Checked on GCSE results day · 20 August 2026
Find official 2026 GCSE grade boundaries for AQA, Pearson Edexcel and OCR, understand raw and notional boundaries, and avoid using the wrong table.
Use your exam board's official 2026 boundary page: AQA, Pearson Edexcel or OCR. Match the board, qualification, subject, specification code and tier to your result. Boundaries differ by board and subject and can change each year, so old tables or screenshots are not reliable for a 2026 result.
Exam boards set boundaries after marking. Senior examiners and assessment specialists consider how demanding the papers were and the standard of work shown, with the aim of maintaining comparable standards across years. That is why a grade is not always a fixed percentage. A harder paper can have a lower raw-mark boundary without making the qualification easier.
Start with the exam-board name on your result, then match the exact subject and specification code. For tiered subjects, use foundation or higher as appropriate. Use the overall qualification boundary for the final subject grade. Component or paper boundaries may be labelled notional. They help explain performance but do not create separate official paper grades in a linear GCSE.
Ask the school for your component marks and discuss access to the script before choosing a service. Being close is relevant to the decision, but it is not evidence of a marking mistake. A review can lower, confirm or raise a mark.
Continue with the question closest to your next decision. Each guide is source-checked and links back to the official service for case-specific action.
Revise Right is not an exam board. Check your school, college, awarding organisation or regulator before acting on a grade, review, appeal or resit deadline.
No. Boundaries can move because papers differ in difficulty. They are set after marking so that the standard represented by each grade is maintained from year to year.
No. Each exam board sets boundaries for its own specification and papers. Always use the board, subject, specification code and tier shown on your results information.
No. A boundary is a cut-off, so somebody will always be close to it. A review is for checking whether marking rules were applied correctly, not for adding a discretionary mark because you were close.
There is no universal percentage. The raw-mark boundary varies by subject, exam board, tier and exam series.
They show how marks on an individual paper might correspond to grades for illustration. The official GCSE grade is awarded at qualification level using the overall subject mark.