Grade boundaries

AQA GCSE English Language 8700 grade boundaries

The newest summer series is shown first. Type a mark to see its grade, or choose another tier, series or paper.

Level

Subject

Board

Course

GCSE English Language 8700

Boundaries

Whole subject or paper

Mark

Out of

Type a mark to see its grade.

The boundaries

June 2026 · whole subject

Grade	Needs
9	122 of 160
8	112 of 160
7	103 of 160
6	93 of 160
5	84 of 160
4	75 of 160
3	55 of 160
2	35 of 160
1	16 of 160

Every course·Mock grade calculator

Marks for each grade in June 2026

In total

122 out of 160 on AQA 8700 in total was a grade 9 in June 2026.
112 out of 160 on AQA 8700 in total was a grade 8 in June 2026.
103 out of 160 on AQA 8700 in total was a grade 7 in June 2026.
93 out of 160 on AQA 8700 in total was a grade 6 in June 2026.
84 out of 160 on AQA 8700 in total was a grade 5 in June 2026.
75 out of 160 on AQA 8700 in total was a grade 4 in June 2026.
55 out of 160 on AQA 8700 in total was a grade 3 in June 2026.
35 out of 160 on AQA 8700 in total was a grade 2 in June 2026.
16 out of 160 on AQA 8700 in total was a grade 1 in June 2026.

Every paper in June 2026

Every series

17 series, newest first. Each mark is the least that reaches the grade, out of the total under the column’s name.

June 2026

From AQA’s grade boundaries for June 2026: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	122	61	61
8	112	56	56
7	103	51	52
6	93	46	47
5	84	42	42
4	75	38	37
3	55	28	27
2	35	18	17
1	16	8	8

November 2025

From AQA’s grade boundaries for November 2025: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	120	60	60
8	110	55	55
7	101	50	51
6	91	45	46
5	82	41	41
4	73	37	36
3	54	27	26
2	35	17	17
1	16	8	8

June 2025

From AQA’s grade boundaries for June 2025: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	119	59	60
8	109	54	55
7	100	49	51
6	91	44	46
5	82	40	41
4	73	36	37
3	54	26	27
2	35	17	17
1	16	8	8

November 2024

From AQA’s grade boundaries for November 2024: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	121	61	61
8	111	56	56
7	102	51	51
6	91	45	45
5	80	40	40
4	70	35	35
3	52	26	26
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

June 2024

From AQA’s grade boundaries for June 2024: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	121	60	61
8	111	55	56
7	102	51	51
6	92	46	46
5	82	41	41
4	73	37	36
3	54	27	26
2	35	17	17
1	16	8	8

November 2023

From AQA’s grade boundaries for November 2023: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	120	61	59
8	110	56	54
7	101	52	49
6	90	46	44
5	80	40	39
4	70	35	35
3	52	26	26
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

June 2023

From AQA’s grade boundaries for June 2023: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	121	61	60
8	111	56	55
7	102	52	50
6	91	46	45
5	81	41	40
4	71	36	35
3	52	26	26
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

November 2022

From AQA’s grade boundaries for November 2022: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	120	60	60
8	110	55	55
7	101	51	50
6	91	46	45
5	81	41	40
4	71	36	35
3	52	26	26
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

June 2022

From AQA’s grade boundaries for June 2022: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	119	60	60
8	109	55	55
7	100	50	50
6	90	45	45
5	80	40	40
4	70	35	35
3	52	26	26
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

November 2021

From AQA’s grade boundaries for November 2021: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	121	61	60
8	111	56	55
7	101	51	50
6	90	45	45
5	79	39	40
4	68	34	34
3	50	25	25
2	32	16	16
1	14	7	7

November 2020

From AQA’s grade boundaries for November 2020: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	123	62	61
8	113	57	56
7	103	52	51
6	91	46	45
5	79	40	39
4	68	34	34
3	49	24	24
2	30	15	15
1	12	6	6

November 2019

From AQA’s grade boundaries for November 2019: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	131	66	65
8	121	61	60
7	111	56	55
6	100	50	50
5	89	44	45
4	79	39	40
3	58	28	29
2	37	18	18
1	16	8	8

June 2019

From AQA’s grade boundaries for June 2019: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	127	64	64
8	117	59	59
7	108	54	54
6	97	48	48
5	86	43	43
4	76	38	38
3	56	28	28
2	36	18	18
1	16	8	8

November 2018

From AQA’s grade boundaries for November 2018: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	134	69	65
8	125	65	60
7	117	61	56
6	105	54	50
5	93	48	44
4	81	42	39
3	59	30	28
2	37	19	18
1	16	8	8

June 2018

From AQA’s grade boundaries for June 2018: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	128	65	63
8	118	60	58
7	108	55	53
6	97	49	47
5	86	44	42
4	76	39	37
3	56	28	27
2	36	18	17
1	16	8	8

November 2017

From AQA’s grade boundaries for November 2017: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	132	67	65
8	123	63	60
7	114	59	55
6	102	53	49
5	91	47	44
4	80	41	39
3	58	30	28
2	37	19	18
1	16	8	8

June 2017

From AQA’s grade boundaries for June 2017: the board’s document.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	123	61	62
8	113	56	57
7	104	51	53
6	93	45	47
5	82	40	42
4	72	35	37
3	53	26	27
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

Questions

What mark do you need for a grade 7 in AQA GCSE English Language 8700?

