Raw mark to UMS converter

How the conversion actually works

The awarding body fixes a handful of conversion points for each unit in each series: zero, the raw boundary for each grade, and the cap, the raw mark at which the full uniform mark is reached. Each raw boundary converts to its fixed uniform percentage - E to 40 per cent of the unit maximum, D to 50, C to 60, B to 70, A to 80 - and between adjacent points the conversion is a straight line. In AQA's published example a raw 43 converted to 60 uniform marks and a raw 49 to 72, so a raw 46, exactly halfway between them, converted to 66, exactly halfway between. That is the whole method, and it is what this tool computes with your session's points.

Uniform marks round up, in the student's favour, which was the published convention. Running the map backwards, one honest wrinkle appears at the top: every raw mark from the cap upward converts to the full uniform mark, so a perfect UMS corresponds to a range of raw marks rather than one. On A2 units of legacy A-levels the line also bends at the A* conversion point, which always converts to 90 per cent of the unit maximum; if your session's table publishes it, enter it and the bend is reproduced. The placement rule for that point, with two fully worked sessions, is on the UMS converter page.

The published tables themselves live with the awarding bodies: AQA's grade boundaries pages, Pearson's grade boundaries page and OCR's grade boundaries archive publish the per-series documents this tool needs. The fixed uniform ladder itself, at every common unit maximum, is tabulated on the UMS grade boundaries page. Whether your qualification carries uniform marks at all is a per-board question: the Edexcel and IAL, AQA and OCR pages give the honest answer for each, and for whole-qualification arithmetic from unit UMS figures, the UMS converter computes the overall grade.

Questions this converter gets asked

How do I convert a raw mark to UMS?

With your session's published grade boundaries, and no other way. The awarding body fixes the conversion points for each series - the raw boundary for each grade, zero, and the cap - and the conversion between adjacent points is a straight line. Enter those points above with your raw mark, and this tool interpolates exactly as the boards do.

Can I convert raw marks to UMS without knowing the grade boundaries?

No, and any site that says otherwise is inventing numbers. Raw boundaries are set fresh after every examination series, so the same raw mark converts differently in different sessions. The honest tool asks for your session's published table first; that is why this one does.

How do I convert UMS to a raw mark (the reverse direction)?

Switch the direction above. The same straight lines run backwards: a uniform mark inside a segment maps to the raw mark at the same proportion of the way along it. One caveat at the top of the scale: every raw mark at or above the cap converts to the full uniform mark, so a maximum UMS answers to a range of raw marks, not one.

How does the tool round the uniform mark?

It depends on the board, so there is a choice. Pearson, which still reports UMS for International A Levels, rounds to the nearest whole mark, halves up. That is the default here, and it reproduces Pearson's own mark converter on every raw mark of the eight June 2026 units we checked. Legacy AQA and OCR units rounded up, in the student's favour: pick that under Rounding.

What is the cap and why does the tool ask for it?

The cap is the raw mark at which a unit reaches its maximum uniform mark; above it, extra raw marks earn nothing. Pearson does not publish it in its boundary tables, so if you leave it blank the tool works it out the way Pearson's own conversions do: grade A plus twice the gap from B to A on AS units, and the A* point plus the gap from A to A* on A2 units, never above the paper maximum. Below grade E the line bends too: a notional N point one grade-width under E carries 30 per cent of the uniform marks.

What is the A* conversion point?

On A2 units of legacy A-levels, a calculated point between grade A and the cap that always converts to 90 per cent of the unit maximum. If your session's table lists it, enter it and the line bends where the board's line bends; the placement rule itself, with worked sessions, is on the UMS converter page.

Which exams can I use this for?

Any qualification that reports uniform marks and publishes raw boundaries per series: Pearson Edexcel International A Levels, OxfordAQA International AS and A-levels, WJEC unitised GCEs in Wales, AQA Applied General qualifications, and every legacy modular GCSE, AS and A-level certificate. Reformed linear GCSEs and A-levels have no UMS, so there is nothing to convert.

Is this raw to UMS converter free, with nothing uploaded?

Yes. No account and no upload - the boundary points and marks you enter are handled in your own browser and never reach a server, and the page keeps working offline once loaded.