رياضيات GCSE
What Percentage Is an A* in IGCSE Maths?
Cambridge published three different A* thresholds for 0580 Extended in June 2025 alone: 78%, 88% and 89%. Which variant you sit changes the number more than the year does.
الإجابة باختصار
What percentage is an A* in IGCSE maths?
Between 76% and 89% of the Extended total across the last two June series. In June 2025 alone Cambridge set the 0580 Extended A* at 78%, 88% and 89% for the three paper variants.
الإجابة باختصار
There is no single figure. For Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics 0580 Extended in June 2025, A* was set at 156, 176 and 178 marks out of 200 for the three variants — 78%, 88% and 89%. In June 2024 the same three options were 152, 175 and 172, or 76%, 87.5% and 86%.
ما الذي يغيّر الإجابة
- Which paper variant you sat, which follows from your school's administrative zone and is the largest single source of variation.
- Whether you are entered for Extended or Core, because A* does not exist on the Core route at all.
- Which syllabus you are on: 0580 reports A*–G, while 0980 reports 9–1 and has no A* to award.
- Which series you sat, since thresholds are set fresh after each set of papers is marked.
The published thresholds, variant by variant
Cambridge issues a grade threshold table for every syllabus after every series. For 0580 the Extended options are labelled BX, BY and BZ, each combining one Paper 2 with one Paper 4 for a weighted total of 200 marks.
Set the two most recent June series side by side and the pattern is not year-to-year drift. It is variant.
- June 2025, option BX (papers 21 and 41) — 156/200 = 78%
- June 2025, option BY (papers 22 and 42) — 176/200 = 88%
- June 2025, option BZ (papers 23 and 43) — 178/200 = 89%
- June 2024, option BX — 152/200 = 76%
- June 2024, option BY — 175/200 = 87.5%
- June 2024, option BZ — 172/200 = 86%
The variant matters more than the year
Option BX sat around ten percentage points below the other two in both years. Candidates on that variant sat different papers from candidates on BY and BZ, and those papers were harder, so the same standard of work was worth fewer marks.
This is why an average A* percentage taken across a syllabus is a misleading number for any individual candidate. A student on BY who trained to a 78% target has trained to a threshold that has never applied to their papers. Find the variant code on your statement of entry or ask the exams officer, then look up that option.
Two places an A* is not available
The first is the Core route. Cambridge's Core options for 0580 cap at grade C, and the threshold table simply prints a dash under A*, A and B. A Core candidate who answers every question correctly is awarded a C. Nothing about revision changes that; only the entry does.
The second is at paper level. Cambridge states on every threshold table that grade A* does not exist at the level of an individual component. Papers carry thresholds for A downwards; A* is awarded only on the combined total. A student who works out that they scored 82% on Paper 4 has not scored an A* in Paper 4, because there is no such thing.
Percentages from before June 2025 came from differently shaped papers
The threshold tables record a change in the assessment itself. In June 2024, Extended candidates sat a Paper 2 marked out of 70 and a Paper 4 marked out of 130. In June 2025, both papers were marked out of 100 and weighted to the same total of 200.
The grade percentages either side of that change are comparable as percentages but not as descriptions of what you had to do. Anyone using pre-2025 past papers to calibrate a target should convert to a percentage of the total rather than working from raw marks, and should expect the balance between the non-calculator and calculator halves to feel different.
If your certificate says 9 rather than A*
Syllabus 0980 is the 9–1 version of the same mathematics, sat on the same papers. In June 2025 the option BY thresholds show it directly: an A* on 0580 was 176 out of 200, while a grade 9 on 0980 was 184 out of 200 on the same combination of components.
So a grade 9 required eight more marks than an A*, and 0980's grade 7 fell at 152 — exactly the mark that earned an A on 0580. If you are on 0980, do not look up A* thresholds at all; the top grade you are chasing is a different, higher line.
- A* threshold on 0580 Extended option BX, June 2025 — 156 of 200 marks
- 78%A* threshold on 0580 Extended option BX, June 2025 — 156 of 200 marks[1]
- A* threshold on 0580 Extended option BZ in the same series — 178 of 200 marks
- 89%A* threshold on 0580 Extended option BZ in the same series — 178 of 200 marks[1]
- Marks out of 200 for a grade 9 on 0980 option BY, against 176 for an A* on 0580
- 184Marks out of 200 for a grade 9 on 0980 option BY, against 176 for an A* on 0580[3]
أسئلة شائعة
Is 90% an A* in IGCSE maths?
It would have cleared every Extended threshold in the last two June series, the highest of which was 89%. But 90% is not the definition. The threshold is set after marking, and on the harder variant it has recently fallen as low as 76%, which means a student judging themselves against 90% is judging against a target Cambridge has never set.
How do I find the thresholds for my own series?
Cambridge publishes grade threshold tables by series on its website, listed by syllabus. Find the June or November table for the year you sat, open the mathematics entry, and read the row matching your option code. That is the only number that applied to you, and it is public.
Can a Core candidate get an A*?
No. Cambridge's Core options for 0580 are capped at grade C, and the equivalent Core option on 0980 is capped at grade 5. This makes the tier decision the single most consequential one in the whole qualification, and it is worth confirming in writing with the school well before entries close.
Why is the A* threshold so much lower on one variant?
Because that variant's papers were harder. Thresholds exist to hold the standard steady while the papers vary, so a lower threshold is the system working rather than a bargain. It also means you cannot choose the easier variant — the variant follows your school's administrative zone.
المصادر
- Grade thresholds — June 2025, Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics (without Coursework) 0580 — Cambridge Assessment International Education
- Grade thresholds — June 2024, Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics (without Coursework) 0580 — Cambridge Assessment International Education
- Grade thresholds — June 2025, Cambridge IGCSE (9–1) Mathematics 0980 — Cambridge Assessment International Education
- Grade threshold tables for Cambridge IGCSE — Cambridge Assessment International Education
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