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Results & retakes

IGCSE Grade Boundaries June 2026 — Official Cambridge Thresholds (Edexcel 20 Aug)

PapaMarks Team · July 15, 2026 · Updated August 18, 2026 · 8 min read
#IGCSE #Grade boundaries #June 2026 #Results #Thresholds #Cambridge #Edexcel

The June 2026 Cambridge IGCSE grade thresholds are published. They went live with results at 06:00 UK time on Tuesday 18 August 2026, and the tables below are the official numbers for the most-taken subjects. Pearson Edexcel follows with its International GCSE boundaries on Thursday 20 August, and this page updates again that morning.

⚡ The 60-second version
  • Cambridge thresholds: published — 88 subject tables went live at 06:00 UK on 18 August. The most-taken subjects are collected below. Edexcel International GCSE: 20 August.
  • Read the row, not the subject. Cambridge publishes a threshold per entry route — the exact combination of papers you sat. In Maths 0580 this June, two Extended routes sat 15 marks apart for the same A*.
  • Boundaries mostly rose this year: across 79 comparable A* routes, 53 went up and 22 went down. The full 2026-vs-2025 comparison is here.
  • The number that matters isn't the boundary — it's your distance from it: 1–2 marks below means a remark is worth considering; further means the November retake (entries close 12–21 September).
  • New to how thresholds work? Read the full grade-boundaries explainer first.

When the June 2026 boundaries came out

Tue 18 Aug · 06:00 UK
Cambridge thresholds ✓
Published with results, per syllabus, on cambridgeinternational.org
Thu 20 Aug
Edexcel boundaries
International GCSE PDFs on qualifications.pearson.com
Already out
Edexcel IAL · 13 Aug

Cambridge IGCSE June 2026 grade thresholds

Official minimum overall marks for the top grades in the June 2026 series, taken directly from the published Cambridge threshold tables. Each row names the entry route it belongs to — the combination of components sat — because that is how Cambridge publishes them, and a different route in the same subject can carry a materially different line.

Subject (syllabus)A*ABC
Mathematics (0580)
papers 21, 41 · out of 200
162 81%138 69%114 57%90 45%
Physics (0625)
papers 21, 41, 51 · out of 200
162 81%137 68%112 56%88 44%
Chemistry (0620)
papers 21, 41, 51 · out of 200
173 86%147 74%119 60%91 46%
Biology (0610)
papers 21, 41, 51 · out of 200
165 82%137 68%109 55%82 41%
English First Language (0500)
papers 11, 21 · out of 160
116 72%103 64%90 56%78 49%
English Second Language (0510)
papers 11, 21 · out of 150
143 95%137 91%128 85%119 79%
Economics (0455)
papers 11, 21 · out of 150
118 79%102 68%86 57%71 47%
Business Studies (0450)
papers 11, 21 · out of 160
95 59%80 50%65 41%50 31%
ICT (0417)
papers 11, 21, 31 · out of 280
197 70%171 61%145 52%119 42%
Computer Science (0478)
papers 11, 21 · out of 150
117 78%93 62%69 46%46 31%
Additional Mathematics (0606)
papers 11, 21 · out of 160
141 88%122 76%92 57%62 39%
Arabic Foreign Language (0544)
papers 03, 11, 21, 41 · out of 200
169 84%146 73%123 62%101 50%
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Reading this table: values are the minimum overall marks for each grade on the named route, and the percentage is that mark over the route's maximum weighted mark. If you sat different paper numbers — a different zone or a different tier — your line is a different one, and Cambridge publishes all of them per syllabus. Core-tier candidates are graded C–G regardless of mark (why). Component-level thresholds also exist separately; your exams officer sees the exact breakdown for your entry.
Interactive tool Put your grades in and see where you land Your average grade, total points and A*/A count across every subject — worked out from the A*–G scale in seconds. Open the grade calculator →

Your subject isn't in the table above

Cambridge published 88 IGCSE threshold tables for June 2026, one per syllabus, covering everything from Accounting 0452 to World Literature 0408, plus the full 9–1 graded set (0970 Biology, 0971 Chemistry, 0972 Physics, 0980 Mathematics and the rest). They are all on cambridgeinternational.org under the June 2026 grade threshold tables, filed by syllabus name and code. Find your syllabus code on your statement of entry first — it is the four digits that make the search unambiguous.

