Edexcel IGCSE Grade Boundaries June 2026: Biology and Chemistry Table, Remark Deadlines and Resit Dates

By Hosni · Science teacher and author with 20+ years in the classroom · Reviewed against Pearson's June 2026 grade boundary documents and post-results guidance · Published 25 August 2026

TL;DR: For Edexcel IGCSE Chemistry 4CH1 in June 2026, a grade 9 needed 141 out of 180 on the standard papers (1C/2C) but 150 on the regional R papers (1CR/2CR). For Biology 4BI1, grade 9 was 142 on 1B/2B and 146 on 1BR/2BR. If you want a priority review of marking you must ask your school by 27 August 2026; the standard review deadline is 24 September 2026. If you resit, you sit both papers again in November 2026.

Jump to:

• The June 2026 boundaries table
• Why R-paper boundaries are higher
• One mark off on Paper 2: does it matter?
• Remark deadlines, fees and risks
• How often remarks change a grade
• Resitting: one paper or both, and when
• Remark or resit: the five-minute decision
• FAQ

What are the Edexcel IGCSE Biology and Chemistry grade boundaries for June 2026?

The June 2026 Edexcel IGCSE Biology 4BI1 grade boundaries were 142 (grade 9), 112 (grade 7) and 67 (grade 4) out of 180 on the standard papers, and 146, 117 and 80 on the R papers. For Chemistry 4CH1 they were 141, 103 and 66 on the standard papers, and 150, 111 and 77 on the R papers.

These are subject-level boundaries. Pearson adds your Paper 1 and Paper 2 raw marks together (110 + 70 = 180) and compares the total with the figures below. The full set, taken from the Pearson June 2026 International GCSE grade boundaries document, is here.

Table: Edexcel IGCSE June 2026 subject grade boundaries for Biology and Chemistry, standard versus R papers. Raw marks out of 180.

Two things stand out. Chemistry has the widest gap between grades 9 and 8 (19 marks on the standard papers), so a near-miss at the top is expensive. And the R-paper boundaries are higher at every single grade in both subjects. That second point is the one most students in the Gulf have not been told about, so it gets its own section.

If your sibling or classmate sat AS Chemistry or Biology this summer, the Edexcel IAL June 2026 grade boundaries work differently again, with UMS conversion. Do not compare the two sets of raw marks directly.

Why are some regional R-paper boundaries higher?

R papers are Pearson's alternative regional papers, timetabled so that centres in certain time zones do not sit the same paper hours after it has been opened elsewhere. Boundaries are set separately for each paper, so if the R paper was judged slightly more accessible, its boundaries are set higher to keep the grade worth the same.

Pearson explains on its International GCSE timetables page that some International GCSEs have alternative regional R papers. Its 2025–26 international information manual requires centres in Oman and the UAE to use the regional option codes; Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain are not on that required-R list. Check your statement of results for 1CR and 2CR or 1BR and 2BR before using an R-paper row.

This matters when you read your marks. A Chemistry student on the R papers with 108 marks has a grade 6, four marks short of grade 7. The same 108 marks on the standard papers is a grade 7 with five to spare. Neither student was treated unfairly: the boards' job is to make a grade 7 mean the same thing on both papers. But if you are comparing yourself with a cousin in the UK, or with a boundary table that does not show the R row, you will draw the wrong conclusion about how close you were.

The practical rule: before you decide anything about a review, find the paper codes on your results slip and read the matching row of the table above. The largest gap this year was Chemistry grade 4, where the R papers needed 77 marks against 66 on the standard papers.

Does being one mark off on Paper 2 mean I should ask for a remark?

No. Pearson publishes paper-level "notional" boundaries, but its own guidance says these are not relevant to a post-results decision; only the overall subject mark counts. A student who is one mark off a grade 7 on Paper 2 may be twelve marks off on the total, and a review of Paper 2 alone will not close that gap.

The Pearson notional component grade boundaries document spells this out: component-level boundaries in linear qualifications are notional only, do not equate to a certificated grade, and how close a candidate is to one is not relevant when considering a post-results request. A change to a paper's notional grade may not change the subject grade at all.

So here is the calculation to do instead. Take your Paper 1 raw mark and your Paper 2 raw mark from your school (they are on the candidate results report your exams officer can print). Add them. Compare the total with the row in the table above that matches your paper codes. The number you care about is the difference between that total and the next boundary up. If it is one to three marks, a review is a reasonable bet. If it is ten or more, it almost never is, and the resit section below is where to look.

Every August students share screenshots of a Paper 2 mark that looks a whisker below a grade line, without ever adding it to Paper 1. Work from the total.

Edexcel IGCSE remark deadlines, fees and what can change

All requests go through your school's exams officer, not directly to Pearson, and the two dates that matter for June 2026 are 27 August and 24 September.

Pearson's post-results key dates for summer 2026 give the International GCSE deadlines:

• Priority review of marking (Service P2): 27 August 2026. Outcome within 15 days. Meant for students whose sixth-form or college place depends on the result.
• Clerical check (Service 1): 24 September 2026. Confirms the marks were added and entered correctly. Outcome within 10 days.
• Review of marking (Service 2): 24 September 2026. Pearson reviews the original marking for errors. Outcome within 20 days.
• Access to script (photocopy): 11 December 2026. Free, and you can request it before deciding on a review.

