GCSE Chemistry Grade Boundaries 2026: AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC, CCEA and Eduqas

If you want to know what mark gets you a grade 9, a grade 5, or a pass in GCSE Chemistry, the answer depends on your exam board. In June 2026, a grade 9 in Higher tier Chemistry needed 155 out of 200 on AQA, 165 out of 200 on Edexcel, and 163 out of 180 on OCR Gateway. The same grade, on three very different totals. WJEC in Wales and CCEA in Northern Ireland use a different system again, and Eduqas does not publish GCSE Chemistry boundaries at all.

This guide sets out the June 2026 boundaries for each board, shows how they have moved over recent years, explains why they differ, and shows you how to use them to plan your revision. All figures are raw marks unless we say otherwise, and boundaries were published on results day, Thursday 20 August 2026.

Key Takeaways

• Grade boundaries are the minimum raw marks needed for each grade. They are set after every exam series and move each year with the difficulty of the papers.

• June 2026 Higher tier grade 9: AQA 155/200, Edexcel 165/200, OCR Gateway 163/180. As percentages, that is about 77.5%, 82.5%, and 90.6%, so you can only judge a mark against your own board.

• Higher tier grade 4 needs far fewer marks than Foundation grade 4 (for example 43/200 against 110/200 on AQA), because the Higher papers are harder. That is not a shortcut, so choose the tier you can do well in.

• WJEC (Wales) and CCEA (Northern Ireland) grade GCSE Chemistry on A* to G scales using uniform marks (UMS), and CCEA adds a C* grade.

• Eduqas does not offer GCSE Chemistry in England, so there are no Eduqas GCSE Chemistry boundaries.

What Are Grade Boundaries?

A grade boundary is the lowest mark that earns a particular grade. If the grade 6 boundary is 94, then 94 marks is a 6 and 93 is a 5. Boundaries are set after all papers are marked so that a grade means the same thing from year to year, even though no two papers are exactly the same difficulty. A harder paper means lower boundaries and an easier one means higher boundaries.

That is why last year's figures are a guide, not a promise. If you want the full explanation, our guide to GCSE grade boundaries explained covers how they are set and why they change, and our post on GCSE grades explained shows what each grade means.

GCSE Chemistry Grade Boundaries 2026 at a Glance

Higher tier, June 2026

Grade	AQA (out of 200)	Edexcel (out of 200)	OCR (out of 180)
9	155	165	163
8	137	146	151
7	120	127	139
6	94	103	118
5	68	79	97
4	43	55	76
3	30	43	65

Foundation tier, June 2026

Grade	AQA (out of 200)	Edexcel (out of 200)	OCR (out of 180)
5	132	137	120
4	110	118	100
3	81	88	76
2	52	59	52
1	24	30	29

Foundation tier awards grades 5 to 1 only. WJEC (Wales) and CCEA (Northern Ireland) use A* to G uniform marks, which are explained in their own sections below, and Eduqas has no GCSE Chemistry qualification, so there is nothing to list for it here.

Not sure which board you are on? Our guides on how to find your GCSE exam board and GCSE exam boards explained will help, and our comparison of AQA vs Edexcel shows how the two biggest boards differ.

GCSE Chemistry AQA Grade Boundaries (8462)

AQA GCSE Chemistry is assessed across two papers of 100 marks each, 200 marks in total. In June 2026 the Higher tier boundaries rose across the top, with grade 9 five marks higher than in 2025.

Higher tier (out of 200)

Grade	2026	2025	2024
9	155	150	149
8	137	132	130
7	120	115	112
6	94	90	90
5	68	66	68
4	43	42	46
3	30	30	35

Foundation tier (out of 200)

Grade	2026	2025	2024
5	132	132	133
4	110	109	112
3	81	80	82
2	52	52	53
1	24	24	24

A grade 9 on Higher tier in 2026 was 77.5% of the marks, a grade 7 was 60%, and a grade 4 was 21.5%. On Foundation tier, a grade 5 was 66% and a grade 4 was 55%. AQA also publishes notional boundaries for each paper, but these are for illustration only. The grade is decided on your total across both papers.

