How grade boundaries work, and what a raw mark really means

A raw mark on its own tells you almost nothing. 120 out of 240 could be a grade 4 or a grade 5 depending on the year, the tier and the board. This tool does the conversion using the real published figures, and the explanation below is what the number means once you have it.

Why the boundaries move every year

Exam papers vary in difficulty. Boards cannot make every paper identical, so instead they adjust where each grade begins, using statistical evidence about the cohort alongside examiner judgement.

The June 2026 boundaries are now in the tool. Here is what actually moved this summer, board by board, and how it compares with 2019.

The consequence for parents is the important bit: a harder paper gets lower boundaries. When a student comes out of an exam saying it was brutal, that is not automatically bad news, because everyone else found it brutal too and the boundary will move down.

It also means comparing this year's raw mark against last year's boundary is guesswork. Always use the figures published for that specific series.

Reading a practice score honestly

Three things make a home practice mark flattering, and all three are worth correcting before you draw conclusions:

• Generous marking. Awarding a mark for an answer that was nearly right is the single most common way a practice score drifts away from reality.
• Extra time. An unlimited paper is a different test. If the clock was not running, the mark is a measure of knowledge rather than of exam performance.
• Familiar papers. A paper worked through before measures memory, not ability.

None of that makes practice pointless. It just means the number needs a note next to it saying which conditions produced it.

What the tiers mean for the grade available

Turning a grade into a plan

A grade tells you where you are. It does not tell you what to do, and the gap between those two is where most revision time is lost.

Go back to the paper and split every lost mark into two piles: did not know it, and knew it but lost it anyway. The first pile needs teaching. The second needs exam technique. They look identical on a results sheet and they need completely different work.

Our mock marking service does that split properly if you would rather have an examiner's read than your own, and the topic checklist turns the result into a list you can work through.

Questions parents ask

Where to go next