How many marks did each GCSE need for a 4, a 7 and a 9 in June 2025?

The headline numbers

These are the gaps that surprise people. They come from the raw-mark boundaries the four English exam boards published for the June 2025 series, turned into a share of each qualification's total marks so different subjects can sit side by side.

• A grade 9 needed 69% in Eduqas History and 94% in Eduqas Art & Design. Same top grade, 25 percentage points apart.
• A grade 7 ranged from 48% (Eduqas Higher Maths) to 83% (Eduqas Art & Design).
• On Higher tier, a grade 4 needed between 11% (Eduqas Higher Maths) and 42% (Edexcel Higher Biology).
• On Foundation tier, the same grade 4 needed between 45% (OCR Foundation Maths) and 67% (AQA Foundation Maths).
• In the untiered subjects, where everyone sits the same papers, a grade 4 needed between 31% (OCR English Literature) and 56% (Eduqas Art & Design).

Every subject and board, side by side

Each figure is the minimum mark for the grade as a share of the qualification's total raw marks, rounded to the nearest whole number. A dash means the tier cannot award that grade: Foundation papers stop at grade 5.

• Combined Science is two GCSEs graded on a double scale, so its columns show 4-4, 7-7 and 9-9.
• Where a subject is examined through many option routes (history, religious studies, geography, art and design), the figure is the middle value across the routes the board published.

Why does a grade 4 on Higher need so few marks?

Because a Higher paper spends most of its marks on grade 6 to 9 work. A student at the grade 4 standard can answer the opening questions and very little after them, so the boundary for a 4 sits low. That is the paper being hard, not the grade being cheap.

It is also why a low Higher boundary is not a shortcut. A student working securely at grade 4 usually earns far more marks on Foundation, where most of the paper is within reach, and misses less if the day goes badly. Our guide to choosing a tier walks through the decision.

Why does the same grade need different percentages?

Boundaries are set after the papers are marked, not before. Senior examiners look at scripts and at the national results pattern, and the regulator, Ofqual, expects grades to stay comparable from one year to the next. So when a paper turns out harder than intended, its boundaries come down; when it is easier, they go up.

Subjects also spread their marks differently. A maths paper has many small, clear-cut marks and a long ramp of difficulty. An English or history paper puts most of its marks into extended answers marked in levels. Art and design is assessed from a portfolio and a practical task, marked by teachers and then moderated, so its marks sit higher across the board. None of them is "easier" because its percentages look lower, and next June the numbers will move again.

How these figures were put together

Every mark comes from the awarding bodies' own June 2025 grade boundary documents (AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR and Eduqas), transcribed into the dataset behind our grade calculators. Percentages are the minimum raw mark for each grade divided by the qualification's total raw marks. WJEC's Wales-only GCSEs and CCEA's in Northern Ireland are graded A* to G, so they are not in this table.

You are welcome to quote these figures. Please link to this page so readers can check them against the boards' documents, which are listed under sources.