AQA A-Level Economics Grade Boundaries 2026

Grade boundaries for AQA A-Level Economics 2026 will be published by AQA on results day: 13 August 2026.

This page will be updated on results day with the official boundaries for Papers 1, 2, and 3. In the meantime, here is everything you need to know about how grade boundaries work and what to expect.

When Are AQA Grade Boundaries Released?

AQA publishes grade boundaries on results day, typically in the early hours of the morning - historically around 06:00 BST. They appear on the AQA website under "grade boundaries" and are available before students receive their results.

Grade boundaries are set after marking is complete. They are not fixed in advance. AQA's chief examiners review the mark distributions and set boundaries to reflect the standard of the exam that year. A harder paper tends to produce lower boundaries; a straightforward paper tends to produce higher ones.

How Grade Boundaries Work

Each AQA A-Level Economics paper is marked out of 80. To achieve a particular grade, you need to reach the boundary mark on each individual paper and meet the aggregate threshold across all three.

There are separate boundaries for each paper (P1, P2, P3) and an overall grade boundary based on your total mark across all three papers (maximum 240).

One thing that confuses students: AQA Economics does not use UMS (Uniform Mark Scale) like some other qualifications. Your raw paper mark is used directly. So if the A boundary on Paper 2 is 52, a score of 52 on that paper counts as an A on Paper 2.

Your overall grade is determined by your combined total across all three papers, not by your grade on each individual paper. You can drop marks on one paper and compensate on another.

AQA A-Level Economics Grade Boundaries 2025

For context, here are the 2025 grade boundaries (all three papers marked out of 80):

Note: A* is awarded based on overall total only - there is no per-paper A* threshold.

These figures are from 2025 and are provided for planning purposes. 2026 boundaries may differ.

AQA A-Level Economics Grade Boundaries 2026

The table below will be updated on results day, 13 August 2026.

What to Do If You Are Near a Grade Boundary

If you receive your results and find you are a few marks below the next grade, there are two options worth considering.

The first is requesting a remark (an Enquiry About Results, or EAR). This is only worth doing if you have a specific reason to believe your paper was marked incorrectly - not simply because you hoped for a higher grade. See the How to Appeal Your AQA Grade guide for the process and typical outcomes.

The second is a retake. If you are within 5 to 8 marks of a grade boundary on your total, a focused retake is often a realistic route to the higher grade. See the AQA Economics Retake Guide 2026 for a plan.

For revision support before results day, ClearConcept covers the full AQA Economics specification - it is useful whether you are revising before results, preparing a retake, or reviewing weak areas after the exam.