Question 1

What are A-Level History grade boundaries?

Accepted Answer

A grade boundary is the minimum raw mark you need to achieve each letter grade in A-Level History. Each exam board sets its own boundaries after every summer series, once senior examiners have reviewed the evidence from that year's papers.

Boundaries shift a little from year to year, because every paper is a slightly different test. If a paper turns out more difficult than usual, the boundaries come down. If it's more accessible, they nudge up. The aim is that a grade represents the same standard whichever year you happened to sit the exam.

Question 2

Do the boundaries differ between exam boards?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and A-Level History has an extra layer of complexity: within a single board, students sit different combinations of topic options, so boundaries vary between options as well as between boards. AQA alone has 30-plus topic option combinations, each with its own set of grade boundaries.

Pick your board and option carefully from the boundary table on your board page.

Question 3

Why do A-Level History boundaries change every year?

Accepted Answer

Because every paper is a slightly different test. Once marking is complete, senior examiners at each board review evidence from the exam series, compare performance with previous years, and recommend where the boundaries should sit for each grade. If the paper turned out more difficult than usual, the boundaries come down. If it was more accessible, they nudge up.

The point of that adjustment is fairness across cohorts: a grade should mean the same thing whichever year you sat it.

Question 4

When are A-Level History grade boundaries published?

Accepted Answer

All the main UK boards (AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel) normally publish A-Level grade boundaries at 8am on A-Level results day, alongside the grades themselves.

We update each per-board page on this site the same morning with the new row, so you can look up your total against the fresh boundaries and see what grade it would have earned.

Question 5

Can I use Cognito for A-Level History revision?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Our free [A-Level History (AQA) course](https://cognito.org/courses/alevel/history/aqa) covers the whole 7042 specification with revision notes, quizzes and flashcards organised by topic, and [past papers by year](https://cognito.org/courses/alevel/history/aqa/past-papers/by-year) with the official mark schemes.

Pick your board from the list above to open the boundaries page.

A-Level History grade boundaries

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