OCR GCSE Maths — Past Papers, Mark Schemes, Grade Boundaries & Resources
Every higher tier OCR GCSE Maths past paper and mark scheme, plus grade boundaries by year — collected and kept up to date by Kevin Holdstock, a full-time private maths tutor for 14 years.
Studying for this course? See how weekly tuition works →
Starting A-Level Maths in September? See what to do next →
What weekly tuition looks like for GCSE Maths
I'm Kevin. I've been a full-time private maths tutor for 14 years — the first seven travelling house to house, and every year since 2019 entirely online. Lessons are usually one hour a week, always one to one, online and £120 an hour.
Where marks actually get lost
At Higher tier especially, the difference between a 6 and an 8 is rarely about content nobody's taught you — it's method marks left on the table, questions abandoned because they look unfamiliar, and small arithmetic slips under time pressure. Those are fixable, and they're what most of a session goes on.
If you're aiming for the very top grades, I ask every student to work through the CGP grade 8–9 targeted practice book alongside school, at a set pace through to the end of February, with session time going on whatever came up in it.
How I work with GCSE students
Weekly checking on school work
Each week we confirm what was covered in class actually landed, and I set extra practice wherever it didn't. If a topic was taught in a way that didn't click, I'll teach it again, my way.
Exam technique as a taught skill
Laying out working so method marks are there even when the final answer isn't, and knowing which questions to leave and come back to. Most students have never been shown this explicitly.
Building toward A-Level, if that's next
If you're likely to take Maths at A-Level, we can start bridging the gap in the final few months — the same head start the FSMQ and AQA Level 2 pages talk about, adapted to whatever time is left.
Testimonials
"Our daughter is being home schooled by Kevin for Year 11. Her clarity and confidence have soared with Kevin and she has rediscovered her love of maths. Highly recommended."
Edexcel GCSE, home schooled — awaiting grade
OCR GCSE Maths grade boundaries — Higher tier
Overall qualification boundaries for Higher tier, out of 300 across all three papers, with the percentage in brackets. June is the main series; November is the resit series for post-16 students.
Starting A-Level Maths in September? See what to do next →
| Series | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2026 | Published 20 August 2026 — added here on results day | ||||||
| Nov 2025 | 258 (86%) | 212 (71%) | 166 (55%) | 129 (43%) | 93 (31%) | 57 (19%) | 39 (13%) |
| June 2025 | 258 (86%) | 212 (71%) | 166 (55%) | 126 (42%) | 86 (29%) | 47 (16%) | 27 (9%) |
| Nov 2024 | 246 (82%) | 199 (66%) | 152 (51%) | 118 (39%) | 84 (28%) | 51 (17%) | 34 (11%) |
| June 2024 | 245 (82%) | 195 (65%) | 145 (48%) | 110 (37%) | 76 (25%) | 42 (14%) | 25 (8%) |
| Nov 2023 | 244 (81%) | 199 (66%) | 154 (51%) | 120 (40%) | 87 (29%) | 54 (18%) | 37 (12%) |
| June 2023 | 242 (81%) | 193 (64%) | 144 (48%) | 109 (36%) | 74 (25%) | 39 (13%) | 21 (7%) |
| Nov 2022 | 244 (81%) | 202 (67%) | 160 (53%) | 123 (41%) | 86 (29%) | 49 (16%) | 30 (10%) |
| June 2022 | 242 (81%) | 200 (67%) | 158 (53%) | 120 (40%) | 82 (27%) | 45 (15%) | 26 (9%) |
| Nov 2021 | 239 (80%) | 193 (64%) | 147 (49%) | 115 (38%) | 83 (28%) | 51 (17%) | 35 (12%) |
| Nov 2020 | 241 (80%) | 195 (65%) | 150 (50%) | 117 (39%) | 84 (28%) | 52 (17%) | 36 (12%) |
| Nov 2019 | 245 (82%) | 204 (68%) | 163 (54%) | 131 (44%) | 100 (33%) | 69 (23%) | 53 (18%) |
| June 2019 | 256 (85%) | 213 (71%) | 171 (57%) | 136 (45%) | 102 (34%) | 68 (23%) | 51 (17%) |
| Nov 2018 | 239 (80%) | 193 (64%) | 147 (49%) | 118 (39%) | 90 (30%) | 62 (21%) | 48 (16%) |
| June 2018 | 256 (85%) | 210 (70%) | 164 (55%) | 129 (43%) | 94 (31%) | 60 (20%) | 43 (14%) |
| June 2017 | 248 (83%) | 203 (68%) | 159 (53%) | 121 (40%) | 83 (28%) | 46 (15%) | 27 (9%) |
There was no November 2017 series with separate Maths/English boundaries — combined general GCSE boundaries only. Boundaries as published by OCR. Official OCR grade boundaries →
The June trend
Looking at June only, the grade 9 boundary has actually fallen since the earlier years — 85% in 2018 and 2019, down to 81% for 2022 and 2023, before climbing back to 82% in 2024 and 86% in 2025. That's a genuinely unusual pattern: most qualifications on this site show a steady post-pandemic climb, but OCR's June Maths boundary dipped and only recently recovered to its 2018–2019 level.
The November trend
November has stayed remarkably stable across most years — 80–82% for a grade 9 in five of the last six series. The one exception is November 2025, which matched June 2025's high 86% exactly at the top three grades. Since November is a smaller resit cohort, don't assume a November boundary predicts what June will need.
One hour a week. One to one. Marks that get found.
Weekly online lessons that find exactly where marks are being lost — method, layout, or content — and fix that specifically, whether you're building toward a top grade or closing a gap for a resit.
£120 per hour