Albania In
Albania, grades from 4 to 10 are used, with some schools allowing decimals (up to the hundredth digit) and others only allowing whole numbers. Most universities evaluate classes with two mid exams and a final. The
final exam encompasses the whole course syllabus, whereas the mid exams usually review half. In some schools, if the average grade of the two mid exams is equal to or higher than 7.00, the student is able to pass the class without needing to take a final exam (since there are only two exams, some teachers also pass students who average 6.50; others weigh in the decision based on the student's performance in class). An average of less than 4.00 is failing; students who score such an average are not allowed to take the final exam. In high schools, the year is divided into three trimesters and classes are usually yearlong. Students need an average of 6.00 or higher in all the three trimesters exams to avoid having to take a final to pass the class. In the event of a student scoring less than 6.00 in the third trimester, he or she would have to take a final exam, regardless of average. This is considered controversial since the last trimestral exam is not more important than the first two, but the rule stands to prevent students who have already reached the minimum average (e.g., two 10.00 in the first two give a student the lowest possible average of 6.33) from not making an effort during the last three months of the year. One's time at a university typically lasts 3–5 years.
Austria In Austria, grades from 1 to 5 are used. The formalized overall grade in Austria is "pass with distinction" (
mit ausgezeichnetem Erfolg bestanden), which is given for excellent performance (average of 1.5 and better, no grade below 3) and "pass" (
Bestanden, no grade below 4). If someone is given a "pass with distinction" in their Matura, Diploma and PhD, all curricula absolved in the regular duration time they can have a 'promotio sub auspiciis presidentis rei publicae', (literally "under the auspices of the President of the Republic", meaning that the President will personally attend the graduation ceremony), which is the highest honor in Austria only achieved by 1 out of 2,500 graduates (.04%) yearly. Generally speaking, a cumulative Grade Point Average does not exist in the Austrian educational system and therefore has little relevance in the local job market.
Armenia In Armenia, the 10-point grading scale is as follows: To convert to percentage (on the 10-point scale), the grade is multiplied by 10.
Belgium In Belgian universities a scale from 0 to 20 is used on a per-subject basis; a weighted average is then computed on scale from 0 to 20, with 10 being the passing grade per subject. A total average of around 14 (70%) earns a distinction grade (cum laude), around 16 (80%) means high distinction (magna cum laude) and an average of around 18 (90%) yields the highest distinction (summa/maxima cum laude). The exact scores for each grade differ between different universities. Belgian secondary schools use a scale from 0 to 100 or even above for exams (50 usually being the passing grade). On report cards, certain schools also give grades on a percentage scale (0 to 100) while others use a 0–10 scale. Those total scores are weighted averages of exams and tests. In Belgian secondary schools, there are 6 years. In the first three years, students have to do exams every term. The scores are usually given in percentages. At the end of the school year, a total average score is given. University colleges (another form of higher education, not comparable with American colleges) use the same scale from 0 to 20 as Belgian universities, although homework and presence may influence sometimes up to 50% or more of these 20 points (situation ). It is more common to have a final exam counting for 100% of the grade if the course does not require laboratory work. Obtaining a grade higher than 16/20 is considered as a very good grade and a 19 or 20/20 is very rare. Scaling varies significantly depending on the university or college.
Bosnia and Herzegovina In
Bosnia and Herzegovina, grades from 5 to 1 are used in primary and secondary education, while grades from 10 to 5 are used at universities.
Primary and secondary education grading: University grading: Bulgaria In
Bulgaria, the following grade scale is used in schools: For examinations and tests, exact grading is often used and is represented by two positions after the decimal point: Grades like Good (3.50) or Excellent (5.75) are common. Any passing grade at or above the .50 mark is prefixed with the term of the next higher grade. The lowest grade is 2.00; grades below 3.00 are failing grades, and the highest is 6.00. Grades like "Very good" (5-) and "Average" (3+) are also given, but plusses and minuses are generally ignored in calculations. The (-) or the (+) modifier is equivalent to 0.25 marks below or above the integer, but in most cases these are affixed only for the student to see how far he is from the midpoint of the grade assigned. Up to two minuses can be used, but only one plus, e.g. (6=) or (5+). Two minuses are written similar to the equal sign and it is read "on rails" (на релси), e.g. 6= is read "six on rails" (шест на релси). Despite their being equivalent to 0.25 marks, a grade like 3= is still recorded in official documents as 3. The Bad (1.00) grade is mostly obsolete and rarely given; some official electronic documents do not even permit it to be entered. Roughly, the Bulgarian grade system can be equated to the American one like the following: 6=A, 5=B, 4=C, 3=D, and 2=F. Also, in accordance with the Australian system, 6=HD, 5=D, 4=Cr, 3=P, and 2=F. The most common formula used in Bulgarian schools is currently Grade=(6* number of correct answers)/ total number of questions. That way if a student has answered 7 out of 10 questions correctly, their mark should be: (6*7)/10=4.20, which is graded as Good 4 or average performance. Another common formula is Grade = 2 + ((4* number of correct answers)/total answers). That way if a student has answered 7 out of 10 questions correctly, their mark would be: 2 + (4*7)/10 = 4.80, which is graded as Very Good 5.
