What Is a Pass in A-levels? Grades A* to U Explained

A pass at A-level is any grade from A* to E. E is the lowest pass grade, and a D counts as a pass too. If you miss the marks for an E, you get a U, which stands for unclassified and counts as a fail. Every pass grade earns UCAS Tariff points, but a U earns none.

So if you've opened your results and seen a D or an E, you have passed. It might not be the grade you hoped for, and it may or may not meet your offer, but it's a real qualification with real points. Below you'll find every grade side by side, how many students got each one in 2026, what a "good" pass looks like, and what to do if you got a U. For the bigger picture of how the subjects and exams work, start with A-levels explained.

Which A-level grades are a pass?

There are six pass grades at A-level: A*, A, B, C, D and E. Pearson Edexcel, one of the main exam boards, puts it simply: if you don't get enough marks to pass with an E, you're awarded a U, which means "Unclassified". There's no grade actually called "fail" on the A-level scale. The U is the fail.

Each step up the scale is worth 8 more points, and the values are the same whichever subject you took. You add the points for each subject together to get your total. The quickest way to see where you stand is our A-level UCAS points calculator, and if you'd rather see the figures laid out, the A-level UCAS points table has every grade.

Is a grade D at A-level a pass?

Yes. A D is a full pass, one grade above E, and it's worth 24 UCAS points. In summer 2026, 13.2% of UK A-level entries were graded D. (That figure is worked out from JCQ's published results, which we explain further down.)

Where a D can cause trouble is your offer, not the pass itself. If your offer was made in grades, such as BBC, a D in any of those subjects means you've missed the offer on paper. Don't assume the worst straight away. Check UCAS Hub on results day and speak to the university before you decide anything. Our guide on what to do if you missed your grades takes you through it step by step.

If you want to see how a single D combines with your other results, our page on a D at A-level in UCAS points shows it in detail.

Is an E grade a pass or a fail?

An E is a pass. It's the lowest pass grade at A-level, and it earns 16 UCAS points. Anything below the E boundary becomes a U.

E grades are less common than you might think. In 2026, 5.9% of UK entries were graded E and 2.5% were graded U, again worked out from JCQ's figures. So if you got an E, you were close to the line, but on the right side of it.

On a course that makes offers in UCAS points, an E adds its 16 points to your total like any other grade. It just carries fewer of them. Some courses add extra rules about where the points come from, which we cover in the section on good passes below. To see how E grades combine with other results, look at what an E at A-level is worth.

What was the A-level pass rate in 2026?

In summer 2026, 97.5% of UK A-level entries were graded A* to E, which means 2.5% were graded U. That comes from the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) results tables, published on results day, 13 August 2026. They cover 906,425 entries across the UK. JCQ says the figures are provisional, because they don't yet include late entries or reviews of marking.

JCQ publishes cumulative figures: the share of entries at each grade or higher. We've also worked out the share at each grade on its own, so you can see where your result sits.

These figures are for all subjects together, and pass rates differ from one subject to another. In 2026, 95.7% of Physics entries, 95.9% of Computing entries and 96.2% of Law entries were graded A* to E, all below the 97.5% figure for every subject combined. Our guide to the hardest A-levels ranks the larger subjects by their share of low grades.

How many marks do you need to pass an A-level?

There's no fixed pass mark. Exam boards set grade boundaries after the papers have been marked, and Ofqual says these boundaries "often vary year to year" to reflect fairly how difficult that year's exam was. Ofqual also says there are no quotas for how many students must pass or fail a subject each year.

So nobody can honestly tell you that a certain percentage is always a pass. If you want to know how close you were to the next grade, ask your teachers to compare your marks with that year's grade boundaries for your exam board.

What is a good pass at A-level?

A good pass is the grade that gets you where you want to go. That might sound like a dodge, but it's how admissions really work: universities check your results against the offer they made, not against a general idea of "good".

If you want a benchmark, the 2026 results give you one. A grade C or above was achieved by 78.4% of UK entries. Just over half (55.8%) got a B or above, and 28.5% got an A or A*.

Real offers show how the bar moves from course to course. Here's one example for 2027 entry:

• Sheffield Hallam University's BA (Hons) Sociology has a standard offer of 104 UCAS points for 2027/28 entry, and gives BCC at A-level as an example. The points must include at least 64 from two A-levels or equivalent BTEC qualifications. There's also a contextual offer of 96 points.

On a course like this, a D or an E still adds to your total, as long as your whole set of results reaches the offer and meets that two-A-level minimum. Other courses make their offers in grades instead of points, and some name a subject that needs a particular grade. If you're aiming for a Russell Group university, read each course page closely for the exact grades.

Still choosing where to apply? Set a realistic target with how many UCAS points you need, and see if you might qualify for a contextual offer, which can ask for lower grades than the standard one.

What happens if you fail an A-level?

If you get a U, you haven't passed that subject and it adds no UCAS points. It's a horrible feeling on results day, but it's fixable, and you have more options than it might seem.

Ask about a review of marking

If you think something has gone wrong with your marking, your school or college can ask the exam board to check for errors. Ofqual is clear that your mark could go up or down after a review, so talk it through with your teachers first. If your university place depends on the outcome, ask about a priority review. The board may charge a fee if your grade doesn't change, but there's no fee if it does. Each exam board publishes its own deadlines for requests.

Talk to your universities

If the U means you've missed your offer, don't sit and wait. Check UCAS Hub, then call the admissions team. Our guide to missing your offer conditions covers what to say, and our Clearing 2027 guide explains how to look for another place.

Resit the subject next summer

Ofqual points out that most A-level exams take place in May or June, so a resit means waiting until the following summer. For Pearson Edexcel A-levels, the board says that to improve your grade "you will need to resit all papers of the qualification", although some non-exam assessment (coursework) can be carried over. If you took another board's A-level, ask your school or college how resits work for it.

JCQ's key dates for the June 2027 exam series are below. Schools and colleges using CCEA in Northern Ireland, or WJEC in Wales, are told to check those boards' own dates as well.

If you've left school, start sorting your entry early, because that February deadline applies to the school or college entering you. Our guide to retaking A-levels for UCAS points covers how resits work and what each grade you gain is worth, and our page on A-level results day 2027 explains what to expect when your new results arrive.

Look at other routes

A U in one subject doesn't close every door. Depending on your other grades, a foundation year is one way onto a degree, and there are routes into university without A-levels too. Starting a year later than planned is a normal path, not a failure.

So, did you pass?

If your results show any grade from A* to E, you passed that A-level, and it counts towards your UCAS points. If you got a U, you have clear next steps: a review, a conversation with your universities, a resit or a different route. Either way, the most useful thing you can do now is work out exactly what your results add up to.

Work out your A-level UCAS points