Grades & grade boundaries
What are GCSE grades 1–9 in old A*–G terms?
GCSE grades run from 9 (highest) to 1. A grade 9 is above an old A* - it rewards the very top performers. Grade 7 is an old A, grade 6 a high B, grade 4 a low C (the standard pass) and grade 1 roughly a G. The number scale replaced letters from 2017 to allow more distinction at the top.
Last updated 29 July 2026 · Written and fact-checked by the GCSEwiz team
The conversion table
The two scales don't line up one-for-one - the number scale has more grades at the top, which is the point - but the official anchor points make conversion straightforward:
| Number grade | Letter equivalent |
|---|---|
| 9 | Above A* - the top of the old A* |
| 8 | Between A* and A |
| 7 | A |
| 6 | High B |
| 5 | Strong pass - high C / low B |
| 4 | Standard pass - low C |
| 3 | D / high E |
| 2 | E / high F |
| 1 | F / G |
| U | U - ungraded |
Why the letters were replaced
England reformed GCSEs from 2017 with new, tougher content - and new grades to signal the change. The main design goal was more differentiation among the strongest results: the old A and A* covered a wide band of performance, which the new 7, 8 and 9 split three ways. A grade 9 is deliberately rarer than an A* was - only a few per cent of entries in a subject achieve it - so a 9 says something an A* never quite could.
Three anchor points were fixed so results stayed comparable across the change: the bottom of a 7 matches the bottom of an old A, the bottom of a 4 matches the bottom of a C, and the bottom of a 1 matches the bottom of a G.
What employers and parents should read from the numbers
If you last dealt with GCSEs in letters: a 4 or above is the pass benchmark most requirements mean, 5 is the "strong pass" schools are measured on, 7+ is old A-grade territory, and 9 is exceptional. Anyone asking for "A*–C" in old money is asking for 4+ in new.
How grades are actually awarded
There is no fixed percentage for each grade. Exam boards set grade boundaries after marking, using statistics and examiner judgement so that a grade means the same standard year to year - a harder paper gets lower boundaries. That is why chasing "what percentage is a 7?" only ever has an approximate answer, and why one hard paper does not sink a grade: the boundaries absorb it.
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Keep reading
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- What does a 5-5 or a 4-3 mean in Combined Science?
- What percentage do you need for a grade 4, 5 or 7 at GCSE?
- What are grade boundaries and how do they work?
- Will grade boundaries be lower this year?
- How many marks do I need for a grade 7 at GCSE?