WJEC A-level Chemistry grade boundaries 2026: raw marks for every unit
A-level Chemistry: Year 1
Start today's paperA-level Chemistry: Year 2
Start today's paperPapers reset in
WJEC A-level Chemistry grade boundaries June 2026
Chemistry (1410) is unitised, with five units: The Language of Chemistry, Structure of Matter and Simple Reactions (Unit 1), Energy, Rate and Chemistry of Carbon Compounds (Unit 2), Physical and Inorganic Chemistry (Unit 3), Organic Chemistry and Analysis (Unit 4) and a practical (Unit 5), per the specification. The uniform mark that each unit grade is worth never changes, as the first table shows.
| Unit | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemistry AS Unit 1 | 80 | 70 | 60 | 50 | 40 |
| Chemistry AS Unit 2 | 80 | 70 | 60 | 50 | 40 |
| Chemistry A2 Unit 3 | 100 | 88 | 75 | 63 | 50 |
| Chemistry A2 Unit 4 | 100 | 88 | 75 | 63 | 50 |
| Chemistry A2 Unit 5 | 40 | 35 | 30 | 25 | 20 |
Raw marks per unit, 2026
Here are the raw marks that earned each unit grade in June 2026, from WJEC's grade converter.
| Unit | A, 2026 | B | C | D | E | A, change on 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AS Unit 1 | 50 | 42 | 34 | 26 | 19 | +1 |
| AS Unit 2 | 48 | 40 | 32 | 25 | 18 | −1 |
| A2 Unit 3 | 39 | 32 | 26 | 20 | 14 | −10 |
| A2 Unit 4 | 51 | 43 | 35 | 28 | 21 | −1 |
| A2 Unit 5 | 41 | 35 | 29 | 23 | 18 | −2 |
A worked total
A candidate scores 45, 40, 34, 43 and 36 raw marks in Units 1 to 5. In 2026 those convert to 74, 70, 91, 88, 36 uniform marks, a total of 359 out of 500. That is above the B boundary of 350 and 41 short of the A boundary of 400. The A2 units give 215 uniform marks, well below the 270 that an A* needs.
A look at Unit 3
Unit 3's raw boundaries dropped across the board: A from 49 to 39, B from 41 to 32, C from 33 to 26, D from 25 to 20 and E from 18 to 14. A fall of 10 raw marks at an A is far larger than any other Chemistry unit moved. When a boundary falls like this, the grade did not get easier to earn. The 2026 paper simply gave out fewer marks for the same standard, and the converter pays a candidate more uniform marks for each raw mark.
Senedd Research notes that A level Chemistry entries in Wales rose by 131 (5.6%) in 2026, one of the largest increases of any subject.
Planning around the 2026 table
- Do not trust last year's Unit 3 number. It fell by 10 marks at an A.
- Unit 1 rose slightly. Every grade in Unit 1 needed one more raw mark than in 2025.
- The practical is worth 50. An A needed 41 raw marks, against 43 in 2025.
- Both A2 written units carry 125 uniform marks. Together with the practical they are 300 of the 500, which is where an A* is decided.
Practise with today's Chemistry paper
Try A-level Chemistry: Year 1 or Year 2. They are 8 questions, 25 to 35 marks, written by us, not WJEC. Do the calculations without a data table first, then check your working. Several papers give a better view than one.
Common questions
What raw mark was an A in WJEC A-level Chemistry Unit 3 in 2026?
What are the WJEC A-level Chemistry boundaries for 2026?
What does an A* need in Chemistry?
Did the practical boundary change?
Why do raw boundaries change when UMS does not?
Revision cards
Say it, then flip.
Where to go next
- Test it
A-level Chemistry: Year 1
A new exam-style paper every day, with instant marking and a mark scheme
Start today's paper - Test it
A-level Chemistry: Year 2
A new exam-style paper every day, with instant marking and a mark scheme
Start today's paper