Cambridge IGCSE Grade Thresholds June 2026: Biology 0970 & Chemistry 0971 Full Tables

TL;DR: The IGCSE grade thresholds June 2026 were issued with results on Tuesday 18 August 2026, and this page carries the full tables for Biology 0970 and Chemistry 0971 before they appear on Cambridge's public site. The headline finding is in Chemistry: a Grade 9 required 179/200 on Variant 1 but only 169/200 on Variant 2 — a 10-mark gap created almost entirely by Paper 42. In Biology the pattern reversed, with Variant 2 running 3 marks higher at Grade 9 (172 vs 169). Compared with June 2025, Variant 1 thresholds rose in both subjects while Variant 2 thresholds fell. Both variants lead to exactly the same qualification, so compare your marks only with the components you sat.

On this page:

• When were the June 2026 thresholds released?
• Biology 0970 grade thresholds
• Chemistry 0971 grade thresholds
• Variant 1 vs Variant 2: why the marks differ
• How June 2026 compares with June 2025
• Working out your overall grade
• What to do with your result now
• FAQ

When were the June 2026 IGCSE grade thresholds released?

The June 2026 grade thresholds were issued alongside results on Tuesday 18 August 2026 at 06:00 UK time. At the time of writing, Cambridge's official grade threshold tables page still lists March 2026 as its most recent series, so the figures below reach you before the public PDFs do.

The tables in this post are taken from the official June 2026 threshold documents issued to schools with results, and they follow the same format Cambridge uses in every published threshold table: each figure is the minimum raw mark required for that grade on that component. When Cambridge uploads the June 2026 PDFs, this page will be checked against them line by line and the date above updated.

One note before you read on. These are the thresholds for the 9–1 syllabuses, 0970 and 0971. If you sat the A*–G Biology syllabus instead, your boundaries are on the 0610 scale — my guide to the IGCSE Biology 0610 grade boundaries covers that syllabus session by session.

Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0970 grade thresholds June 2026

Biology 0970 Variant 2 required more marks than Variant 1 at almost every grade this June — the overall Grade 9 threshold was 172/200 on Variant 2 against 169/200 on Variant 1. The component tables below show where that difference came from.

Biology — Variant 1 (Papers 21, 41, 61)

Minimum raw mark required for each grade.

Component	Max	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Paper 21	40	35	33	31	27	25	21	18	15	12
Paper 41	80	65	57	48	41	34	25	22	18	13
Paper 61	40	35	33	31	27	23	20	17	14	12

Biology — Variant 2 (Papers 22, 42, 62)

Component	Max	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Paper 22	40	35	33	31	27	24	20	17	14	11
Paper 42	80	65	56	48	42	34	28	22	15	8
Paper 62	40	38	36	34	31	28	25	21	18	15

Biology — overall thresholds (maximum weighted mark: 200)

Route	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Variant 1 (21, 41, 61)	169	153	138	119	101	83	70	58	46
Variant 2 (22, 42, 62)	172	156	141	124	107	90	74	58	42

Look closely at where the two variants separate. At Grades 9 and 7, Papers 21 and 22 carried identical thresholds, and so did Papers 41 and 42. The clearest gap sits in the alternative-to-practical paper: Paper 62 needed 38/40 for a Grade 9 against 35/40 on Paper 61. When a practical-skills paper carries a threshold of 95 per cent at the top grade, it tells you candidates found it very accessible — near-full marks were common, so near-full marks became the standard.

If Paper 6 is where your marks slipped this June, that is the paper to rebuild deliberately rather than hope improves on its own. Working through experiments, graphs and data questions is exactly what my IGCSE Biology course is built around, with every practical skill taught against the mark scheme wording.

Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry 0971 grade thresholds June 2026

Chemistry 0971 produced the largest variant gap of the session: a Grade 9 needed 179/200 on Variant 1 but 169/200 on Variant 2, and the gap widens further down the grade scale — 13 marks at Grade 4. One paper is responsible, and the tables show it plainly.

Chemistry — Variant 1 (Papers 21, 41, 61)

Minimum raw mark required for each grade.

