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How Are Edexcel GCSE History Grades Calculated? (From an Examiner's Perspective)

Updated: Feb 4

So, you’ve just finished a Edexcel GCSE (9-1) History paper, and wondering, "What do these marks actually mean?


Understanding grade boundaries can feel like trying to decode an ancient manuscript, but it’s actually quite straightforward once you know how the system is built. Here is a breakdown of how your History grade is calculated based on the June 2025 data.


What Exactly is a "Grade Boundary"?

A grade boundary is the minimum mark you need to achieve a specific grade.

  • If the boundary for a Grade 7 is 123 marks, and you get 123, you’ve got a 7.

  • If you get 122, you are at the top end of a Grade 6.


How GCSE History is Marked

Unlike some subjects that have "Foundation" and "Higher" tiers (like Maths or Science), History is linear. This means:

  1. All students take the same papers. There are no tiers.

  2. All exams must be taken in the same sitting (usually May/June).

  3. Your grade is based on your total score. You don't get a separate grade for Paper 1, 2, and 3. Instead, your marks from all three papers are added together to give you a "subject mark."


The Maximum Mark: For Edexcel GCSE History, the maximum raw mark you can achieve across all papers is 168.


Why Are There So Many Different History Codes?

When you look at the official Edexcel document, you’ll see dozens of rows for History (e.g., 1HI0 10 2A 30). This is because Edexcel offers a huge variety of "modules" or topics. Your specific code depends on which topics your school chose to study (e.g., Crime and Punishment vs. Medicine Through Time).While the boundaries vary slightly d epending on the difficulty of the specific papers you sat, they generally stay within a very similar range.


A Snapshot of June 2025 Boundaries

To give you an idea of what was required in 2025, here are the boundaries for one of the most common topic combinations (1HI0 10 2A 30):


  • Grade 9: mid-140s out of 168

  • Grade 8: mid-130s

  • Grade 7: low-to-mid-120s

  • Grade 6: around 110–114

  • Grade 5: roughly high-90s to about 102

  • Grade 4: mid-80s to around 90

  • Grade 3: low-60s to high-60s

  • Grade 2: low-40s

  • Grade 1: low-20s


Important: don’t use these as your final answer—your official grade still depends on the exact row for your paper combination—but it helps you “sense check” your total.

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