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Your grade journey

Grade boundaries

Know your marks. Aim a little higher.

Find your subject and explore official boundaries from the exam boards.

750 specifications3612 exam seriesLatest June 2026

Choose your subject

Official sources

Showing Pearson Edexcel, AQA, OCR, Cambridge and IB.

From marks to a grade in three steps

  1. Step 1

    Find your specification

    Search your subject or the spec code printed on your paper.

  2. Step 2

    Pick series and tier

    Choose the exam series and your tier or paper route — each has its own boundaries.

  3. Step 3

    Enter your marks

    Get your grade, the marks to the next one, and the full working.

Frequently asked questions

What is a grade boundary?

The minimum mark you need for a grade. If the boundary for a grade 6 is 114, then 114 is the lowest mark that earns a 6 — 113 would be a 5. Boundaries are set for the whole qualification, using your total mark across the papers.

Why do grade boundaries change every year?

Exam papers vary a little in difficulty from year to year. Boards set the boundaries after marking so that a grade represents the same standard every year — a harder paper usually means lower boundaries, and an easier one higher boundaries.

How do I work out my grade from my marks?

Add up your marks across the papers (some subjects scale each paper by a weighting factor first) and compare the total with that series' boundaries. Each subject page has a calculator that does this and shows every step.

What are UMS marks?

Modular qualifications convert each unit's raw mark to a uniform mark (UMS) so units sat in different series can be added fairly. The overall grade is then set on the UMS total. The calculator converts raw marks to UMS for modular subjects.

Are the estimated boundaries official?

No. Estimates for the next series are an average of recent official boundaries and are always labelled as estimates. Real boundaries are only known after the exams, when the board publishes them.