GCSE Results Day 2025: Marking and grade boundaries explained - and where learners can find them
These can be a useful tool for finding out how many marks away you were from a top grade 📜
- GCSE results day is coming up later this week
- Grade boundaries for each subject will also come out on results day
- These can help learners see how close they were to a different grade
- Each exam board has its own dedicated online page for publishing these
Each GCSE pupils achieve is the summation of years of hard work in class, and time spent studying.
But no matter whether the outcome is cause for celebration or disappointment, many will be curious how close they were to a higher grade – or even that elusive 9. For these pupils, grade boundaries can be a big help.
This Thursday (August 21) is GCSE results day, with thousands of pupils across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland set to finally find out how they did in their exams – and which of these key qualifications they have managed to earn. This year’s candidates will be able to pick up their results envelopes from their school that morning, while about 100,000 are taking part in a Government trial which will see them get their results via a new app.
Grade boundaries are lists of the total amount of marks needed for each individual number grade, and will also be published by exam boards this Thursday. But how are these actually set, and where exactly will you be able to find them on results day? Here’s what you need to know:
How were exams marked – and how does this translate into grade boundaries?
Once exams finish, the papers are securely packaged up and sent off to whichever exam board that particular school or college uses. Once it gets there, how exactly your exam paper is marked may look a little different. But regardless of which exam board is grading your work – whether they’re doing it physically or digitally, or using one marker or several – it all needs to be done in line with exam regulator Ofqual’s official standards, and will undergo frequent quality checks.
The actual exam boundaries aren’t set until all papers for any given subject have been marked. Once they are finished, each exam board will have an expert panel meet and set that year’s boundaries based on how candidates performed.
This means that if learners appeared to find this year’s exam harder or simpler than usual, this can be taken into account, when deciding what grades everyone will eventually get. This helps to keep the qualification consistent across years.
What can you use grade boundaries for?
Knowing the exact number of marks needed for each grade can let you know how close you were to obtaining a different one. Generally, grade boundaries can be used to help learners get a better understanding of how they performed in that subject, as well their strengths and weaknesses if they also get a copy of their exam scripts.
Some candidates who have applied to competitive or selective sixth form colleges or other future study options may be considering resitting their exam or appealing a disappointing grade with their exam board, and understanding the grade boundaries for each subject can help inform that decision.
Grade boundaries generally stay quite consistent year-on-year, which means that this year’s boundaries can help inform next year’s teachers and pupils preparing to sit their own exams. You can check out some of the 2024 grade boundaries for key GCSE subjects here, for example.
Where to find them on results day
Each exam board will publish a full list of grade boundaries for each paper it offers on results day this Thursday. This will usually go live at around 8am, on a special page on the organisation’s website expressly for this purpose. Here are the relevant webpages for each of England’s major exam boards:
Some candidates will receive their exact marks alongside their grades for each subject on results day, but others may only receive their overall grade. You will be able to request these – as well as a copy of your marked exam paper, if you’d like – from either your school or college, or the exam board directly.
The Department for Education has created a blog post with advice for parents and carers supporting students who are receiving their exam results – including what to do if things don’t go as expected. You can check it out online here.