Question 1

What mark do I need for a grade 5 in OCR GCSE Maths?

Accepted Answer

In 2025, OCR set the grade 5 boundary at 86 marks out of 300 on Higher tier, and 182 marks out of 300 on Foundation tier. This changes slightly every year depending on how difficult that year's papers were, so always check the year you actually sat.

Question 2

How many marks is OCR GCSE Maths out of?

Accepted Answer

OCR GCSE Mathematics (spec J560) is marked out of 300 in total, across 3 papers × 100 marks. The grade boundary is the combined mark across all three papers, not a per-paper cut-off.

Question 3

Why do grade boundaries change every year?

Accepted Answer

Exam boards set boundaries after every series to account for how hard that particular set of papers was, so the same grade represents a consistent standard of work year on year. A harder paper generally gets a lower boundary, and an easier paper gets a higher one.

Question 4

Were there real OCR grade boundaries in 2020 or 2021?

Accepted Answer

No. Exams were cancelled in both years because of COVID-19. Grades were awarded as Centre Assessed Grades in 2020 and Teacher Assessed Grades in 2021, so no genuine raw-mark boundaries exist for those two years.

Question 5

Why is OCR GCSE Maths marked out of 300 when AQA and Edexcel are out of 240?

Accepted Answer

OCR sets three 100-mark papers for GCSE Maths (300 marks total), while AQA and Edexcel each set three 80-mark papers (240 marks total). This is just a difference in paper design between boards, not a difference in difficulty, so OCR boundaries should never be compared directly against AQA or Edexcel ones as raw numbers.

Year	Grade 9	Grade 8	Grade 7	Grade 6	Grade 5	Grade 4	Grade 3
2025	258	212	166	126	86	47	27
2024	245	195	145	110	76	42	25
2023	242	193	144	109	74	39	21
2022	242	200	158	120	82	45	26
2020–2021: No exams held (COVID-19) — grades were centre/teacher assessed
2019	256	213	171	136	102	68	51
2018	256	210	164	129	94	60	43
2017	248	203	159	121	83	46	27

Year	Grade 5	Grade 4	Grade 3	Grade 2	Grade 1
2025	182	134	95	56	17
2024	180	131	93	55	18
2023	178	129	92	56	20
2022	170	119	85	52	19
2020–2021: No exams held (COVID-19) — grades were centre/teacher assessed
2019	189	144	104	64	24
2018	187	146	105	64	24
2017	174	126	93	60	28

OCR GCSE Maths grade boundaries.

Higher tier

Foundation tier

Common questions

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