NZQA NCEA Level 3 Biology grade boundaries
NZQA NCEA Level 3 Biology grade boundaries for 5 series, November 2021 to November 2025, for the qualification as a whole and for each paper. Each table shows the lowest mark that got each grade, copied from NZQA's own document, which is linked underneath.
November 2025 NZQA NCEA Level 3 Biology grade boundaries
Newest
| Standard | Max mark | Grade: lowest score, and % of max | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade Excellence | Grade Merit | Grade Achieved | ||
| Demonstrate understanding of the responses of plants and animals to their external environment91603 | 24 | 1979.2% | 1458.3% | 833.3% |
| Demonstrate understanding of evolutionary processes leading to speciation91605 | 24 | 1979.2% | 1458.3% | 833.3% |
| Demonstrate understanding of trends in human evolution91606 | 24 | 1979.2% | 1458.3% | 833.3% |
- Cut scores are the lowest mark for each grade in the examination for each achievement standard. Below the Achieved cut score the result is Not Achieved.
Source: NZQA cut scores, NCEA 2025 (opens www2.nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab)
Use these on your question decks: keep them in your account, then choose them on any deck's Grade boundaries page to see your predicted grade against them.
November 2024 NZQA NCEA Level 3 Biology grade boundaries
| Standard | Max mark | Grade: lowest score, and % of max | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade Excellence | Grade Merit | Grade Achieved | |||
| Demonstrate understanding of the responses of plants and animals to their external environment91603 | 24 | 1979.2% | 1458.3% | 833.3% | Schedule Assessment schedule 91603 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab) |
| Demonstrate understanding of evolutionary processes leading to speciation91605 | 24 | 1979.2% | 1458.3% | 833.3% | Schedule Assessment schedule 91605 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab) |
| Demonstrate understanding of trends in human evolution91606 | 24 | 1979.2% | 1458.3% | 833.3% | Schedule Assessment schedule 91606 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab) |
- Cut scores are the lowest mark for each grade in the examination for each achievement standard. Below the Achieved cut score the result is Not Achieved.
- Each standard’s cut scores are printed at the end of its own assessment schedule, which is linked beside it.
Source: NZQA assessment schedule, 91603 November 2024 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab)
Use these on your question decks: keep them in your account, then choose them on any deck's Grade boundaries page to see your predicted grade against them.
November 2023 NZQA NCEA Level 3 Biology grade boundaries
| Standard | Max mark | Grade: lowest score, and % of max | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade Excellence | Grade Merit | Grade Achieved | |||
| Demonstrate understanding of the responses of plants and animals to their external environment91603 | 24 | 1979.2% | 1458.3% | 937.5% | Schedule Assessment schedule 91603 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab) |
| Demonstrate understanding of evolutionary processes leading to speciation91605 | 24 | 1979.2% | 1354.2% | 729.2% | Schedule Assessment schedule 91605 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab) |
| Demonstrate understanding of trends in human evolution91606 | 24 | 1979.2% | 1458.3% | 833.3% | Schedule Assessment schedule 91606 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab) |
- Cut scores are the lowest mark for each grade in the examination for each achievement standard. Below the Achieved cut score the result is Not Achieved.
- Each standard’s cut scores are printed at the end of its own assessment schedule, which is linked beside it.
Source: NZQA assessment schedule, 91603 November 2023 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab)
Use these on your question decks: keep them in your account, then choose them on any deck's Grade boundaries page to see your predicted grade against them.
November 2022 NZQA NCEA Level 3 Biology grade boundaries
| Standard | Max mark | Grade: lowest score, and % of max | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade Excellence | Grade Merit | Grade Achieved | |||
| Demonstrate understanding of the responses of plants and animals to their external environment91603 | 24 | 1979.2% | 1458.3% | 833.3% | Schedule Assessment schedule 91603 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab) |
| Demonstrate understanding of evolutionary processes leading to speciation91605 | 24 | 1979.2% | 1458.3% | 833.3% | Schedule Assessment schedule 91605 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab) |
| Demonstrate understanding of trends in human evolution91606 | 24 | 1979.2% | 1458.3% | 833.3% | Schedule Assessment schedule 91606 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab) |
- Cut scores are the lowest mark for each grade in the examination for each achievement standard. Below the Achieved cut score the result is Not Achieved.
- Each standard’s cut scores are printed at the end of its own assessment schedule, which is linked beside it.
Source: NZQA assessment schedule, 91603 November 2022 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab)
Use these on your question decks: keep them in your account, then choose them on any deck's Grade boundaries page to see your predicted grade against them.
November 2021 NZQA NCEA Level 3 Biology grade boundaries
| Standard | Max mark | Grade: lowest score, and % of max | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade Excellence | Grade Merit | Grade Achieved | |||
| Demonstrate understanding of the responses of plants and animals to their external environment91603 | 24 | 1979.2% | 1458.3% | 833.3% | Schedule Assessment schedule 91603 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab) |
| Demonstrate understanding of evolutionary processes leading to speciation91605 | 24 | 1979.2% | 1458.3% | 833.3% | Schedule Assessment schedule 91605 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab) |
| Demonstrate understanding of trends in human evolution91606 | 24 | 1979.2% | 1458.3% | 833.3% | Schedule Assessment schedule 91606 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab) |
- Cut scores are the lowest mark for each grade in the examination for each achievement standard. Below the Achieved cut score the result is Not Achieved.
- Each standard’s cut scores are printed at the end of its own assessment schedule, which is linked beside it.
Source: NZQA assessment schedule, 91603 November 2021 (opens nzqa.govt.nz in a new tab)
Use these on your question decks: keep them in your account, then choose them on any deck's Grade boundaries page to see your predicted grade against them.
Common questions
What were the Biology grade boundaries in November 2025?
In November 2025, Excellence needed 19 out of 24 and Achieved needed 8 on Demonstrate understanding of the responses of plants and animals to their external environment. On Demonstrate understanding of evolutionary processes leading to speciation, Excellence needed 19 out of 24 and Achieved needed 8. On Demonstrate understanding of trends in human evolution, Excellence needed 19 out of 24 and Achieved needed 8. The full table, with the boundaries for each paper, is at the top of this page.
Where do these NZQA NCEA Level 3 Biology grade boundaries come from?
Every number is copied from NZQA's own published grade boundary document for that series, which is linked under each table. We lay them out by course so you don't have to search a document covering every subject, and nothing is changed or estimated.
Why do grade boundaries change every year?
Boundaries are set after each exam has been marked, so that a grade means the same standard even when one year's paper is harder than another's. A harder paper usually has lower boundaries. That is why an old paper is best marked against its own year's boundaries, which is what the tables here are for.
When are new Biology grade boundaries published?
NZQA sets the cut scores when the exams are marked and publishes them with the assessment schedules early the following year. We add them here after that.
More grade boundaries: every NZQA course or every board.
cookie is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any exam board. Every paper here is a link to the board's own copy on its own website, and the papers belong to the boards that set them. If a link has stopped working, the board's own past paper page is linked on each course. The grade boundaries are copied from the boards’ own published documents, each linked under its table.