GCSE and A-level grade boundaries 2026: where to find them and how to read them

The official June 2026 grade boundaries are now published. A-level and AS boundaries came out on results day, Thursday 13 August 2026, and GCSE boundaries on Thursday 20 August 2026. Each exam board publishes its own, so you need the board and specification that your child actually sat. This guide links to each board's tables, shows how to read them with real 2026 figures, and explains why the numbers move every year.

Where to find the official 2026 grade boundaries

Past years stay online too. AQA, for example, keeps older tables in its grade boundaries archive, which is useful if you want to compare years or mark a mock paper.

What is a grade boundary?

A grade boundary is the lowest mark that earns a grade. GCSEs and A-levels in England are linear, so the marks from every paper in a subject are added up and the total is checked against the subject boundaries.

Here is a real example from AQA's June 2026 GCSE tables, for GCSE Mathematics Higher tier (8300H), marked out of 240:

A student with 166 marks got a grade 7. A student with 165 got a grade 6. Grades are not fixed percentages, so a 7 here needed about 69% of the marks, while in another subject it could be quite different.

Subject boundaries and paper boundaries

The boundary that decides the grade is the subject, or overall, boundary. Boards also publish boundaries for each paper or component, but these are notional. AQA says there are no official grades for individual components in linear qualifications, and OCR notes that component "grades" do not automatically add up to the same grade for the qualification. Use them to see where marks were won or lost, not to work out the final grade.

Tiers in GCSE

Some GCSEs, including maths, the sciences and modern languages, have Foundation and Higher tiers with separate boundaries. In AQA's 2026 maths tables, Foundation tier boundaries run from grade 5 down to grade 1, and Higher tier from grade 9 down to grade 3. So a mark of 154 was a grade 4 on the Foundation paper (8300F), while 63 was a grade 4 on the Higher paper. The two numbers are not comparable, because the papers are different.

Were grade boundaries lower in 2026?

The honest answer is that it varied by subject. Here are some AQA subject boundaries for June 2025 and June 2026, taken from AQA's own tables:

A rise does not mean the grade became harder to get, and a fall does not mean it became easier. Ofqual's student guide for 2026 says boundaries vary from year to year "to reflect fairly any changes in how difficult the exam is that year", and that the standard of work needed for a grade in 2026 is comparable to summer 2025. When a paper turns out easier than the year before, students score more marks, so the boundary rises to keep the grade worth the same. When a paper is harder, the boundary falls.

Why boundaries differ between exam boards

Each board writes its own papers, which differ in length and difficulty. The same grade can need very different raw marks. For GCSE Maths Higher tier in June 2026:

These figures come from each board's published June 2026 tables. They do not mean Edexcel was the easiest route to a 7. Ofqual says it is no more difficult to achieve a grade "between different exam boards", and that different boundaries reflect how hard each particular paper was. A grade 7 is the same standard whichever board awarded it.

How grade boundaries are set

Ofqual explains that boards decide boundaries after students take the exams, when marking is nearly complete. They analyse data about the students who took the qualification and compare it with earlier years. Senior examiners then look at samples of work on and around the possible boundaries and compare them with work from the previous year at the same boundaries.

The approach is often called comparable outcomes. In Ofqual's words, "if the national cohort for a subject is similar (in terms of past performance) to last year, then results should also be similar at a national level in that subject." There are no quotas for how many students must pass or fail, and no cap on how many can get each grade.

How to check your child's result against the boundaries

1. Find the exam board and specification code for each subject. They are on the results slip, or the school or college can tell you.
2. Open that board's June 2026 tables and find the subject code, including the tier for a tiered GCSE.
3. Compare the total mark with the subject boundaries, not the paper boundaries. Some boards print the total mark on the results slip (Eduqas does). If the slip shows only the grade, ask the exams officer for the marks.
4. Check how close the mark is to the next grade up. A mark just below a boundary is where a review of marking is most likely to matter.

Just below a boundary? Reviews of marking

If you think a paper was marked wrongly, the school or college, as the exam centre, can ask the board for a review of marking. For students who sat their exams at a school or college, the board accepts requests only from that centre, not from students or parents. The student must give written consent, because the mark can go down as well as up or stay the same.

For the June 2026 series, JCQ's deadline for boards to receive review requests fell on Thursday 24 September 2026. The priority service for A-levels, which matters most when a university place is at stake, closed on 20 August 2026. For summer 2027, check the timings with the school as soon as results arrive, as these deadlines come round quickly.

Grade boundaries 2027: key dates

JCQ's key dates for the June 2027 series set the timetable for students in Year 11 and Year 13 now:

No one can know the 2027 boundaries before then, because they are set after the 2027 papers are marked. Websites offering predicted boundaries are guessing. Past boundaries are still useful for mocks, as long as you use the right board, specification and tier, and treat the result as a rough guide rather than a forecast. GCSE resits in the November series have their own boundaries, which the boards publish on that series' results day.

How FindMySchool helps

Grade boundaries decide individual grades. Results across a whole school tell you more when you are choosing where your child studies next. Our guide to school performance tables explains Progress 8, Attainment 8 and the other measures, and our A-level schools page compares sixth forms and colleges on their A-level results.

If your child is in Year 11 and weighing up sixth forms or colleges for September 2027, you can browse sixth form schools or use School Match to build a shortlist around your family's priorities. Create a free account, answer 11 questions, and get five schools ranked for your child, from £3.99. When results day comes round, our GCSE results day and A-level results day guides walk through what to do next.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I find the 2026 grade boundaries?

On the website of the exam board that set the exam. AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR and WJEC Eduqas have all published their June 2026 boundaries. A-level and AS boundaries came out on 13 August 2026 and GCSE boundaries on 20 August 2026. Check the results slip or ask the school which board and specification code each subject used.

What is a grade boundary?

Were grade boundaries lower in 2026?

Why are AQA and Edexcel grade boundaries different?

When will the 2027 grade boundaries be published?