Updated Edexcel Maths Higher Grade Boundaries (June 2014)

So, the waiting is finally over and we now have the June 2014 results.

In a previous blog I looked at the historic grade boundaries for Edexcel's Maths GCSE.  Today, I have updated them.  Each y-axis has a range of 20 marks (10% of the total grade).  The y-axis goes 10 marks below the 4 year mean and 10 marks above the 4 year mean.

Take a look...

Grade A*

One of the few boundaries at Higher to remain consistent which is nice to see.

Grade A

Certainly an upward trend here......

Grade B

More upward mobility here....


Grade C

Again, another jump....

Grade D

Not much change but still slightly upwards...

Grade E

A slight step upwards....

So, what does this tell us?

Well, Grades A, B, C and D had a boundary above their 4 year average and the A* was higher than last year as was Grade E.

My own personal opinion is that the paper was a little harder than previous years so it seems to be getting harder to get one of the top grades.

Although, this is the first year where the results don't contain a large number of Year 10 students.  Logically, the Year 10 students would have scored lower marks than their Year 11 counterparts thus pulling the grade boundaries down if a similar percentage of students are to get a C+ each year.

(E.g. if 100 students took the exam and 30 of them are Year 10 students you would expect them to score lower marks than similar students to them in Year 11.  If 60% of students are to get a C+ then having Yr 10 students in the mix helps you get in the top 60%.  When the 30 Year 10 students are no longer entered you need to get in the top 60% of 70 Year 11 students rather than the top 60% of 100 Yr 10 and 11 students. )

I'd be fascinated to hear your views on this and see how your schools did.

I wonder what next year's boundaries will bring...