In June 2026, the least mark for the whole subject that reached a grade 7 was 103 out of 160 in total.

What mark do you need for a grade 4 in AQA GCSE English Language 8700?

In June 2026, the least mark for the whole subject that reached a grade 4 was 75 out of 160 in total.

Which series of AQA GCSE English Language 8700 grade boundaries are there?

17 series, from June 2017 to June 2026: June 2026, November 2025, June 2025, November 2024, June 2024, November 2023, June 2023, November 2022, June 2022, November 2021, November 2020, November 2019, June 2019, November 2018, June 2018, November 2017 and June 2017.

Do AQA GCSE English Language 8700 grade boundaries change each year?

Yes. Across the 17 series here, a grade 7 in total needed from 100 out of 160 (June 2025) to 117 out of 160 (November 2018).

English Language at other boards

Other AQA GCSE courses

A series, or the safe rule

A paper is graded against the boundaries of the series it was sat in. Choose that series and the grade is the one the board’s boundaries gave that sitting. Where a series published more than one set of boundaries for the whole subject, one for each combination of papers, each grade takes the highest of them, and the line under the grade says so.

The safe rule is for a mark with no series of its own, such as a mock. For each grade it takes the highest boundary in the board’s most recent summer series, up to three of them and leaving out 2020 to 2022, or the course’s main series where it has no summer one. A grade it gives would have been enough in each of them. The line under the grade names the series it counted.

In the app you log a paper in one line, or question by question where asterisk has its questions, and each grade comes from these same boundaries. Open the app.

Not here

CCEA, AS level, IB and AP: the app holds no grade boundaries for them, so they are not offered.

Where these numbers come from

Boards publish their grade boundaries after each series, and that is all this page holds: each grade’s boundary mark and what the subject or paper is out of, as the board printed them. The papers stay on the boards’ own sites; nothing here reproduces a question or a mark scheme.

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	122	61	61
8	112	56	56
7	103	51	52
6	93	46	47
5	84	42	42
4	75	38	37
3	55	28	27
2	35	18	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	120	60	60
8	110	55	55
7	101	50	51
6	91	45	46
5	82	41	41
4	73	37	36
3	54	27	26
2	35	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	119	59	60
8	109	54	55
7	100	49	51
6	91	44	46
5	82	40	41
4	73	36	37
3	54	26	27
2	35	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	121	61	61
8	111	56	56
7	102	51	51
6	91	45	45
5	80	40	40
4	70	35	35
3	52	26	26
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	121	60	61
8	111	55	56
7	102	51	51
6	92	46	46
5	82	41	41
4	73	37	36
3	54	27	26
2	35	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	120	61	59
8	110	56	54
7	101	52	49
6	90	46	44
5	80	40	39
4	70	35	35
3	52	26	26
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	121	61	60
8	111	56	55
7	102	52	50
6	91	46	45
5	81	41	40
4	71	36	35
3	52	26	26
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	120	60	60
8	110	55	55
7	101	51	50
6	91	46	45
5	81	41	40
4	71	36	35
3	52	26	26
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	119	60	60
8	109	55	55
7	100	50	50
6	90	45	45
5	80	40	40
4	70	35	35
3	52	26	26
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	121	61	60
8	111	56	55
7	101	51	50
6	90	45	45
5	79	39	40
4	68	34	34
3	50	25	25
2	32	16	16
1	14	7	7

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	122	61	61
8	112	56	56
7	103	51	52
6	93	46	47
5	84	42	42
4	75	38	37
3	55	28	27
2	35	18	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	120	60	60
8	110	55	55
7	101	50	51
6	91	45	46
5	82	41	41
4	73	37	36
3	54	27	26
2	35	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	119	59	60
8	109	54	55
7	100	49	51
6	91	44	46
5	82	40	41
4	73	36	37
3	54	26	27
2	35	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	121	61	61
8	111	56	56
7	102	51	51
6	91	45	45
5	80	40	40
4	70	35	35
3	52	26	26
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	121	60	61
8	111	55	56
7	102	51	51
6	92	46	46
5	82	41	41
4	73	37	36
3	54	27	26
2	35	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	120	61	59
8	110	56	54
7	101	52	49
6	90	46	44
5	80	40	39
4	70	35	35
3	52	26	26
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	121	61	60
8	111	56	55
7	102	52	50
6	91	46	45
5	81	41	40
4	71	36	35
3	52	26	26
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	120	60	60
8	110	55	55
7	101	51	50
6	91	46	45
5	81	41	40
4	71	36	35
3	52	26	26
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	119	60	60
8	109	55	55
7	100	50	50
6	90	45	45
5	80	40	40
4	70	35	35
3	52	26	26
2	34	17	17
1	16	8	8

Grade	Whole subjectout of 160	8700/1out of 80	8700/2out of 80
9	121	61	60
8	111	56	55
7	101	51	50
6	90	45	45
5	79	39	40
4	68	34	34
3	50	25	25
2	32	16	16
1	14	7	7