England, Wales and Northern Ireland use a unified system for grading secondary school qualifications.
In the compulsory state education system up to the age of 14, assessment is usually carried out at periodic intervals against National Curriculum levels.
This is especially the case at the end of each Key Stage, at the ages of 7, 11 and 14, where students are statutorily assessed against these levels.
[1] The Department for Education states that students should be expected to reach a standard level at the end of each Key Stage.
International Foundation Year (2015+) is graded on a 7-point scale of A, A−, B+, B−, C+, C−, D, F. (F meaning Failed or not acceptable).
In some schools, if children are in top set in S3 (aged 14/15) they will study the Nat 5 course but they do not take the exams.
These bands are not shown on certificates issued by the SQA and do not need to be stated on CVs.