STEP 2016: Grade Boundaries, Papers and Practice
STEP 2016, the Sixth Term Examination Paper sat in 2016, ran as three papers, STEP 1, STEP 2 and STEP 3, each marked out of 120. This page collects the official grade boundaries for that year, explains what the grades mean, shows the paper structure of the pre-reform era, and adds difficulty and topic statistics for the 2016 questions in FrontierVue's bank, together with practical routes for practising these papers online.
STEP 2016 at a Glance
- Papers sat
- All three: STEP 1 (9465), STEP 2 (9470), STEP 3 (9475)
- S boundaries
- 102 on STEP 1, 95 on STEP 2, 88 on STEP 3 (each out of 120)
- Grades 1 / 2 / 3
- STEP 1: 75 / 60 / 41; STEP 2: 74 / 65 / 31; STEP 3: 64 / 55 / 32
- Marking
- 13 questions to choose from, 20 marks each, best 6 answers count, total 120
- How boundaries are set
- Each paper graded on its own scale, not convertible; re-published every year, no fixed cross-year line
Boundaries from the official STEP 2016 Explanation of Results; marking rules and paper structure as officially set out before the reform. Everything on this card is official data, with none of FrontierVue's own bank statistics.
4 sections803 words5 min read4 official sources
01
The STEP 2016 papers and their official grade boundaries
In 2016 STEP still ran in its original three-paper format: STEP 1 (paper code 9465), STEP 2 (9470) and STEP 3 (9475) were all sat that year. Each paper was a 3-hour written exam of 13 questions: 8 in pure mathematics, 3 in mechanics and 2 in probability and statistics. Candidates chose freely which questions to attempt, and only their best 6 answers counted towards the total. A formula booklet was still provided in 2016; it disappeared with the 2019 reform, and from 2021 STEP 1 was discontinued altogether, which makes 2016 one of the years with the full three-paper experience.
| S | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| STEP 1 | 102 | 75 | 60 | 41 |
| STEP 2 | 95 | 74 | 65 | 31 |
| STEP 3 | 88 | 64 | 55 | 32 |
Each paper out of 120; source: the official STEP 2016 Explanation of Results.
The S boundary on STEP 1 stood at 102, the highest of the three papers that year, while the S boundary on STEP 3 was 88. Each paper is graded on its own scale, so boundaries cannot be converted between papers.
02
How to read the grade boundaries
STEP results are reported as grades; the points below cover how those grades are set and how to read them.
The five grades: S, 1, 2, 3 and U
STEP results fall into five grades: S (Outstanding), 1 (Very Good), 2 (Good) and 3 (Satisfactory), with U (Unclassified) below the grade 3 boundary.
Marking: 13 questions on offer, only the best 6 count
The marking rules have stayed the same for years: each question is worth 20 marks, candidates may attempt any of the 13 questions, only the best 6 answers count, and the paper total is 120. A fully correct answer earns full marks whatever method is used.
Why an S took 102 on STEP 1 but 88 on STEP 3
Reading the 2016 table above, the S grade required 102 on STEP 1 but 88 on STEP 3. That does not mean an S was easier to get on STEP 3; it means each paper is graded separately against that year's question difficulty and cohort performance.
Boundaries move each year, with no fixed line across years
For the same reason, boundaries move from year to year: they are re-published annually in the official Explanation of Results, and there is no fixed boundary that carries across years.
As for which grade is "enough": Cambridge offer conditions vary by college and by year, so the wording of the offer itself is the only reliable reference. Treat boundaries as a way to understand difficulty, not as a fixed target imported from any single year.
03
Topics and difficulty in 2016 (FrontierVue bank statistics)
The statistics below are based on the STEP 2016 questions in FrontierVue's bank. They reflect the platform's own tagging, not an official analysis of the papers.
FrontierVue holds all 13 questions from each of the three 2016 papers, matching the official structure of the era: 8 pure mathematics, 3 mechanics and 2 probability and statistics questions per paper. The difficulty tags break down as follows.
| Medium | Hard | |
|---|---|---|
| STEP 1 | 6 | 7 |
| STEP 2 | 4 | 9 |
| STEP 3 | 4 | 9 |
Difficulty is FrontierVue's own tagging, not an official grading.
The two later papers are noticeably tougher, consistent with their reliance on Further Mathematics content. By topic tag, pure mathematics and mechanics dominate the year's collected questions, with the finer tags distributed as below.
24
Pure mathematics
9
Mechanics
6 each
Induction & recursion, probability, integration techniques
5
Coordinate geometry
4
Differential equations
If you plan to work through the full 2016 set, it pays to be fluent in integration techniques and induction first, then move on to the mechanics and statistics options.
04
How to practise the 2016 papers on FrontierVue
Open the STEP past paper library and locate the 2016 sittings of STEP 1, STEP 2 and STEP 3. Practising the year takes four steps.
01Step 1
Find the three 2016 papers by year
Filter the STEP past paper library by year to reach the 2016 STEP 1, STEP 2 and STEP 3.
02Step 2
Sit each paper in a timed interface
Each paper can be taken in full in a timed interface.
03Step 3
Review question by question afterwards
Question-by-question analysis follows submission, and every question comes with a full worked solution.
04Step 4
Pair the papers with the guides
The guides pair well with the papers; the list is below.
111
STEP papers, 1987 to 2025
1,532
Questions in total
Latest two
Free to try per subject
The guides: the STEP 2 guide and STEP 3 guide cover what each paper demands and how to pace preparation; writing good solutions and choosing questions in the exam address the two habits that decide most marks; and the grades and boundaries guide puts boundaries across the years into one picture. The resource library also carries the official OCR specification and STEP Support Programme materials.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How hard was STEP 2016?
The official boundaries are the most objective reference: in 2016 the S grade required 102 on STEP 1, 95 on STEP 2 and 88 on STEP 3, each out of 120. Under FrontierVue's bank tagging, STEP 2 and STEP 3 each contain 9 questions marked hard, compared with 7 on STEP 1, and the two later papers also demand more Further Mathematics content.
What were the STEP 2016 grade boundaries?
The official 2016 boundaries were: STEP 1, S 102, grade 1 at 75, grade 2 at 60, grade 3 at 41; STEP 2, S 95, grade 1 at 74, grade 2 at 65, grade 3 at 31; STEP 3, S 88, grade 1 at 64, grade 2 at 55, grade 3 at 32. Each paper is out of 120 with only the best 6 answers counted, as published in the official STEP 2016 Explanation of Results.
Did STEP 1 exist in 2016, and why are only STEP 2 and STEP 3 left now?
Yes, all three papers ran in 2016, including STEP 1. The change came later: STEP 1 was not sat in 2020 during the pandemic, and it was then discontinued from 2021, leaving only STEP 2 and STEP 3. Today the 2016 STEP 1 paper mainly serves as an entry-level warm-up, while the 2016 STEP 2 and STEP 3 papers still map directly onto the current exams.
Where can I practise the 2016 STEP papers?
FrontierVue's STEP library holds 111 past papers from 1987 to 2025, 1,532 questions in total, including all three 2016 papers. Each can be sat in a timed interface with question-by-question analysis and full worked solutions, and the latest two papers in each subject are free to try. Start from /papers/step and filter by year to reach the 2016 set.
Sources
Official sources
By year
Other STEP years
FrontierVUE is an independent practice platform. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by UAT-UK, Pearson, OCR, the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, or any official admissions-test owner.
Practise STEP 2016 online
Timed interface, worked solutions and per-question analytics. The two most recent past papers are free to try.