Component	Max	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Paper 21	40	34	31	28	25	22	19	16	13	11
Paper 41	80	74	69	62	54	45	36	30	22	13
Paper 61	40	35	32	30	26	23	19	15	12	8

Chemistry — Variant 2 (Papers 22, 42, 62)

Component	Max	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Paper 22	40	34	31	28	25	22	19	16	14	11
Paper 42	80	66	60	53	44	35	26	21	14	8
Paper 62	40	35	33	31	27	23	19	15	11	8

Chemistry — overall thresholds (maximum weighted mark: 200)

Route	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Variant 1 (21, 41, 61)	179	164	150	131	112	93	75	58	41
Variant 2 (22, 42, 62)	169	154	139	119	99	80	65	50	35

Papers 21 and 22 were matched almost mark for mark, and Papers 61 and 62 shared an identical Grade 9 threshold of 35. The entire gap lives in Paper 4. A Grade 9 on Paper 41 required 74/80 — 92.5 per cent, the single most demanding component threshold in either subject this session. Paper 42 required 66/80 for the same grade, and at Grade 7 the difference stretches to 9 marks: 62/80 on Paper 41 against 53/80 on Paper 42.

Read that correctly: Paper 42 was the harder paper, so its thresholds were set lower to compensate. Candidates on Variant 1 sat a Paper 4 where high marks were more attainable, and the boundary rose to match. Paper 4 rewards precise, mark-scheme-shaped answers on moles, energetics, electrolysis and organic chemistry more than any other component — the skills my IGCSE Chemistry course drills question type by question type.

Variant 1 vs Variant 2: why did the same grade need different marks?

Cambridge sets grade boundaries separately for every paper, using a combination of statistical evidence and expert judgement, so that a harder paper never costs you a grade — the board states this openly on its marking and grading page. A lower threshold is a signal that the paper was more demanding; a higher threshold means marks were easier to earn on that paper.

So the June 2026 numbers read like this:

Subject	Grade 9, Variant 1	Grade 9, Variant 2	Difference	What it tells you
Biology 0970	169	172	V2 +3	Variant 2 papers were slightly more accessible overall
Chemistry 0971	179	169	V2 −10	Paper 42 was substantially harder than Paper 41

This is why a lower boundary never makes a grade less valuable. A student with a 9 from Chemistry Variant 2 met the same standard as a student with a 9 from Variant 1 — they simply met it on a harder paper. Universities and schools see one grade on one certificate; the variant does not appear anywhere on it.

After more than 20 years of teaching these syllabuses, the version of this conversation I have most often on results day is with a student comparing their raw mark against a friend's from the other variant. It is the wrong comparison every single time. Your marks only mean something against the thresholds for the exact components on your own statement of entry: 21, 41 and 61, or 22, 42 and 62.

How do the June 2026 thresholds compare with June 2025?

June 2026 moved the two variants in opposite directions: Variant 1 thresholds rose in both subjects while Variant 2 thresholds fell. The comparison uses the official June 2025 tables for Biology 0970 and Chemistry 0971 published by Cambridge.

Overall thresholds, June 2025 → June 2026

Subject & route	Grade 9	Grade 7	Grade 4
Biology V1 (21, 41, 61)	165 → 169 (+4)	132 → 138 (+6)	76 → 83 (+7)
Biology V2 (22, 42, 62)	178 → 172 (−6)	149 → 141 (−8)	99 → 90 (−9)
Chemistry V1 (21, 41, 61)	174 → 179 (+5)	145 → 150 (+5)	88 → 93 (+5)
Chemistry V2 (22, 42, 62)	173 → 169 (−4)	146 → 139 (−7)	89 → 80 (−9)

Three insights sit in that table.

The Biology variant gap collapsed. In June 2025 the two Biology routes were 13 marks apart at Grade 9 (165 vs 178). In June 2026 the gap is just 3 marks. The main driver was Paper 42: its Grade 9 threshold dropped from 70/80 in 2025 to 65/80 in 2026 — this year's paper was harder than last year's — while Paper 41 rose from 62 to 65. The two Paper 4s landed on identical thresholds, something the 2025 cohort never saw.

