---
title: "What Percentage Is a Grade 7 in GCSE Maths?"
url: https://www.learningloftinstitute.com/answers/what-percentage-is-a-grade-7-in-gcse-maths
source: Learning Loft Institute
language: en
updated: 2026-08-21
section: "Answers › What Percentage Is a Grade 7 in GCSE Maths?"
---
# What Percentage Is a Grade 7 in GCSE Maths?
> **Answer.** A grade 7 has no fixed percentage, because the mark is set after each series is marked. On Higher tier in June 2025 it took 156 out of 240 marks with Edexcel (65%), 164 out of 240 with AQA (68%) and 166 out of 300 with OCR (55%). A year earlier Edexcel's grade 7 sat at 137 out of 240 — 57%.
## What the boundaries actually were
These are the published Higher tier grade 7 boundaries for the last two summer series. Edexcel and AQA mark out of 240 across three papers of 80; OCR marks out of 300 across three papers of 100, which is why its raw numbers look different.
The spread within a single summer is the striking part. In June 2025 the same grade, in the same subject, in the same country, sat at 55% with one board and 68% with another.
- Edexcel 1MA1, June 2025 — 156/240 = 65%
- AQA 8300, June 2025 — 164/240 = 68%
- OCR J560, June 2025 — 166/300 = 55%
- Edexcel 1MA1, June 2024 — 137/240 = 57%
- AQA 8300, June 2024 — 163/240 = 68%
## A lower percentage does not mean an easier grade
It is tempting to read OCR's 55% as a soft option and AQA's 68% as harsh. That reads the number backwards. Boundaries are set after marking so that the same quality of work earns the same grade across boards and across years, which means a lower boundary is evidence that the papers demanded more.
The comparison that is actually informative is the same board across years. Edexcel's grade 7 moved from 137 marks to 156 between June 2024 and June 2025 — nineteen marks, eight percentage points — while AQA's moved by a single mark. That tells you Edexcel's 2025 papers were markedly more accessible than its 2024 papers. It tells you nothing about which board is easier overall.
## The entry decides the ceiling before any of this matters
Foundation tier caps at grade 5. In June 2025 a Foundation candidate scoring every available mark with Edexcel — 240 out of 240 — would still have been awarded a 5, because grade 5 was the highest grade the tier offered at 175 marks.
So a student aiming for a 7 needs a Higher entry, and that entry has to be confirmed, not assumed. This is the single most consequential thing a parent can check on a mock results letter, and it is checkable in one line: which tier is the child entered for?
## How to use a boundary you cannot know in advance
Your series' boundary is set after you have sat the papers, so no revision plan can be built on a number. What you can build on is the range. Across the last two summers the Higher tier grade 7 has sat between 55% and 68% of the paper, so preparing to the top of that range means the boundary can move against you without costing the grade.
When we mark a mock we do two things with it: score it against the real boundaries of the paper it came from, and score it again against the hardest recent boundary for that board. A student comfortably over both is a grade 7 candidate. A student clearing one and not the other is a grade 7 candidate on a good day, which is a different conversation.
## What changes the answer
- Grade 7 is only available on Higher tier; a Foundation entry cannot produce one whatever the mark.
- Each awarding body sets its own boundary, because each sets its own papers.
- The November resit series has its own boundaries, which are not the summer figures.
- A harder paper produces a lower boundary, so a low percentage in a given year is a sign about the paper rather than about the grade.
## Figures
- **65%** — Edexcel Higher tier grade 7, June 2025 — 156 of 240 marks [1]
- **55%** — OCR Higher tier grade 7, June 2025 — 166 of 300 marks [4]
- **19** — Marks by which Edexcel's Higher tier grade 7 boundary rose between June 2024 and June 2025 [2]
## Questions
### Is 70% a grade 7 in GCSE maths?
On Higher tier it would have been comfortably enough in every series shown here, since the highest of those boundaries was 68%. But 70% is not the definition of a 7 and never has been — the numeral in the grade has nothing to do with a percentage, and the resemblance between 7 and 70% is a coincidence that has misled a great many students.
### Why do the three boards have different boundaries for the same grade?
Because they set different papers. The grade standard is held constant across boards; the mark that represents it cannot be, since a harder set of questions produces lower marks for the same quality of work. Ofqual's oversight of awarding is aimed precisely at making the grade comparable while the marks differ.
### Can you get a grade 7 on Foundation tier?
No. Foundation caps at grade 5 on all three boards. A student who is capable of a 7 but entered for Foundation cannot be awarded one, which is why tier entry deserves a direct conversation with the school in Year 10 rather than an assumption in Year 11.
### Do the individual papers have their own grade 7 boundary?
Boards publish per-paper boundaries, but they are illustrative — Edexcel and AQA both label them notional. Your grade comes from the total across all three papers, so a weak Paper 1 can be repaired by Papers 2 and 3, and a student who feels the non-calculator paper went badly should not treat the grade as decided.
## Sources
1. Grade Boundaries: Edexcel GCSE (9–1), June 2025 — Pearson Edexcel. https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/Support/Grade-boundaries/GCSE/grade-boundaries-june-2025-gcse.pdf (accessed 2026-08-21)
2. Grade Boundaries: Edexcel GCSE (9–1), June 2024 — Pearson Edexcel. https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/Support/Grade-boundaries/GCSE/grade-boundaries-june-2024-gcse.pdf (accessed 2026-08-21)
3. Grade boundaries, GCSE — June 2024 exams — AQA. https://filestore.aqa.org.uk/over/stat_pdf/AQA-GCSE-GDE-BDY-JUN-2024.PDF (accessed 2026-08-21)
4. GCSE grade boundaries, June 2025 — OCR. https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/739514-gcse-grade-boundaries-june-2025.pdf (accessed 2026-08-21)
5. Grade boundaries — AQA. https://www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/results-days/grade-boundaries (accessed 2026-08-21)
---
Published by Learning Loft Institute, Lahore, Pakistan. Canonical HTML: https://www.learningloftinstitute.com/answers/what-percentage-is-a-grade-7-in-gcse-maths. Site brief for models: https://www.learningloftinstitute.com/llms.txt.