IGCSE Grades Explained for Students

Taking your IGCSEs is like learning a whole new language. There are new words, new concepts to learn in your subjects and, on top of all of this, you need to take an exam at the end and perform your best.

Not only do you have to take the exam, but you are expected to understand the grades, what’s good, what’s bad and if you have even passed. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more confusing, different exam boards use different grading scales. It can all be a little overwhelming!

Luckily for you, this article is here to explain what your IGCSE grades mean, how the system works and what is considered a pass. 

How Does The IGCSE Grading System Work?

There are two grading scales used by IGCSE exam boards. These are:

• 1 to 9

• G to A*

For the first scale, 1 is the lowest grade and 9 is the highest, while G is the lowest and A* is the highest grade in the second scale. U means ungraded in both scales. U would be given if the exam paper was left empty, for example. The more marks you get in the exam, the higher your grade will be.

The three main examining boards which award IGCSEs are:

• Cambridge Assessment International Education (CIE)

• Pearson Edexcel (Edexcel)

• Oxford International AQA Examinations (Oxford AQA)

The following table shows which scale is used by each exam board.

The grading scales do not line up perfectly, however. The G to A* scale has 8 levels, while the 1 to 9 scale has 9 levels. A grade 9 is a higher grade than an A* and a low grade 4 aligns with a low grade C.

What is a Pass in IGCSE?

The pass grades for both scales are a grade C and a grade 4. You need to pass an IGCSE to continue with that subject at A level, and passing your IGCSEs is really important if you apply to university. This is especially true for English and maths. 

How are IGCSE Grades Calculated?

Different subjects assess IGCSEs in different ways. All subjects involve sitting an exam, but there are options for a portion of the assessment to involve coursework and practicals. 

For example, CIE IGCSE sciences have a paper assessing practical skills, as well as theory papers. Other IGCSEs use coursework to assess students, such as the CIE English coursework module. 

All IGCSEs provide a route which does not involve coursework or practicals, however. In the sciences, you can sit the Alternative to Practical paper instead of being assessed on practical investigations. 

Each component of your IGCSE – whether it’s coursework, a practical or an exam – contributes to your overall final grade. The percentage of your final grade determined by each component is different for each exam board and each subject.

Let’s imagine an IGCSE which is assessed with paper 1, paper 2 and a practical, worth 40%, 40% and 20% respectively. Now imagine you scored 75% in paper 1, 60% in paper 2 and 55% in the practical. Your overall percentage would be calculated like this:

This would be a percentage of 65%. The grade that this percentage translates to depends on the grade boundaries for that subject, and these boundaries change every year.

How are IGCSE Grade Boundaries Decided?

Grade boundaries refer to the total raw marks across all papers you need to get a certain grade. These are changed every year and are based on several factors, including:

• Pre-exam recommendations

  • Certain questions are written for students attaining a certain grade

  • Before the paper is taken by students, examiners suggest a percentage for a certain grade

• Prior attainment information

  • A year group’s performance in previous exams (e.g. key stage 2 tests) informs grade boundaries

• Assessment statistics

  • The average marks for questions or the whole paper are compared to pre-exam recommendations

• Principal Examiner or Principal Moderator recommendations

  • The subject expert reviews feedback from lots of different sources and gives their input on the grade boundaries

• Inter-board screening

  • Exam boards communicate with each other to ensure that the grades they give are fair and comparable

• Historical boundaries and outcomes

  • Grade boundaries from previous papers also inform the decision

• Inspection of student work

  • Examiners compare the quality of samples of students’ work to their expectations of grade boundaries

• External variables

  • Government education policies may change, which affects the way a student can complete an IGCSE and this is taken into consideration

  • Covid-19 was an example of an external factor which affected grade boundaries

• Standardisation

  • This is the second marking of a sample of marked papers to make sure the examiners are marking consistently

Exam boards such as CIE publish their yearly grade boundaries for all subjects.

How to Interpret Your IGCSE Results

On your results day, you will be presented with a list of your grades in each subject.  These will be Gs to A*s or 1s to 9s, depending on your IGCSE exam boards. 

Almost all students put in a lot of work when studying for their IGCSEs. Some will achieve results that they are proud of, but this is not the case for all students. 

If you get your results and are not happy, perhaps you have failed or been given a lower grade than expected, don’t worry. There are options such as:

• Resits in a later exam series – some boards have November series

• Appeals if there were circumstances beyond your control affecting your exam performance

• Asking for remarks if you are close to a grade boundary, though be aware this can include a cost if your grade does not get changed

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References

CIE IGCSE homepage

Edexcel IGCSE homepage

Oxford AQA international qualifications homepage

CIE grading scale

Edexcel grading scale

Oxford AQA grading scale

What happens if you fail your GCSEs?

CIE IGCSE physics past papers

Factors determining grade boundaries

CIE’s yearly grade thresholds