--- title: Why are my class' average unit grades different to their actual unit grades? description: Pupil Progress uses notional grade boundaries, meaning that there can sometimes be variation between unit and overall grades. --- [Skip to content](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/why-are-average-unit-grades-different-to-actual-unit-grades#main-content) English Show submenu for translations ![pp-Logo-transparent white.png\]](https://support.pupilprogress.com/hs-fs/hubfs/pp-Logo-transparent%20white.png?height=40&name=pp-Logo-transparent%20white.png) - [Contact Page](https://www.pupilprogress.com/contact-us) - [About Page](https://www.pupilprogress.com/about-us) - [Pupil Progress Blog](https://www.pupilprogress.com/blog) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Contact Page](https://www.pupilprogress.com/contact-us) - [About Page](https://www.pupilprogress.com/about-us) - [Pupil Progress Blog](https://www.pupilprogress.com/blog) - English Show submenu for translations - Contact us Contact us Welcome to the Pupil Progress Help Centre - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [Help Centre](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre?hsLang=en) 2. [Using your trackers](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/using-your-trackers?hsLang=en) 3. [Features and Functions](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/using-your-trackers?hsLang=en#features-and-functions) # Why are my class' average unit grades different to their actual unit grades? ## Pupil Progress uses notional grade boundaries, meaning that there can sometimes be variation between unit and overall grades. Your Pupil Progress trackers are a really helpful tool for producing an accurate working-at grade when students haven't yet completed work for all of their units, but this sometimes can cause some minor confusion when it seems that their unit grades are at odds with their overall grade. This tends to be because your tracker users notional grade boundaries for each unit, but then the overall grade boundaries in the summary section.    To highlight this, we will take a look at GCSE AQA Drama as an example (although this is relatively common across GCSE and A-Level qualifications). The **11x/Dr1** class in the example below have only completed work for the written unit (unit 1), with no data in the tracker currently for units 2 and 3. However, as you can see, their average units grades are all lower than the grade the received for that particular unit: ![Screenshot 2023-02-20 at 09.52.39](https://support.pupilprogress.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202023-02-20%20at%2009.52.39.png?width=688&height=428&name=Screenshot%202023-02-20%20at%2009.52.39.png) Whilst it would be understandable that what they have achieved on this unit are also their current working-at grades, this is not always the case. As we can see below, the grade boundaries for unit 1 (which are visible on your tracker by toggling **Tools** and clicking **Change** under 'Grade Boundaries') are substantially lower than those for units 2 and 3: ![Screenshot 2023-02-20 at 09.59.41](https://support.pupilprogress.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202023-02-20%20at%2009.59.41.png?width=688&height=464&name=Screenshot%202023-02-20%20at%2009.59.41.png) As an example, the student John Beaker has achieved 56/80 on unit 1, which according to the grade boundaries being used on the tracker (2022 +3%) would give him a grade 8. However, the same grade would require 65 marks on unit 2 and 70 marks on unit 3 (if scaled to the same max marks).  To calculate John's scaled average unit marks, his 56 marks will be multiplied by 2.5 (as unit 1 is worth 40% of the overall course), which in turn gives him 140 scaled marks as can be seen in the first screenshot. When comparing these to the tracker's grade boundaries, 140 overall marks would be just a few marks short of a 7 due to the higher boundaries in the other two units.    Of course, if you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to our support team and we would be glad to discuss this further: [**How can I get support with Pupil Progress?**](https://support.pupilprogress.com/helpcentre/how-can-i-access-support?hsLang=en)   - [Getting set up on Pupil Progress](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/getting-set-up-on-pupil-progress?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Starting off](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/getting-set-up-on-pupil-progress?hsLang=en#starting-off) - [Trackers - first look](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/getting-set-up-on-pupil-progress?hsLang=en#trackers-first-look) - [Using your trackers](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/using-your-trackers?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Features and Functions](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/using-your-trackers?hsLang=en#features-and-functions) - [Editing classes](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/using-your-trackers?hsLang=en#editing-classes) - [Tests and Past Papers](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/using-your-trackers?hsLang=en#tests-and-past-papers) - [Tiers](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/using-your-trackers?hsLang=en#tiers) - [Data and Analysis](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/data-and-analysis?hsLang=en) - [Managing your account](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/managing-your-account?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Login issues](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/managing-your-account?hsLang=en#login-issues) - [Permissions](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/managing-your-account?hsLang=en#permissions) - [Subscriptions](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/managing-your-account?hsLang=en#subscriptions) - [For Data Managers](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/for-data-managers?hsLang=en) - [Exam board specific changes](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/exam-board-specific-changes?hsLang=en) - [Who we are and why we exist](https://support.pupilprogress.com/migration/helpcentre/who-we-are-and-why-we-exist?hsLang=en) - [Contact Page](https://www.pupilprogress.com/contact-us) - [About Page](https://www.pupilprogress.com/about-us) - [Pupil Progress Blog](https://www.pupilprogress.com/blog) [![Chill listening crop-3](https://support.pupilprogress.com/hubfs/logotype-1.svg "Chill listening crop-3")](https://www.pupilprogress.com) Copyright © 2026, Pupil Progress