GCSE maths grade boundaries, explained

Every summer, parents look at a mock result and ask the same question: what does 62 out of 80 actually mean?

Boundaries are set after marking

Grade boundaries are decided once all papers are marked, so that the same proportion of students achieves each grade as in previous years. A boundary of 58 for a grade 7 in June might have been 62 in a previous year.

Raw marks to look at

What matters is the gap between where your child is and the boundary for their target grade on the same paper. A child on 62 out of 80 aiming for a 7 is close; a child on 38 is not, and needs a different plan.

What to do with a mock

• Identify which strands lost the most marks — often algebra and ratio.
• Check how many marks were lost to method, not knowledge.
• Compare against the paper's boundaries, not against a friend's mark.

A tutor can do this analysis in an hour and it changes the revision plan completely.