OCR A-Level Chemistry A Grade Boundaries
Past paper download links for each year can be found here here.
This page summarises the published OCR A-level Chemistry A (H432) 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* = 86.4% (233/270)
- A = 73.6% (199/270)
- B = 59.8% (161/270)
- C = 46.0% (124/270)
- D = 32.3% (87/270)
- E = 18.8% (51/270)
Year-by-Year Overall Boundaries
These are the final qualification boundaries, with final grades based on the total mark out of 270.
| Year | Max mark | A* | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 270 | 243 (90.0%) | 213 (78.9%) | 175 (64.8%) | 137 (50.7%) | 99 (36.7%) | 61 (22.6%) |
| 2024 | 270 | 243 (90.0%) | 212 (78.5%) | 173 (64.1%) | 134 (49.6%) | 96 (35.6%) | 58 (21.5%) |
| 2023 | 270 | 234 (86.7%) | 198 (73.3%) | 158 (58.5%) | 118 (43.7%) | 79 (29.3%) | 40 (14.8%) |
| 2022 | 270 | 213 (78.9%) | 168 (62.2%) | 132 (48.9%) | 97 (35.9%) | 62 (23.0%) | 27 (10.0%) |
| 2019 | 270 | 230 (85.2%) | 196 (72.6%) | 161 (59.6%) | 126 (46.7%) | 91 (33.7%) | 56 (20.7%) |
| 2018 | 270 | 237 (87.8%) | 205 (75.9%) | 169 (62.6%) | 133 (49.3%) | 97 (35.9%) | 62 (23.0%) |
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 OCR. 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 each individual paper.
Paper 1 H432/01 Periodic table, elements and physical chemistry
| Year | Max mark | A* | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 100 | 92 (92.0%) | 81 (81.0%) | 66 (66.0%) | 52 (52.0%) | 38 (38.0%) | 24 (24.0%) |
| 2024 | 100 | 91 (91.0%) | 80 (80.0%) | 66 (66.0%) | 51 (51.0%) | 37 (37.0%) | 23 (23.0%) |
| 2023 | 100 | 83 (83.0%) | 71 (71.0%) | 57 (57.0%) | 43 (43.0%) | 29 (29.0%) | 15 (15.0%) |
| 2022 | 100 | 78 (78.0%) | 62 (62.0%) | 48 (48.0%) | 35 (35.0%) | 22 (22.0%) | 9 (9.0%) |
| 2019 | 100 | 85 (85.0%) | 72 (72.0%) | 59 (59.0%) | 46 (46.0%) | 33 (33.0%) | 20 (20.0%) |
| 2018 | 100 | 90 (90.0%) | 80 (80.0%) | 66 (66.0%) | 52 (52.0%) | 39 (39.0%) | 26 (26.0%) |
Paper 2 H432/02 Synthesis and analytical techniques
| Year | Max mark | A* | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 100 | 91 (91.0%) | 81 (81.0%) | 66 (66.0%) | 51 (51.0%) | 36 (36.0%) | 21 (21.0%) |
| 2024 | 100 | 92 (92.0%) | 81 (81.0%) | 66 (66.0%) | 51 (51.0%) | 36 (36.0%) | 21 (21.0%) |
| 2023 | 100 | 90 (90.0%) | 77 (77.0%) | 61 (61.0%) | 45 (45.0%) | 30 (30.0%) | 15 (15.0%) |
| 2022 | 100 | 83 (83.0%) | 66 (66.0%) | 52 (52.0%) | 38 (38.0%) | 24 (24.0%) | 10 (10.0%) |
| 2019 | 100 | 90 (90.0%) | 80 (80.0%) | 67 (67.0%) | 53 (53.0%) | 39 (39.0%) | 25 (25.0%) |
| 2018 | 100 | 87 (87.0%) | 73 (73.0%) | 59 (59.0%) | 45 (45.0%) | 32 (32.0%) | 19 (19.0%) |
Paper 3 H432/03 Unified chemistry
| Year | Max mark | A* | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 70 | 60 (85.7%) | 51 (72.9%) | 43 (61.4%) | 34 (48.6%) | 25 (35.7%) | 16 (22.9%) |
| 2024 | 70 | 60 (85.7%) | 51 (72.9%) | 41 (58.6%) | 32 (45.7%) | 23 (32.9%) | 14 (20.0%) |
| 2023 | 70 | 61 (87.1%) | 50 (71.4%) | 40 (57.1%) | 30 (42.9%) | 20 (28.6%) | 10 (14.3%) |
| 2022 | 70 | 52 (74.3%) | 40 (57.1%) | 32 (45.7%) | 24 (34.3%) | 16 (22.9%) | 8 (11.4%) |
| 2019 | 70 | 55 (78.6%) | 44 (62.9%) | 35 (50.0%) | 27 (38.6%) | 19 (27.1%) | 11 (15.7%) |
| 2018 | 70 | 60 (85.7%) | 52 (74.3%) | 43 (61.4%) | 34 (48.6%) | 25 (35.7%) | 17 (24.3%) |
Sources
The data on this page is taken from official OCR published grade boundary documents.
- OCR June 2025 official grade boundaries PDF
- OCR June 2024 official grade boundaries PDF
- OCR June 2023 official grade boundaries PDF
- OCR June 2022 official grade boundaries PDF
- OCR June 2019 official grade boundaries PDF
- OCR June 2018 official grade boundaries PDF
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