The Chemistry variant gap appeared from nowhere. June 2025's Chemistry routes were separated by a single mark at Grade 9 (174 vs 173). Twelve months later the separation is 10 marks. Chemistry Paper 41 climbed from 72/80 to 74/80 at Grade 9 — pushing above 92 per cent — while Paper 42 fell from 70 to 66. Anyone predicting June 2026 grades from June 2025 thresholds would have been badly wrong in one direction on each variant, which is exactly why I tell my students to revise to a marks target above the historical boundary, never at it.

Variant 2 papers were the harder set this year. Across both subjects, every Variant 2 overall threshold fell from June 2025 while every Variant 1 threshold rose. Threshold movement of 5–9 marks in one year is entirely normal — it is the compensation mechanism working — but it is a clear warning against treating any single year's boundary as a fixed target.

How do I work out my overall grade from my three paper marks?

You cannot simply add your three raw marks together, because the overall thresholds are set on a weighted total out of 200 while your raw marks add up to a maximum of 160 (40 + 80 + 40). Cambridge scales each component's contribution before combining them — the official June 2025 threshold tables label the overall column "maximum mark after weighting" for exactly this reason.

In practice: Paper 4 carries the largest share of your final mark, and the two 40-mark papers are scaled up by different amounts. So a strong Paper 4 performance lifts your weighted total more than the same number of raw marks on Paper 2 or Paper 6.

Two rules keep you out of trouble on results day:

• Compare each paper mark with the component threshold for that exact paper number — 41 with 41, never 41 with 42.
• Compare your overall weighted mark(shown on your statement of results) with the overall threshold for your route, not with the sum of your raw marks.

If the weighted total on your statement sits within a mark or two of a boundary, that is worth a conversation — which brings us to next steps.

What should you do with these thresholds now?

If you are 1–2 marks below a boundary: speak to your school's exams officer about an enquiry about results. Requests go through your centre, not to Cambridge directly, and deadlines close within weeks of results day — so have the conversation this week, not next month.

If you are retaking in November 2026 or June 2027: the fastest gains come from working through real papers against real mark schemes, because thresholds are earned mark by mark, not topic by topic. My classified solved past papers organise every question by topic with model answers written to mark-scheme wording, and the IGCSE Biology and Chemistry notes eBooks pair with them so you revise the content and immediately test it the way the paper will.

If you are moving on to AS: congratulations — and know that AS is a genuine step up in depth and method. Secure the IGCSE topics that carry forward (moles, bonding, cell biology, transport) before September rather than during it.

If you would like help reading your own statement of results against these tables, send it over on WhatsApp at +965 5137 5709 or email admin@chem-bio.info and I will tell you exactly where you stand and what your best next move is.

FAQ

When were the June 2026 IGCSE grade thresholds released? They were issued with results on Tuesday 18 August 2026. Cambridge uploads the public PDF tables to its grade thresholds page around results day, and this post carries the Biology 0970 and Chemistry 0971 figures in full.

Were the June 2026 grade boundaries higher or lower than June 2025? It depends on your variant: Variant 1 thresholds rose in both Biology and Chemistry, while Variant 2 thresholds fell in both. At Grade 9, Chemistry Variant 1 rose from 174 to 179 out of 200, while Chemistry Variant 2 fell from 173 to 169.

Does the lower Chemistry Variant 2 boundary make that grade worth less? No — a lower threshold means the paper was more demanding, and Cambridge adjusts boundaries so every variant is judged against the same standard. Both variants lead to the identical Cambridge IGCSE qualification, and the variant number never appears on your certificate.

Can I add my three paper marks together to check my grade? No, because the overall thresholds apply to a weighted total out of 200, while your raw marks only add up to 160. Use the component thresholds for each paper you sat, then compare the weighted total on your statement of results with the overall threshold for your route.

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Hosni Showike is the author of eight published science textbooks with more than 20,000 copies sold worldwide. He has taught IGCSE and International A Level Chemistry and Biology for over 20 years, including 16 years teaching to Cambridge and Edexcel mark schemes at A-level, and writes at chem-bio.info where he publishes grade-threshold analysis, solved past papers and live exam-preparation classes.

Reviewed against the latest exam-board mark schemes and examiner reports.
Published: 18 August 2026 · Last updated: 18 August 2026