For the structure of the exam, including required practicals and how many marks come from maths, read our guide to free AQA past papers for GCSE Chemistry.

GCSE Chemistry Edexcel Grade Boundaries (1CH0)

Edexcel GCSE Chemistry is also assessed across two papers of 100 marks, 200 in total. Its boundaries tend to sit higher than AQA's and can move more from year to year.

Higher tier (out of 200)

Grade	2026	2025	2024
9	165	161	148
8	146	144	128
7	127	128	109
6	103	106	87
5	79	84	66
4	55	62	45
3	43	51	34

Foundation tier (out of 200)

Grade	2026	2025	2024
5	137	124	119
4	118	104	99
3	88	78	75
2	59	52	51
1	30	27	28

The swing from 2024 to 2026 is a good reminder that boundaries are not stable. The Higher grade 9 mark moved from 148 to 161 to 165 in three years, and the Foundation grade 4 mark moved from 99 to 118. That is a difference of almost 20 marks, which is why you should never plan around a single year's figures.

GCSE Chemistry OCR Grade Boundaries (J248)

OCR's Gateway Science Chemistry A (J248) is assessed across two papers of 90 marks each, 180 marks in total. That smaller total is why OCR's boundaries look high when compared directly with AQA and Edexcel.

Higher tier (out of 180)

Grade	2026	2025	2024
9	163	158	154
8	151	145	140
7	139	132	127
6	118	112	107
5	97	92	87
4	76	73	68
3	65	63	58

Foundation tier (out of 180)

Grade	2026	2025	2024
5	120	113	114
4	100	97	100
3	76	74	75
2	52	51	50
1	29	28	26

A grade 9 on OCR Higher in 2026 was 90.6% of the marks, compared with 77.5% on AQA, so a student who scores the same percentage on both could get very different grades. OCR also offers Chemistry B (Twenty First Century Science, J258), which has its own separate boundaries, so check which specification your school follows.

GCSE Chemistry WJEC Grade Boundaries (Wales)

WJEC is the exam board for Wales, and its GCSE Chemistry works differently from England's 9 to 1 system. The qualification is unitised and graded A* to G using a uniform mark scale (UMS) rather than raw marks. The maximum is 400 uniform marks, built from Unit 1 (180), Unit 2 (180), and Unit 3 (40).

WJEC GCSE Chemistry overall boundaries (uniform marks, out of 400)

Grade	Uniform marks (out of 400)
A*	360
A	320
B	280
C	240
D	200
E	160
F	120
G	80

Two points are worth understanding. First, these uniform marks are fixed, while the raw marks that convert into them change each series. WJEC publishes the raw to uniform conversions for each unit after every exam series, so use the latest ones when you mark a practice paper. Second, in Foundation tier units the maximum uniform mark is set at the equivalent of a top grade C, so a Foundation entry cannot achieve above a C.

WJEC is also introducing new Made-for-Wales science qualifications, so check with your school which specification you are following before you rely on any figures.

GCSE Chemistry Eduqas Grade Boundaries

This is a common point of confusion. Eduqas is WJEC's brand for qualifications in England, but it does not currently list GCSE Chemistry. Eduqas's published June 2026 GCSE grade boundaries cover subjects such as English, Maths, History, and Geography, and they do not include any of the sciences. That means there are no Eduqas GCSE Chemistry boundaries to look up.

If a website shows Eduqas Chemistry boundaries, it almost always means the Eduqas A level (A410QS). If your school has told you that you are doing Eduqas Chemistry at GCSE, ask your teacher to confirm the exact exam board and specification code. It may be a WJEC qualification (Wales) or an AQA, Edexcel, or OCR specification.

GCSE Chemistry CCEA Grade Boundaries (Northern Ireland)

CCEA is the exam board for Northern Ireland, and its GCSE Chemistry (G9142) uses a unitised A* to G scale with an extra grade, C*. There are three units: Unit 1 on structures, trends, chemical reactions, quantitative chemistry and analysis, Unit 2 on further chemical reactions, rates and equilibrium, calculations and organic chemistry, and Unit 3 on practical skills. Students carry out nine prescribed practicals.

