AQA A-Level Chemistry Grade Boundaries
Past paper download links for each year can be found here here.
This page summarises the published AQA A-level Chemistry grade boundaries for the six most recent normal summer exam series: 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
For the fairest comparison, 2020 and 2021 are not included in the averages because they were not normal summer exam years.
Average boundaries based on all years
- A* = 80.7% (242/300)
- A = 66.9% (201/300)
- B = 54.9% (165/300)
- C = 42.9% (129/300)
- D = 31.1% (94/300)
- E = 19.3% (58/300)
Year-by-Year Overall Boundaries
These are the final qualification boundaries, with final A-level grades based on the total mark out of 300.
| Year | Max mark | A* | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 300 | 239 (79.7%) | 197 (65.7%) | 162 (54.0%) | 127 (42.3%) | 93 (31.0%) | 59 (19.7%) |
| 2024 | 300 | 239 (79.7%) | 198 (66.0%) | 162 (54.0%) | 126 (42.0%) | 90 (30.0%) | 55 (18.3%) |
| 2023 | 300 | 250 (83.3%) | 210 (70.0%) | 173 (57.7%) | 136 (45.3%) | 99 (33.0%) | 62 (20.7%) |
| 2022 | 300 | 237 (79.0%) | 196 (65.3%) | 158 (52.7%) | 121 (40.3%) | 84 (28.0%) | 47 (15.7%) |
| 2019 | 300 | 246 (82.0%) | 206 (68.7%) | 170 (56.7%) | 135 (45.0%) | 100 (33.3%) | 65 (21.7%) |
| 2018 | 300 | 241 (80.3%) | 198 (66.0%) | 163 (54.3%) | 128 (42.7%) | 94 (31.3%) | 60 (20.0%) |
Don't get obsessed with exact grade boundaries! Boundaries move each year, so just refer to them occasionally as a guide to compare your target and predicted grades to your current level.
Paper-by-Paper Boundaries
These paper boundaries are “notional” grade boundaries published by AQA. This means they are only an approximate guide to the level of performance required on each paper for a given grade.
Your final A-level Chemistry grade is based on your total mark across all papers combined. You do not receive a separate grade for Paper 1, Paper 2 or Paper 3.
Paper 1 notional boundaries
| Year | Max mark | A* | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 105 | 84 (80.0%) | 70 (66.7%) | 57 (54.3%) | 44 (41.9%) | 31 (29.5%) | 19 (18.1%) |
| 2024 | 105 | 87 (82.9%) | 74 (70.5%) | 60 (57.1%) | 46 (43.8%) | 33 (31.4%) | 20 (19.0%) |
| 2023 | 105 | 87 (82.9%) | 72 (68.6%) | 58 (55.2%) | 45 (42.9%) | 32 (30.5%) | 19 (18.1%) |
| 2022 | 105 | 81 (77.1%) | 65 (61.9%) | 52 (49.5%) | 39 (37.1%) | 27 (25.7%) | 15 (14.3%) |
| 2019 | 105 | 85 (81.0%) | 71 (67.6%) | 58 (55.2%) | 45 (42.9%) | 33 (31.4%) | 21 (20.0%) |
| 2018 | 105 | 86 (81.9%) | 72 (68.6%) | 58 (55.2%) | 45 (42.9%) | 32 (30.5%) | 19 (18.1%) |
Paper 2 notional boundaries
| Year | Max mark | A* | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 105 | 82 (78.1%) | 66 (62.9%) | 54 (51.4%) | 42 (40.0%) | 31 (29.5%) | 20 (19.0%) |
| 2024 | 105 | 82 (78.1%) | 67 (63.8%) | 54 (51.4%) | 42 (40.0%) | 30 (28.6%) | 18 (17.1%) |
| 2023 | 105 | 88 (83.8%) | 75 (71.4%) | 61 (58.1%) | 48 (45.7%) | 35 (33.3%) | 22 (21.0%) |
| 2022 | 105 | 84 (80.0%) | 70 (66.7%) | 56 (53.3%) | 43 (41.0%) | 30 (28.6%) | 17 (16.2%) |
| 2019 | 105 | 86 (81.9%) | 72 (68.6%) | 59 (56.2%) | 47 (44.8%) | 35 (33.3%) | 23 (21.9%) |
| 2018 | 105 | 84 (80.0%) | 69 (65.7%) | 57 (54.3%) | 45 (42.9%) | 33 (31.4%) | 21 (20.0%) |
Paper 3 notional boundaries
| Year | Max mark | A* | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 90 | 73 (81.1%) | 61 (67.8%) | 50 (55.6%) | 40 (44.4%) | 30 (33.3%) | 20 (22.2%) |
| 2024 | 90 | 70 (77.8%) | 57 (63.3%) | 47 (52.2%) | 37 (41.1%) | 27 (30.0%) | 17 (18.9%) |
| 2023 | 90 | 75 (83.3%) | 63 (70.0%) | 52 (57.8%) | 41 (45.6%) | 31 (34.4%) | 21 (23.3%) |
| 2022 | 90 | 72 (80.0%) | 61 (67.8%) | 49 (54.4%) | 37 (41.1%) | 26 (28.9%) | 15 (16.7%) |
| 2019 | 90 | 74 (82.2%) | 63 (70.0%) | 52 (57.8%) | 41 (45.6%) | 31 (34.4%) | 21 (23.3%) |
| 2018 | 90 | 71 (78.9%) | 57 (63.3%) | 47 (52.2%) | 38 (42.2%) | 29 (32.2%) | 20 (22.2%) |
How to Use These Grade Boundaries
- Use the overall table to judge the total mark usually needed for each grade.
- Use the paper tables to see which papers were harder or easier in a given year.
- When marking practice papers, compare your mark with the same paper and year where possible.
- For a safer target, aim above the average boundary rather than just matching it.
Sources
The data on this page is taken from official AQA published grade boundary documents.
- AQA June 2025 official grade boundaries PDF
- AQA June 2024 official grade boundaries PDF
- AQA June 2023 official grade boundaries PDF
- AQA June 2022 official grade boundaries PDF
- AQA June 2019 official grade boundaries PDF
- AQA June 2018 official grade boundaries PDF
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