AQA A English Grade boundaries

An A grade is 80% of the possible marks.

Is that with the exam included?

Hi DingDong,
You are talking about the coursework grades before conversion to a scale.

The grade boundaries are as follows for coursework. They change slightly every year.

Reading & writing coursework -
a - 85/108
a* - 98/108

Speaking & listening
a - 86
a* - 98

English Lit coursework:
a - 48
a*- 55

The courserwork grades are as they are.

For example, let's add your coursework grades together:

89 + your speaking/listening mark + your paper 1 mark + your paper 2 mark.

Please note that paper 1 & 2 marks are scaled up, but these are difficult to work out. If you have done a mock of them, quote me with the RAW PAPER marks and I'll find the converted mark for you.

It may seem like gobbledee goop

I think I know what your saying.. So my coursework is 9 marks of being an A* overall? And I'll be sure to give the grades to you in the coming weeks as my mock is next week

My speaking and listening are as follows;

Individual contribution :38
Group Contribution:: 50
Drama Activity: 26

Hi again,
I think that is right. Are you doing the new spec starting this year or are you doing the spec from 2009?
The raw marks for speaking & listening are 54, and the scaled mark is 108. So your speaking and listening is marked out of 54 though, so I don't know why your mark isn't. Maybe 50 is the total mark?

I'm not too sure, sorry

I'm doing the one that began in 2009. My speaking and listening is marked out of 54 for each piece. So I dunno lol, maybe I did it wrong on the website?


My individual grades were:

Reading and Writing:
Original Writing: 17
Media Assignment: 20
Pre 1914 Drama Language: 50
Pre 1914 Drama Literature: 52
Post 1945 Drama: 40
Prose Study Literature: 52
Prose Study Language: 52

Speaking and listening
Individual Contribution: 38
Group Contribution: 50
Drama Activity: 26

Oh I see, the S&L must be a mean value for the whole of the 3 if they're marked out of 54 for all. If you add your S&L values then divide them you get 38, which is 1 mark above a B. This is scaled up to make roughly 76 for your S&L.

Add this 76 to your coursework mark of 89, we get 165. So, for your coursework elementr (worth 40%) you have a total of 165/208.
The course is out of 540:
461 - A*
416 - A
368 - B
321 - C

So, if you want an A you need 251 from both the exams (paper 1 & paper 2). This means you'll need 126 or 125 on both papers after scaling to get an A overall - this is a middle B on both papers. To get this grade B on the papers, you will need a raw mark of 40/41 on both papers out of the possible 54.

And how do you scale them?

I hope this helps.

Ohhh thank you!!!




So I need to re-do all the Bs and lower on my coursework to be in with a chance of getting a A*??

You really need your coursework and speaking/listening at a good middle A or a low A* for a chance of getting an A* with ease. The coursework is the backup if you like.

Ahh I see. With it being a small percent.

Well hopefully my teacher'll let me do my S&L again, and there only my pre-1945 drama and original writing that actually needs improving. With maybe my media.


Thanks for all your help

If you require some marking for the original writing or media piece I'm happy to do it for you