Many students panic after a brutally hard exam, thinking they have failed. But Cambridge uses Grade Thresholds (or boundaries) to ensure fairness.
What is a Grade Threshold?
A grade threshold is the minimum raw mark required to achieve a specific grade (A*, A, B, etc.). These thresholds change every single year and every single session.
How are they decided?
Cambridge does not decide the thresholds before the exam. They wait until all the papers are marked. If the exam was objectively much harder than last year (and students scored lower on average), they lower the threshold. For example, an A* in A Level Further Maths might only require a 75% raw score one year, but 85% the next.
The Weighting System
Your final grade is not a simple average of your papers. Paper 4 (Extended Theory) often carries much more weight (e.g., 50%) than Paper 2 (Multiple Choice, 30%) and Paper 6 (Alternative to Practical, 20%). Focus your heaviest revision on the heaviest weighted papers!