What actually happened to the boundaries this year

They mostly went up — which is the opposite of what was widely predicted through June. We compared every A* entry route that appears in both the June 2026 and June 2025 tables on identical terms, across the 14 most-taken syllabuses:

53Routes where the A* line rose
22Routes where it fell
+2.9Mean movement, in marks
+16Biggest single rise (Physics 0625)

Physics 0625 rose on every extended route, by 11.8 marks on average. Business Studies 0450 was the only subject down on average. Biology 0610 managed both at once — one route up 15 marks, another down 7 — which is the clearest possible demonstration that there is no such thing as "the 2026 boundaries" as a single fact. The full subject-by-subject comparison is here, with the method.

A rising boundary is not a sign that marking got harsher. Thresholds are set after marking, from the actual scripts, so that a grade means the same thing every year: an easier paper pushes the line up, a harder one pulls it down. That is also why nobody could have told you these numbers in June, and why petitions to lower them have never moved one.

Edexcel International GCSE June 2026 boundaries

Status: publishing Thursday 20 August 2026. Edexcel grades 9–1; boundaries are published per subject as PDFs. We'll summarise the most-taken subjects here (Maths A, the sciences, English, Business) the same morning.

📐
Sitting Edexcel International AS or A Level rather than International GCSE? Those boundaries were published with IAL results on 13 August and are already available in full: every June 2026 IAL unit boundary, plus the UMS cash-in totals. Note that the file which ranks for "grade boundaries june 2026" is Pearson's UK GCE document — international candidates need a different one, and that post names both.

The moment you have your results

  1. Find your route's threshold above
    Match the paper numbers on your entry, not just the subject name — then ask your exams officer for your exact marks per component.
  2. Compute your distance
    Marks above the boundary = safe. 1–2 below the next grade = remark territory (deadline ~20 September). Further = decision time.
  3. If a grade needs fixing, move fast
    November retake entries close 12–21 September — and school/British Council cutoffs come earlier. The resit guide has the full playbook, and the results-day guide the whole decision tree.
🎯
Preparing for November or June 2027? Train with a buffer: drill real past papers — multiple choice marked automatically, written answers marked by an AI examiner against the official answer, and an AI tutor that marks a photo of your working — until you consistently score 10+ marks above the boundary you need. This June's tables are the argument for that margin: a line that can move sixteen marks between series is a line you want to be nowhere near.

FAQ

Are the June 2026 IGCSE grade boundaries out?
The Cambridge ones are. Cambridge published its June 2026 grade thresholds — 88 subject tables — at 06:00 UK time on Tuesday 18 August 2026, alongside results. Pearson Edexcel publishes International GCSE boundaries on Thursday 20 August 2026. Edexcel International A Level boundaries came earlier, with IAL results on 13 August.
Where can I find the official grade thresholds?
Cambridge publishes grade threshold tables per syllabus on cambridgeinternational.org, filed under the June 2026 series, and Edexcel publishes boundary PDFs on qualifications.pearson.com. This page collects the most-taken Cambridge subjects in one table; find your four-digit syllabus code on your statement of entry to locate anything else quickly.
Were the June 2026 boundaries higher or lower than 2025?
Higher, on balance. Across 79 A* entry routes that can be compared like-for-like between June 2025 and June 2026 in the 14 most-taken syllabuses, 53 rose, 22 fell and 4 were unchanged, with a mean movement of +2.9 marks. Physics 0625 rose most, by an average of 11.8 marks and by 16 on one route; Business Studies 0450 was the only subject down on average.
What percentage was an A* in June 2026?
It depends entirely on the subject, and this series shows the spread unusually clearly: an A* in Business Studies 0450 was 95 out of 160 (59%), while an A* in Chemistry 0620 was 175 out of 200 (88%) — same board, same morning. There is no fixed percentage for an A*, which is the whole reason boundaries are published per syllabus and per route.
Why does my subject have more than one set of boundaries?
Cambridge publishes a threshold per entry option — the specific combination of components you sat, which depends on your tier and your exam zone. Paper variants are written for different zones and are never identical in difficulty, so each gets its own line. In Mathematics 0580 this June, one Extended route needed 162 out of 200 for an A* and another needed 177. Read the row matching your own paper numbers.
What should I do if I'm 1 or 2 marks below a boundary?
Ask your exams officer to confirm your exact distance, then consider an enquiry about results (remark) before the ~20 September deadline — knowing grades can move down as well as up. If the gap is bigger and the subject matters, register for the November 2026 retake before entries close in mid-September.

Come back on the 20th for the Edexcel International GCSE numbers. And keep the quiet truth about boundaries in view: they only feel like a lottery to candidates who prepared without margin. This June, one line moved sixteen marks — for a student sitting comfortably clear of it, that was a piece of trivia rather than a result. Whichever way the lines land next series, the November window and a marked-practice buffer mean you're never more than one well-prepared sitting away from the grade you need.

Put this into practice on real papers

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