What do GCSE grade boundaries mean?
It's not as easy as A, B, C these days...
GCSE results are set to be picked up by Year 11 leavers this week for what will be the tenth year group to have grades as numbers rather than letters.
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Since 2017, GCSE results have been given grades from 9-1, enabling more grades to be awarded than the former A-G lettering, which is still used for A-levels.
One week after A-level results were announced across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, students will be picking up their GCSE grades from 8am on Thursday, August 20, with the grades determining places in sixth forms, colleges and potentially future employment.
Once the results have been picked up, students can enjoy some tasty discounts at scores of restaurants and pubs.
Here is how the numbers relate to the old letter system.
Read also: Jeremy Clarkson tweets his 2026 A-levels message with a brag about eating at his pub
GCSE grades explained
The number scale is not directly equivalent to the old letter one, but there are comparison points:
- The bottom of grade 7 is comparable to the bottom of the old grade A,
- The bottom of grade 4 is comparable to the bottom of the old grade C,
- The bottom of grade 1 is comparable to the bottom of the old grade G.
Grade 4 has effectively replaced C as the metric for a good pass, while the Department for Education has said that a grade 3 is the minimum for mathematics and English to continue in education without a resit.