STEP 2022: Grade Boundaries, Papers and Practice

STEP 2022, that year's sitting of the Sixth Term Examination Paper (the mathematics admissions test used in conditional offers by the University of Cambridge and some other universities), consisted of two papers, STEP 2 and STEP 3, each marked out of 120. This page collects the official grade boundaries, explains what the S, 1, 2 and 3 grades mean, sets the year against 2021, and shows the topic and difficulty profile of the questions as catalogued on FrontierVUE, so you can slot both papers into your preparation.
STEP 2022 at a Glance
Papers sat
STEP 2 (9470) and STEP 3 (9475), each a 3-hour written paper marked out of 120
STEP 2 boundaries
81 for S, 62 for grade 1, 52 for grade 2, 30 for grade 3
STEP 3 boundaries
82 for S, 63 for grade 1, 51 for grade 2, 29 for grade 3
How it is marked
20 marks a question; only your best 6 answers count towards the total
Against 2021
S and grade 1 moved down on both papers: the S boundary went from 92 to 81 on STEP 2 and from 89 to 82 on STEP 3

The 2022 boundaries come from that year's official Explanation of Results, the marking rules and paper specification from OCR's published information, and the 2021 numbers are official boundaries too. Boundaries are set afresh each year and should not be treated as a target that carries across years.

4 sections747 words4 min read4 official sources
01

STEP 2022 Papers and Official Grade Boundaries

Two papers were sat in STEP 2022: STEP 2 (paper code 9470) and STEP 3 (paper code 9475), each a 3-hour written examination marked out of 120. STEP 1 had been permanently discontinued from 2021, so 2022 was again a two-paper year.

STEP 2

Paper code 9470

3-hour written paper, out of 120

STEP 3

Paper code 9475

3-hour written paper, out of 120

Questions per paper

12

8 Pure Mathematics, 2 Mechanics, 2 Probability and Statistics

Formula booklet

Not provided

The papers follow the specification introduced by the 2019 reform

STEP 1

Discontinued

Permanently discontinued from 2021

SGrade 1Grade 2Grade 3
STEP 281625230
STEP 382635129

Each paper is marked out of 120; figures as published in the official Explanation of Results for 2022.

No special administrative arrangements applied in 2022; both papers ran as regular written examinations.
02

How to Read the Grade Boundaries

STEP results are reported on five grades: S (Outstanding), 1 (Very Good), 2 (Good), 3 (Satisfactory) and U (Unclassified). Set against the official 2022 boundaries, they read as follows.

S

Outstanding

In 2022: 81 on STEP 2, 82 on STEP 3

1

Very Good

In 2022: 62 on STEP 2, 63 on STEP 3

2

Good

In 2022: 52 on STEP 2, 51 on STEP 3

3

Satisfactory

In 2022: 30 on STEP 2, 29 on STEP 3

U

Unclassified

The marking scheme: only your best 6 answers count
Every question carries 20 marks and each paper is out of 120. However many questions you attempt, only your best 6 answers count towards the total, and a fully correct answer earns full marks whatever method is used.
Against 2021: the S and grade 1 boundaries both moved down
On STEP 2 the S boundary was 92 in 2021 and 81 in 2022, with grade 1 at 67 and 62 respectively; on STEP 3 the S boundary went from 89 to 82, and grade 1 from 67 to 63.
Year-to-year movement is normal for STEP: boundaries are set each year in the light of how demanding the paper proved and how the cohort performed, so a boundary from one year should not be treated as a fixed target for another. Cambridge offer conditions likewise vary by college and by year, and the wording of your own offer is what counts.
03

Topic Emphasis and Difficulty in 2022 (FrontierVUE Catalogue)

The figures in this section describe the STEP 2022 questions as catalogued on FrontierVUE. They reflect the platform's own tagging, not any official analysis of the papers.

12 each

Questions catalogued from STEP 2 and from STEP 3

10

Tagged hard on each paper

2

Tagged medium on each paper

Both papers share the standard make-up of 8 Pure Mathematics, 2 Mechanics and 2 Probability and Statistics questions. A paper dominated by hard questions is entirely normal for STEP, and the scoring counts only your best 6 answers.
On topics (again FrontierVUE tagging), the broad Pure Mathematics label appears 14 times across the year. The specific topics break down as follows.

Coordinate Geometry

7 questions

Mechanics

4 questions

Induction and Recursion

4 questions

Integration Techniques

4 questions

Probability

4 questions

Differential Equations

3 questions

Curve Sketching

2 questions

Complex Numbers

2 questions

Inequalities

1 question

Coordinate geometry stands out in 2022, so it is worth sharpening that topic before sitting these papers.
04

How to Practise the 2022 Papers on FrontierVUE

Head to /papers/step on FrontierVUE and open the 2022 entries to sit STEP 2 and STEP 3.
01Step 1

Open the two 2022 papers

Find 2022 in the STEP past paper list at /papers/step, where STEP 2 and STEP 3 can be sat separately.
02Step 2

Sit them under timed conditions

The timed interface reproduces the 3-hour exam rhythm.
03Step 3

Review question by question

After submission you get a question-by-question breakdown, with a full worked solution for every question.
04Step 4

Slot them into systematic practice

The 2022 pair belongs in the systematic practice phase of your preparation.

111 papers

STEP past papers on the platform (1987 to 2025)

1,532 questions

Questions across those papers

Latest 2

Papers free to try in each subject

Guides worth pairing with the papers:
The resource library also carries the official OCR specification and STEP Support Programme materials as background reading.
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How hard was STEP 2022?
Judged by the official boundaries, the S grade in 2022 sat at 81 on STEP 2 and 82 on STEP 3, lower than the 92 and 89 of 2021, which usually signals lower overall scores that year. In FrontierVUE's catalogue, 10 of the 12 questions on each paper are tagged hard. The boundaries already absorb such swings in demand, so train towards your target grade rather than worrying about any single year.
What were the STEP 2022 grade boundaries?
Officially: STEP 2 required 81 for S, 62 for grade 1, 52 for grade 2 and 30 for grade 3; STEP 3 required 82 for S, 63 for grade 1, 51 for grade 2 and 29 for grade 3. Each paper is out of 120, as published in the official Explanation of Results for 2022.
Why were there only STEP 2 and STEP 3 in 2022?
STEP 1 was last sat in 2019; the 2020 sitting was cancelled during the pandemic, and the exam board then announced that from 2021 STEP 1 would no longer exist. From 2021 onwards only STEP 2 and STEP 3 remain, and 2022 followed that pattern.
Where can I practise the STEP 2022 papers online?
On FrontierVUE, /papers/step lists both STEP 2022 papers with a timed interface, per-question analysis and a full worked solution for every question; the latest two papers in each subject are free to try. The platform covers 111 STEP past papers (1987 to 2025) with 1,532 questions.
Sources

Official sources

By year

Other STEP years

STEP 2025STEP 2024STEP 2023STEP 2021STEP 2020STEP 2019STEP 2018STEP 2017STEP 2016

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 2022 online

Timed interface, worked solutions and per-question analytics. The two most recent past papers are free to try.

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