A-Levels run from A* down to E, with U below. But the letter on the certificate hides a marks calculation underneath — and the A* has a rule most students only discover too late. Here is exactly how it works.
Quick answer: A-Levels are graded A*, A, B, C, D and E, with U (ungraded) below E. The two international boards get there differently. Edexcel International A Level is modular and uses a Uniform Mark Scale (UMS): raw unit marks are converted to UMS, and the grade is read off the UMS total. Cambridge does not award grades from a uniform scale. Cambridge grades come from raw marks against grade thresholds that are set for each series; it then reports a percentage uniform mark alongside the grade — 90–100 for A*, 80–89 for A, 70–79 for B, 60–69 for C, 50–59 for D, 40–49 for E — but in Cambridge’s own words it “does not affect the grade you receive, but gives you more information about it”. Either way, the raw percentage needed shifts from series to series. On Edexcel the A* needs an A overall plus 90%+ of the UMS on the second-year (A2) units, so it can never be secured on the AS year alone. On Cambridge the A* is a threshold on the weighted total of all papers.
Not sure how close you are to the next grade? A 1-on-1 A-Level tutor can map your marks against the boundaries. Get a free A-Level diagnostic.
A-Levels are graded on a six-point letter scale from A* at the top to E at the bottom, with U (ungraded) below that. That much is well known. What trips students up is the machinery underneath: the letter is not your raw exam percentage — it is the output of a Uniform Mark Scale, and the prized A* follows a separate rule of its own.
Almost all of our students sit international A-Levels — either Cambridge International (CAIE) or Pearson Edexcel International Advanced Level. This guide explains how those grades are built, why your mock percentage and your real grade rarely match, and the one calculation that decides whether an A becomes an A*. For where A-Levels sit in the bigger picture, see what comes after IGCSE and IB Diploma vs A-Levels.
From highest to lowest, a full A-Level is awarded as:
An AS Level — the standalone first year — runs only from A to E. There is no A* at AS; the A* exists only at full A-Level.
Yes. Every grade from A* to E is a pass, so D and E both earn the A-Level. U (ungraded) is a fail: no A-Level is awarded and it does not appear on the certificate. On Cambridge International, a candidate who misses an E at A Level can still be awarded an AS Level from the papers both levels share.
| Grade | Pass or fail? | Typical meaning |
|---|---|---|
| A*, A | Pass | Top grades for competitive courses |
| B, C | Pass | Strong to standard university offers |
| D, E | Pass | Qualification earned; limits course choice |
| U | Fail | No A-Level awarded |
International A-Levels are marked on a Uniform Mark Scale (UMS). Your raw marks on each paper are converted into UMS points so that results are comparable across papers and exam sessions of slightly different difficulty. Most Edexcel International A Levels are worth 400 UMS (200 from the AS units and 200 from the A2 units), while Maths and Further Maths are worth 600 UMS. The examples below use the 600-mark scale. The standard grade thresholds are fixed proportions of that total:
| Grade | UMS (out of 600) | Share of marks |
|---|---|---|
| A* | 480+ and 90% on A2 | A overall + 90% of the A2 UMS |
| A | 480 | 80% |
| B | 420 | 70% |
| C | 360 | 60% |
| D | 300 | 50% |
| E | 240 | 40% |
This is why an 82% raw mock can come back as an A while a 78% comes back as a B — the boundary is set in UMS, not in your raw percentage, and the conversion shifts a little each session.
The A* is not simply "a very high A". On Edexcel International A Level it has two conditions, and you must hit both:
The practical consequence is large: a brilliant AS year cannot bank you an A*. A student who scores 95% at AS but drifts to 85% in the A2 papers lands an A, not an A*, because the A* is decided on the A2 half. The strategy that follows is simple — protect a strong AS, but treat the A2 units as where the A* is actually won.
For modular international A-Levels, AS and A2 each contribute 50% of the final grade. Strong AS marks give you a cushion, but they cannot lift you above an A on their own. UK domestic A-Levels are now linear — all exams sit at the end of two years and the AS no longer counts toward the A-Level — but the A* logic is the same in spirit: it rewards top performance across the full A-Level content.
Both boards use A*–E, but they reach the grade differently, and only Edexcel uses UMS to decide it. Edexcel International is modular — you sit units across January, June and October, and you can resit individual units, with the better mark counting. Cambridge International is staged — you sit AS and A2 components in June or November, and a resit means retaking a whole component, not a single paper. We unpack this fully in Cambridge vs Edexcel A-Levels and A-Level retakes and resits.
Cambridge does not use the 90% A2 rule. Your grade comes from your weighted total across all the papers you sit, compared with the grade thresholds for that series. The A* threshold is calculated from the A and B thresholds and the maximum mark, and Cambridge publishes the thresholds after every series. If you sat AS in an earlier series, Cambridge can use your best AS result from the last 13 months.
Boundaries are published after each session, not before. Examiners review how the cohort performed and how hard the paper proved, then set the raw-mark boundary for each grade so that standards stay comparable year to year. A harder paper means a lower boundary; an easier one means a higher boundary. This is why past-paper raw scores are a guide, not a guarantee — judge progress by the grade band, not the exact percentage.
On Edexcel International A Level the UMS grade boundaries are fixed shares of the maximum: A at 80%, B at 70%, C at 60%, D at 50% and E at 40%. Your raw mark on each paper is converted to UMS first, so a raw 75% can still be an A in a session where the paper proved hard.
A-Level grades and IB points are different scales, so there is no exact conversion. Universities publish separate offers for each, for example a grade offer for A-Levels and a points total for the IB Diploma. For the full comparison, see IB Diploma vs A-Levels.
For UK university applications, A-Level grades convert to UCAS tariff points: A* = 56, A = 48, B = 40, C = 32, D = 24, E = 16. Three A*s therefore total 168 points — though most universities make offers in grades (for example "A*AA"), not points.
Take an Edexcel International A Level worth 400 UMS. A student scores 190/200 at AS and 176/200 at A2, a total of 366/400, comfortably an A. But that A2 figure is 88%, just short of the 90% (180/200) the A* demands, so the grade is an A, not an A*. Add four marks at A2 and the same student crosses into A*. That small swing on the second-year papers is the whole difference between the two grades, which is why focused A2 preparation is the highest-value work in the course.
Both Cambridge and Edexcel offer post-results services — a clerical re-check or a full review of marking — within published deadlines after results day. A review can move marks up, leave them unchanged, or, occasionally, down, so it is most worth requesting when a grade falls just below a boundary and a university offer depends on it. Priority services exist for cases where a confirmed place is at stake, with faster turnaround.
University offers are written in grades, not percentages — "A*AA", "AAB" and so on. As a rough guide an A is around 80% of the UMS, a B 70% and a C 60%, but the raw-mark boundary shifts every session, so the same percentage can be different grades in different years. Treat the grade, not the percentage, as the real currency, and always check each course's exact requirement rather than assuming a standard offer.
The A* is decided on your second-year units — that is exactly where targeted 1-on-1 work pays off. Our Cambridge and Edexcel A-Level tutors map your current UMS band and build the route to A/A*. Free diagnostic trial.
💬 Book a Free Trial on WhatsAppOfficial sources: Cambridge International AS & A Level grade thresholds · Pearson Edexcel International A Level results explained · Cambridge: grades available at AS & A Level.
If a grade has not landed where you needed it, see A-Level retakes and resits for how each board handles it.
