's Maths paper

Today's short paper is on Maths Higher and Maths Foundation. It has 8 questions, so it is a timed check on method and not a copy of an OCR paper. Mark it, then turn your score into a percentage and compare it with the shares above: 55 per cent is above the 42% that a Higher grade 6 needed in 2025 and near the 55% for a 7.

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UK · GCSEOCR GCSE grade boundaries 2025: marks for every gradeOCR's official June 2025 GCSE grade boundaries for Maths, Combined Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Computer Science, compared with 2024.