For every company I’ve worked that has tied raises to performance, there’s been a bell curve, roughly 5-10% must need improvement, 5-10% exceed and the rest in the middle. I’ve never had restrictions on specific attributes, and would have given you a 5 for attendance if you’ve never missed a day of work and aren’t ever late. Your boss is just being lazy. If you were to ask me why you’re not exceeding expectations overall, I’d say something like “You do your job description well, exceeding expectations is for those who go above and beyond the basic job description”. It is a poor manager who blames his/her own boss for your evaluation. To exceed, I’d expect some sort self directed project or innovation seen through from beginning or end without my asking for it. A clever employee might ask for an action plan: “What do I have to do to exceed next year?” That would at least have your boss thinking about it during the next review.