Since the current OCR A Level Biology A specification began, the A* boundary has ranged from 169 out of 270 (November 2021) to 187 out of 270 (June 2025, June 2024, June 2018). Every series is below, with a link to the full boundaries for each paper.
A level (H420) overall grade boundaries, every series
Marks out of 270.
| Series | A* | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2025 | 187 | 161 | 137 | 113 | 90 | 67 |
| June 2024 | 187 | 160 | 136 | 112 | 89 | 66 |
| June 2023 | 183 | 155 | 130 | 106 | 82 | 58 |
| June 2022 | 184 | 156 | 130 | 104 | 78 | 52 |
| November 2021 | 169 | 137 | 115 | 94 | 73 | 52 |
| November 2020 | 173 | 144 | 121 | 98 | 76 | 54 |
| June 2019 | 185 | 158 | 136 | 114 | 92 | 70 |
| June 2018 | 187 | 159 | 135 | 111 | 87 | 63 |
| June 2017 | 179 | 150 | 128 | 106 | 84 | 63 |
Grade A boundary for each A level paper
Raw marks; Papers 1 and 2 are out of 100, Paper 3 out of 70.
| Series | Paper 1 (H420/01) | Paper 2 (H420/02) | Paper 3 (H420/03) |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 2025 | 59 | 60 | 42 |
| June 2024 | 61 | 58 | 41 |
| June 2023 | 58 | 55 | 42 |
| June 2022 | 60 | 56 | 40 |
| November 2021 | 55 | 46 | 36 |
| November 2020 | 58 | 49 | 37 |
| June 2019 | 65 | 52 | 41 |
| June 2018 | 65 | 51 | 43 |
| June 2017 | 56 | 57 | 37 |
AS (H020) overall grade boundaries, every series
Marks out of 140.
| Series | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2025 | 87 | 78 | 69 | 60 | 51 |
| June 2024 | 92 | 82 | 72 | 62 | 52 |
| June 2023 | 86 | 75 | 64 | 54 | 44 |
| June 2022 | 77 | 65 | 54 | 43 | 32 |
| November 2021 | 81 | 71 | 61 | 51 | 41 |
| November 2020 | 83 | 72 | 61 | 51 | 41 |
| June 2019 | 89 | 79 | 69 | 59 | 50 |
| June 2018 | 91 | 80 | 69 | 58 | 47 |
| June 2017 | 91 | 82 | 73 | 64 | 55 |
| June 2016 | 94 | 84 | 74 | 64 | 54 |
There were no OCR exams in summer 2020 or summer 2021. The November 2020 and November 2021 series were the autumn exams that ran instead.
Practise
- OCR A Level Biology past papers, mark schemes and examiners' reports
- OCR A exam questions by topic
- OCR A quiz collection
Source: OCR's published grade boundaries for each series (linked from each year's post).
Weekly OCR A group masterclasses: Year 12 Wednesdays 5.15pm; Year 13 Tuesdays 6.30pm or Thursdays 5.15pm. See the group classes.