Croatia In
Croatia, the following grade scale is used in schools: At the end of each semester the grades are averaged to form a Grade Point Average (
prosječna ocjena), according to this scale: In colloquial Croatian, grades are referred to be their numerical values:
jedinica,
dvojka,
trojka,
četvorka,
petica. Students with failing grades (1 or F) are allowed to carry those grades throughout the school year, but are required to improve them to passing grades (2 or better) in order to finish the year. Failure to pass one class results in the student being held back a year.
Czech Republic In the
Czech Republic, a five-point grading scale is used in both primary and secondary schools: Plus and minus signs are often used to further differentiate marks. For example, "2+" corresponds to the U.S. 'B+'. Half-intervals may also be used, such as "2–3", a grade halfway between 2 and 3. At the university level, only grades 1, 2 and 3 are passing; anything worse than 3 is automatically a failing grade. Some universities use a six-point scale, with 'A' corresponding to "1", 'B' to "1–2", etc.
Denmark The current scale,
syv-trins-skalaen ("The 7-step-scale"), was introduced in 2007, replacing the old
13-skala ("13-scale"). The new scale is designed to be compatible with the
ECTS-scale.
Syv-trins-skalaen consists of seven different grades, ranging from 12 to −3, with 12 being the highest. This new scale remains an "absolute" scale, meaning that, proportions are not taken into consideration.
Estonia In universities: Tallinn University of Technology uses numerical grades from 5 (the highest) to 0 (the lowest) with the same percentages.
Finland Several systems are in use in
different educational institutions in Finland. The "school grade" system has historically been a scale of 0 to 10, but all grades lower than 4 have been discarded. Thus, it is now divided between 4, the failing grade, and 5–10, the succeeding grades.
Upper secondary school has the same grades for courses and course exams as a comprehensive school but
matriculation examination grades are in Latin. Universities and vocational institutions use a scale of 0 (fail) and 1–5 (pass) or fail/pass. Some schools e.g. Savon Ammatti- ja Aikuisopisto, uses grading from 0 (fail) and 1–3 (pass). The professor selects which grading scheme is used; short, optional courses typically have pass/fail grades.
France In France, school grades typically range from either 0 (worst) to 20 (best) or, sometimes, from 0 (worst) to 10 (best). A mark below the average (10 out of 20 or 5 out of 10, depending on the scale) is usually a fail. For the French National High School Level (
baccalauréat), a grade of 8–10 typically gives the right to take an additional
oral exam in order to try to improve that average to 10 and pass. A grade between 10 and 12 is a simple pass (without grade); between 12 and 14 (more rarely 13–14) the grade is called "assez bien" (rather good); 14–16 is called "bien" (good); above 16 is "très bien" (very good). For the
diplôme national du brevet, awarded after the class of 3ème, the scale ranges from 0 to 800, with 400 being the minimum passing grade, 480 and above being "assez bien", 560 and above being "bien", and 640 above being "très bien", 720 and above being "très bien avec les félicitations du jury" Before university, there's usually no minimum required to pass to the next year, and the decision is upon the council of the school, which means an average grade under 10 can be sufficient to pass. This follows a tendency of failing and retrying a year being less and less frequent in France. In more difficult curricula, such as
CPGE or
1st year of medicine, the average grade is usually so low that students pass or fail depending on their rank within the class, and anything above 7 or 8 can be considered a good grade.
World Education Services grade equivalence between France and the U.S.
Germany In Germany, school grades vary from 1 (very good,
sehr gut) to 6 (insufficient,
ungenügend). In the final classes of German
Gymnasium schools that prepare for university studies, a point system is used with 15 points being the best grade and 0 points the worst. The percentage causes the grade can vary from teacher to teacher, from subject to subject and from state to state. The percentages shown in the table are the ones used in the "Oberstufe" (final classes). • This conversion scheme is intended as a guideline, as exact conversions may differ.
