GCSE & A-Level Chemistry Grade Boundaries 2026

Grade boundaries are the raw marks you need for each grade. They are set after every exam series, once all the papers are marked, so that a grade means the same thing from one year to the next even though the papers are never equally difficult. If a paper is harder than usual, the boundaries come down; if it is more accessible, they go up. That is why last year's boundaries are a useful guide, but never a promise.

June 2026 GCSE boundaries are now in. AQA GCSE Chemistry (8462) rose across the top of the Higher tier: a grade 9 now needs 155 out of 200, five marks more than 2025, with a grade 7 at 120 and a grade 4 at 43. Foundation tier barely moved, with a grade 4 at 110 and a grade 5 unchanged at 132. Edexcel (1CH0) sat higher across the board, at 165 out of 200 for a grade 9 and 55 for a grade 4, and OCR Gateway (J248) higher again at 163 out of 180 and 76. Those grade 9 marks are 77%, 83% and 91% of each paper — the same grade, on three very different totals, which is why you can only ever read a raw mark against your own board.

A-Level 2026 is in too. AQA (7405) set A* at 255 out of 300 — 85%, and the highest A* mark in the tables below — with an A at 220. Edexcel (9CH0) put A* at 246 out of 300 and OCR Chemistry A (H432) at 234 out of 270. OCR’s Salters route (H433) needed 226 out of 270, and Eduqas (A410QS) 222 out of 300 — 74%, eleven percentage points below AQA for the same grade. The boards sat different papers, so that spread says nothing about which course was harder; it only reflects how each set of papers performed this summer.

The calculator covers all of it: pick your level, board and course, mark a past paper honestly, enter your raw marks, and it returns the grade those marks would have given — and how many marks stood between you and the next grade up. The full boundary tables are underneath, straight from each board’s published documents.

What the boundaries actually tell you

Grade boundaries are a good revision tool, if you use them the right way. Mark a past paper strictly against the mark scheme, find your grade here, and then look at where the lost marks came from rather than just the total. The marks you drop tend to cluster — command words you rushed, working you did not show, a required practical you half-remembered. Those are the cheapest marks to win back.

What boundaries cannot do is predict next year exactly. Treat a result near a boundary as "about this grade", and keep your target a clear margin above the line, not sitting on it.

Common questions

Why do chemistry grade boundaries change every year?

They are set after each series, once papers are marked, to keep the standard consistent when papers vary in difficulty. A harder paper means lower boundaries; an easier one means higher. Previous year's marks are a guide, not a guarantee.

Can I use these to predict my grade?

They are a strong benchmark for marking your own past papers, but next year's boundaries will not be identical. Read a result near a boundary as "around this grade" rather than a fixed prediction.

Which boards and courses does this cover?

At GCSE: AQA Chemistry (8462) and Combined Science: Trilogy (8464); Edexcel Chemistry (1CH0) and Combined Science (1SC0); OCR Gateway Chemistry A (J248) and Combined Science A (J250). At A-Level: AQA (7405), Edexcel (9CH0), OCR Chemistry A (H432), OCR Chemistry B Salters (H433) and Eduqas (A410QS). Eduqas does not offer GCSE sciences in England, so it appears at A-Level only, and OCR's Twenty First Century route and WJEC's Wales-only qualifications are not included.

Why can't I get a Combined Science grade from my chemistry marks alone?

Combined Science is a double award graded across all six biology, chemistry and physics papers together, so chemistry marks on their own can only ever be an estimate. For all three boards the estimate adds together the two notional chemistry paper boundaries the board publishes — out of 140 on AQA, 120 on Edexcel and OCR — and the calculator flags it as approximate whenever you choose a Combined Science course.