A guide for parents · After the Year 11 mocks
Foundation or higher tier
Some GCSEs, mainly maths, the sciences and modern languages, have two tiers of paper. Foundation papers can give grades 1 to 5 and Higher papers grades 4 to 9 (and a 3 by a small margin), so a student on Foundation cannot get above a 5 however well they do. The school chooses the tier, and it is usually settled after the mocks.
How the tiers work
Every paper in a tiered subject is sat at one tier: a student cannot mix Foundation and Higher papers. Foundation questions are easier and the marks for a 4 or 5 are high; Higher questions are harder and the marks for a 4 are low, which is why a Higher student who has a bad day can fall below the lowest grade the tier allows and be ungraded.
The table below is read from the boards’ own grade boundaries: for each tiered course, the highest and lowest grade each tier gave in its newest series.
How schools decide
The board needs the school’s entries in the winter, and the deadline for the summer series is usually in February, so the mocks tend to decide. A student getting a solid 5 on Foundation papers, or a 4 on Higher, is the usual point where the choice is hard. Ask the teacher what grade they expect on each tier; a student aiming for a 6 or above, for example to take the subject at A level, needs Higher.
The grade calculator will grade a mark on either tier’s papers, which helps when comparing a Foundation mock with a Higher one.
The grades each tier gave, course by course
Read from each board's own grade boundary table for the series shown: a grade with no boundary on a tier is one that tier did not give. Each course name opens its grade calculator.
Where to check
Checked against these on . The rules change from year to year, so the pages above are the ones to trust if anything here disagrees with them.
Common questions
Is a grade 5 on Foundation the same as a 5 on Higher?
Yes. The certificate shows the grade, not the tier, and colleges and employers treat them the same.
What happens if a Higher student gets very low marks?
Below the lowest boundary on the Higher tier the result is U, ungraded, even though the same work might have got a 3 on Foundation. That is the risk schools weigh.
Which GCSEs have tiers?
Maths, combined science, the separate sciences, and French, German and Spanish, among others; the table on this page lists every tiered course we hold boundaries for.
Can we ask for a different tier?
Yes, you can ask the school, before its entry deadline. It helps to bring a recent mock mark on each tier’s papers.