Mock Drop GCSE Grade Boundaries

How to work out your grade

You can now use our expertly created grade boundaries to grade your own papers once you've completed them. Just follow the steps below and find out what grade you achieved.

1. Head to your Mock Drop papers on Save My Exams

2. Complete any outstanding papers for each course

   1. You’ll need a complete set for each course to be able to calculate your grade

   2. Some subjects are tiered or contain optional content and different combinations, so check carefully to ensure you have completed all the appropriate papers

3. Find your course in the tables below

4. Add up your raw marks across all papers

5. Your grade is the highest boundary your total reaches or exceeds

GCSE Grade Boundaries

GCSE grades run from 9 (highest) to 1 (lowest) and 9-9 to 1-1 for Combined Science.

Sciences and Maths are tiered, so be sure to check that you've completed the appropriate combination of papers and look at the right grade boundaries for Foundation or Higher.

English Literature and Geography also have optional content, so check you've completed the right combination by reading through the notes on options and combinations below.

All GCSE papers carry equal weight.

Notes on options and combinations

AQA GCSE English Literature*

• English Literature boundaries apply to all text set combinations

• For Paper 1, you'll have studied one Shakespeare text and one 19th-century novel

  • Shakespeare texts include: Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar

  • 19th-century novels include: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, Pride and Prejudice, The Sign of Four

• For Paper 2, you'll have studied one modern text and a poetry anthology comprising of 15 poems

  • Modern texts include: An Inspector Calls, Blood Brothers, DNA, A Taste of Honey, Princess & The Hustler, Leave Taking, Lord of the Flies, Telling Tales, Animal Farm, Anita and Me, Pigeon English, My Name is Leon

  • Poetry includes: Power and Conflict, Love and Relationships, Worlds and Lives

• You will also have an unseen poetry section in Paper 2

• You'll need to complete a correct combination of 2 papers before calculating your grade

• If your combination is not available, you can calculate a partial grade as a rough estimate

AQA GCSE Geography**

• Geography boundaries apply to all landscape and resource management option combinations

• We have split the optional content out to make it easier for you to select the options that you have studied

• All students should complete Paper 1 sections A and B, Paper 2 sections A and B and Paper 3

• You then need to choose the options you have studied for Paper 1 and Paper 2:

  • Paper 1: either coasts and rivers OR coasts and glaciers OR rivers and glaciers

  • Paper 2: either food OR water OR energy

• You'll need to complete a correct combination of 5 papers before calculating your grade
  

Your real exams are coming up: make your revision count

Completing your Mock Drop papers now gives you a clear benchmark of where you stand. Once you have your grade, go back to your papers and select “Review Marks”. Use the strengths and weaknesses information, model answers and answer feedback to help you identify the topics that need the most work, then head back to the other Save My Exams resources for revision notes, exam questions, and flashcards to help continue improving before your exam.