WJEC GCSE Chemistry grade boundaries 2026: raw and uniform marks

WJEC GCSE Chemistry grade boundaries June 2026

Chemistry (3410) is graded in two steps. Each of Unit 1 and Unit 2 is an 80-mark written paper of 1 hour 45 minutes, according to the specification, and the third unit is a practical. The board converts every unit to uniform marks using its grade converter, adds them, and reads the grade from the fixed totals in its UMS document.

Chemistry Foundation tier, June 2026

Chemistry Higher tier, June 2026

Chemistry practical, Unit 3, June 2026

Movement since 2025

The raw marks on the Higher tier rose at every grade from A* to C in both written units, with the biggest jump in Unit 1, where an A* went from 52 to 60. Foundation went the other way at the bottom. The table shows the top and bottom grade on each paper.

The upshot is that the same raw mark was worth less in 2026 on Higher but more at the foot of Foundation Unit 1, where a G fell from 15 to 9. Only Foundation Unit 1 at C stayed the same, at 39. The practical rose by 1 at every grade, from 25 for an A* to 26.

A Higher example

A Higher tier candidate has raw marks of 44 in Unit 1, 52 in Unit 2 and 20 in the practical. The converter turns them into 140, 145 and 30 uniform marks, which is 315 out of 400. That clears the B boundary of 280 but falls 5 marks short of the A boundary of 320. Put the same raw marks through the 2025 converter and they give 335, which is an A. The papers are the difference.

The same C on each tier

Both tiers award a C, and a C is 108 uniform marks on a written unit. On Unit 1 that took 39 raw marks on Foundation and only 16 on Higher in 2026, and on Unit 2 it took 47 and 22. The two tiers sit different papers, so the same standard needs a different raw mark on each.

How Wales did in Chemistry in 2026

The JCQ Wales release for 20 August 2026 puts Chemistry at 44.7% for A*/9 to A/7 and 89.1% for C/4 or above, up from 42.1% and 88.7% in 2025. Physics was 46.5% and 89.4%, and Biology 43.2% and 86.8%.

Planning around the boundaries

• A C overall is 60% of the uniform marks. That is 240 of 400, however the raw boundary moves.
• Unit 2 weighs the same as Unit 1. Each is 45% of the grade, so a weak Unit 2 cannot be ignored.
• Expect the raw marks to wander. The Higher A* moved by 6 to 8 marks this year, so aim above the number you hope to need.

Try today's Chemistry paper

The Chemistry Higher and Chemistry Foundation papers are short mocks of 8 questions, 25 to 35 marks. They are written by us, not WJEC. Mark one and note what share you scored. If you are above 60% regularly on Higher, you are in the range where a C on the uniform scale is likely, but one short paper proves little. Keep a log for a fortnight.

Read next

UK · GCSEWJEC GCSE Chemistry grade boundaries 2025: marks per gradeWJEC's June 2025 GCSE Chemistry boundaries: fixed UMS totals and the raw marks for Units 1 to 3 on both tiers, with the same C compared across tiers.