The fees your school pays, from Pearson's international post-results fees for 2025 to 2026, are £14 for a clerical check, £50 for a review of marking and £60 for a priority review, per paper. Access to a copy of your script is free. If the review changes your overall grade, the fee for every paper in that request is waived. Schools often add an administration charge on top, so ask before you sign.

Three rules that catch people out, all from Pearson's post-results services page:

1. Marks can go down as well as up. There is no grade protection.
2. You cannot appeal until a review has been completed, and you then have 30 calendar days from the outcome.
3. Multiple-choice and short-answer marks rarely move on review, because the mark scheme leaves no room for judgement. The marks that do move sit in extended-response questions, calculations with method marks, and practical-analysis questions where a reviewer may credit an alternative wording the first marker did not.

If you sat Cambridge rather than Edexcel, the services, names and deadlines are different; our Cambridge IGCSE remark and appeal guide covers those.

How often do Edexcel remarks change a grade?

In the most recent published data, about one in four challenged grades changed, almost all of them upwards, but roughly six in ten reviewed papers had no mark change at all.

Those figures are for UK GCSEs, not International GCSEs, because the regulator does not publish an IGCSE breakdown. They are still the best guide available. Ofqual's reviews of marking and moderation statistics for summer 2025 show that 24.2% of the 243,150 GCSE grades challenged were changed; 24.1% went up and fewer than 0.1% went down. Of all reviewed component marks, 62.7% were not changed.

Read that carefully. "Grade changed" includes a 5 becoming a 6 when you wanted a 7 to become an 8. And the one-in-four figure is heavily weighted by students who were already within a mark or two of a boundary, because those are the students whose schools agree to submit a request. A student twelve marks below a boundary is not a one-in-four case; they are closer to zero.

The decision is therefore not "is it worth £50" but "how many marks am I off on the total, and were those marks lost in questions where a second marker could see it differently". The free script copy answers the second question. Request it first, look at where the marks went, then decide.

Can I resit just one Edexcel IGCSE paper, and when is the next sitting?

No. Pearson's International GCSE post-results guidance for students states that to retake an International GCSE you must resit all of its exams in the same session to get a new grade. For Biology and Chemistry that means both papers, and the next session is November 2026.

Pearson's 2025–26 international information manual states that January 2023 was the final January International GCSE series, so the next resit series is November. The November 2026 International GCSE final timetable gives these dates, all in the morning session:

• Biology 4BI1 Paper 1B: Monday 2 November 2026 (2 hours)
• Chemistry 4CH1 Paper 1C: Monday 9 November 2026 (2 hours)
• Biology 4BI1 Paper 2B: Friday 13 November 2026 (1 hour 15 minutes)
• Chemistry 4CH1 Paper 2C: Monday 16 November 2026 (1 hour 15 minutes)

There are no R papers in November; Pearson schedules the series in the GMT morning slot so international centres can run it at a reasonable local time. Your school sets its own entry deadline, usually in September, and charges Pearson's entry fee plus its own administration fee. A November grade replaces nothing automatically: you hold both certificates and use the better one.

Ten weeks is enough to move a grade if the revision is targeted at where the marks went. It is not enough to re-learn the whole specification.

Remark or resit: how to decide in five minutes

Add your two paper marks, find the gap to the next boundary in the table above, and let the size of that gap choose for you.

• Gap of 1 to 3 marks on the total: ask for the free script copy today, and submit a review of marking by 24 September (or a priority review by 27 August if a college place depends on it). Ask your teacher to look at the script with you first; extended-response and calculation questions are where reviewers find marks.
• Gap of 4 to 9 marks: a review is unlikely to close it. Enter for November if the grade matters for your next step, and put the ten weeks into the topics the script shows you lost marks on.
• Gap of 10 or more: November resit, no review. The money is better spent on the entry fee.
• Already at grade 7 or above and moving to AS: unless a university-facing target needs the higher grade, most students are better served by starting the A-level content now than by re-sitting.

For November preparation, the pattern that lifts grades fastest is question-type practice rather than re-reading. The classified solved past papers for IGCSE Biology and Chemistry group every question by topic with model answers marked the way the mark scheme credits them, which is exactly what a student who lost marks on, say, rates of reaction or transport in plants needs to fix in a fortnight. The IGCSE Biology and Chemistry notes eBook pairs with it for the definitions and diagrams that examiner reports keep flagging as under-learned.

If you want a second opinion on your own numbers before you commit to a review or an entry, send your paper marks and codes to admin@chem-bio.info or WhatsApp +965 5137 5709 and I will tell you which row and which gap you are looking at.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an Edexcel IGCSE remark cost in 2026? A review of marking costs £50 per paper, a priority review £60 and a clerical check £14, and the fee is waived if your overall grade changes. Your school may add its own administration charge.

Can an Edexcel IGCSE remark lower my grade? Yes; marks can go down as well as up and there is no grade protection. In the summer 2025 UK GCSE data fewer than 0.1% of challenged grades went down, but the risk is real and your school will ask you to sign a consent form.

Is there a January 2027 Edexcel IGCSE exam sitting for Biology or Chemistry? No; the next International GCSE series after June 2026 is November 2026, with Biology papers on 2 and 13 November and Chemistry on 9 and 16 November. The following series is May–June 2027.

How do I see my marked Edexcel IGCSE paper? Ask your exams officer to request access to script; the photocopy service is free and available until 11 December 2026. Use it to see where marks were lost before you pay for a review.