All you need to know about GCSE grading boundaries on results day (2024)

Year 11 pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will learn their grades — one week after the release of the A-level results.

Teenagers could face more competition for sixth-form and college places this year. Education leaders have said this is due to a rising number of 16-year-olds.

Last year, more than one in five (22 per cent) UK GCSE entries was awarded a top grade, compared with 26.3 per cent in 2022.

But it was higher than in 2019 — the last year that the summer exams were taken before Covid-19 — when 20.8 per cent of UK GCSE entries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were awarded a 7/A or above.

In England, exams regulator the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) expected this year’s national results to be “broadly similar” to last summer when grades were brought back in line with pre-pandemic levels.

GCSE results are announced from 8am on Thursday, August 22.

Schools and colleges will already have told you if it’s possible to receive results by email or post. The emails should drop into your inbox from 8am. Results sent in the post should arrive with the rest of your mail.

Since 2017, the A*-G sliding scale has used a number system. New grades are marked from nine to one, with nine as the highest and one as the lowest.

Grade nines will exceed an A* mark and comprise about 20 per cent of grades seven and above.

Marks nine to seven cover A*-A, six to four for grades B-C, and three, two and one for D-G.

Grade U will remain the same.

The new GCSE grading system, introduced in 2017, was implemented to raise educational standards and provide more precise differentiation among students. The shift from the old A* to G grades to a numerical scale of 9 to 1 was intended to reflect the increased rigor of the reformed GCSEs.

By making the content more challenging, the Government aimed to ensure students were better prepared for further education and the workforce. This addressed concerns that the previous system did not differentiate between varying high achievement levels.

Additionally, the change was a response to concerns about grade inflation under the old system and a desire to enhance the international competitiveness of UK qualifications. The new grading scale aims to help employers and universities more accurately assess student performance, with clearer benchmarks for top grades.

Ofqual said: “GCSEs in England have been reformed to keep pace with universities’ and employers’ demands.

“They are based on new and more demanding subject content but are still suitable for the same wide range of abilities.

“It also has higher grades compared to the old A* to G grades, to give sixth forms, colleges, universities and employers the opportunity to better distinguish between students of different abilities.”

Grade nine is for pupils who have done outstanding work, with only five per cent achieving this.

With four as the standard pass and five as a strong pass, employers and future schools can easily compare the old and new systems.

AQA grade boundaries can be found here.

OCR grade boundaries can be found here.

CCEA grade boundaries can be found here.

Edexcel grade boundaries can be found here.

The grade boundaries for exams set by WJEC can be found here.

Here is the entire new scale:

· 9 = High A*

· 8 = Low A* or high A

· 7 = Low A

· 6 = High B

· 5 = Low B or high C

· 4 = Low C

· 3 = D or high E

· 2 = Low E or high F

· 1 = Low F or G

· U = U