CCEA converts raw marks to uniform marks (UMS). The unit-level UMS boundaries stay the same for the life of the specification, while the raw marks needed are set again in every series. The overall subject boundaries for grades A to G are also fixed, and only A* is set each series.

CCEA GCSE Chemistry overall boundaries (out of 400 uniform marks)

Grade	Uniform marks (out of 400)
A*	371 (summer 2025)
A	320
B	292
C*	268
C	240
D	200
E	160
F	120
G	80

Unit maximums are 140 for Unit 1 (102 at Foundation), 160 for Unit 2 (116 at Foundation), and 100 for Unit 3 (72 at Foundation). The raw marks needed change each series. For example, a grade A in Higher tier Unit 1 (out of 80) needed 54 raw marks in summer 2024 and 53 in summer 2025.

In summer 2025, 21.6% of CCEA GCSE Chemistry entries achieved an A*. The latest CCEA figures we have confirmed here are for summer 2025, so check CCEA's website for the raw marks for summer 2026.

How to Use Grade Boundaries in Your Revision

Boundaries are most useful when you turn them into a plan.

1. Find your board and tier. The figures only mean something against the right board. Our guide on the difference between Higher and Foundation tier explains the tiers.

2. Mark a full past paper honestly. Use the official mark scheme and our guide on how to use GCSE past papers to mark strictly.

3. Convert your total into a grade. Add up both papers and compare the total with your board's most recent boundaries.

4. Aim for a safety margin. Boundaries move, so aim for at least 5 to 10 marks above the grade you want, rather than sitting exactly on the line.

5. Find where the marks went. Sort lost marks into knowledge gaps, calculation slips (such as moles and units), required practical questions, and extended response technique. Our guides on how to revise GCSE Chemistry and how to get a 9 in GCSE Chemistry show how to fix each one.

6. Repeat. Come back to the same question types after a week or two to check the fix has worked.

Why Is a Grade 4 So Low on Higher Tier?

Looking at the tables, a Higher tier grade 4 on AQA needed only 43 out of 200 in 2026, while a Foundation grade 4 needed 110. That is not because Higher tier is an easy way to a pass. The Higher papers are harder and include more demanding questions, so the same grade needs a lower percentage. If you are likely to find the Higher questions too difficult, the Foundation paper can let you show what you know and often gives a more secure grade 4 or 5. This is a decision to make with your teacher, using your recent mock results. Our guide to whether a grade 4 is a pass at GCSE explains what the pass mark means for sixth form and college.

What About Combined Science Chemistry?

If you are sitting Combined Science rather than separate Chemistry, there is no chemistry-only grade. Combined Science awards a double grade across all the Biology, Chemistry, and Physics papers, so chemistry marks on their own can only ever be an estimate. Boards publish notional boundaries for each paper, but these are guides, not grades. Our guide to AQA Combined Science GCSE explains how the double grade works.

Turn Your Chemistry Marks Into the Grade You Need

Knowing the boundary is only half the job. The other half is finding the marks to cross it. Our GCSE Chemistry tutors start by finding exactly where you are dropping marks, whether that is moles calculations, required practicals, or six-mark answers, and work on those directly.

Our GCSE mock exams recreate real exam conditions with detailed, examiner-style feedback, so you can see how close you are to your target boundary. Our GCSE revision courses give you a structured path through the specification, and our GCSE past papers collection includes a dedicated GCSE Chemistry past papers page so you can practise with genuine papers for your board. If you are planning ahead, our GCSE exam dates guide helps you count back from your first paper, and our guide to when GCSE results day is explains when boundaries are published.

Conclusion

GCSE Chemistry grade boundaries differ by exam board, tier, and year, so the only useful number is the one for your own board. In June 2026 a Higher tier grade 9 needed 155 out of 200 on AQA, 165 out of 200 on Edexcel, and 163 out of 180 on OCR, while WJEC and CCEA grade on A* to G uniform mark scales and Eduqas has no GCSE Chemistry qualification. Boundaries move from year to year, sometimes by a lot, so aim for a safety margin, mark your practice papers strictly, and use the marks you drop to decide what to revise next. With the right plan, the boundary becomes a target rather than a worry.