Georgia Greece • Scale: 0.00–10.00 (0–100%) • Pass (
module): 5.00 (50%) The table below depicts the Greek Grading system while illustrates approximately how the Grades are compared with
ECTS,
US and
UK grades: For the
National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) the above grades are different: 9–10 is "excellent", 7–9 is "very good", 5–7 is "good", 0–4.9 is "fail".
Hungary In Hungary, five-point scale and three-point scales are in use. For the five point scale, there is one failing grade: 1 –
elégtelen (insufficient). In general, the lowest passing mark is either 50% or 60%, or one mark (point) higher. Passing grades are 2 –
elégséges (sufficient or pass), 3 –
közepes (mediocre or satisfactory), 4 –
jó (good) and 5 –
jeles (very good). The perfect overall performance is named
kitűnő or
kiváló (excellent). The bare five-point scale is used for final grades at all educational levels (elementary school, high school, university). During the academic year, however, teachers may use various modifiers, especially in elementary school. A comma (,) after the grade has a minus effect ("alá", below), and an apostrophe (’) after the grade has a plus effect ("fölé", above); a grade halfway between two integers is indicated by the lower and higher one separated by a solidus: 3
/4 ("háromnegyed") is equivalent to 3.5, and 4
/5 is between 4 and 5, etc. Sometimes 5*, five starred ("csillagos ötös") is used to indicate outstanding performance throughout the semester (only in primary school, as it would be considered childish in secondary school). The three-point scale may be used in college/university settings as a final grading for some courses.
Iceland Universities in Iceland categorize their grades as follows Primary school grades were changed in 2011, with the adoption of a new national curriculum from 0–10 into the following:
Ireland The two government regulated educational qualifications are the Junior Cycle (previously the Junior Certificate, usually taken at 15/16) and the Leaving Certificate (usually taken at between the ages of 17 and 19). In April 2025,
Helen McEntee announced the changes to grade bands, evenly distributing the top 4 grades to 15 percent each. Passing or failing the Junior Cert (or any exams in Irish secondary schools), has no bearing on whether or not students can graduate or continue on. For the Leaving Certificate, a points system is used. Previously, this consisted of lettered and numbered grades (A1, A2, B1, B2), with each grade separated by 5%, bar an A1 which was given for a mark over 90%. However, this was updated for the 2016/2017 Leaving Cert cycle and these letters were replaced by H (higher level), O (ordinary level) and F (foundation level). Each grade is separated by 10%. A maximum of 6 subjects are counted, with a possible 100 points in each subject. For students sitting the higher level maths paper, an extra 25 points can be obtained by getting a grade above a H6. In practice, most students take 7 or 8 subjects and their best 6 results are counted. Each subject has 2 or 3 levels: higher, ordinary and foundation. The points are: The points system allocates all university places in Ireland for Irish applicants. Irish universities vary in their grading systems. For example, UCD (
University College Dublin) awards letter grades and corresponding GPA values similar to the United States system, but 1, 2.1, 2.2 etc. for degrees, while TCD (
Trinity College Dublin) awards all grades as 1, 2.1, 2.2 etc.
Italy In Italy, primary school do not use grades but descriptive judgements based on levels, a new conception introduced in December 2020, that is not a simple ordinal scale, but it is used to describe each level across four main dimensions, i.e. continuity (Does the student carry out the task consistently or only occasionally?), autonomy (Is the student autonomous in carrying out the task or does she/he need help by the teacher?), resources (To accomplish the task, does the student use only the resources provided by the teacher or also other resources?) and the setting (Is the task already known as a drill task, or is it a new task to students?). Levels are used to underpin descriptive judgments on a set of specific learning objectives for each school subject. They are not used to evaluate the single task but the pupils performance on a long period on the report cards (mid-term and finals), as the dimension of continuity needs more than one assessment task to be evaluated. Levels can be accompanied with longer descriptive judgments on the specific characteristics of each student for each subject, and are oriented toward a formative approach and students improvement. Italian secondary school grades may vary from 10 (excellent) to 1 (impossible to assess), with passing being 6. Note: 0 is used very rarely. When a professor wants to apply a more precise scale and ranking for students assessments, instead of using the full 1–10 scale (which would make the scale inconsistent with that of other professors), s/he may sometimes have recourse to a plethora of symbols and decimals: the range between 5 and 6 is then expressed, in ascending order, by 5+, 5½, and 6− (or 5/6, named "5 to 6"). The minimum passing is 6. As these symbols (except ½) have no clear mathematical value (usually ±0.25), calculating end-year averages can be somewhat arbitrary and inconsistent; therefore, there has been a push since 2008 with the Gelmini reform to uniform the system to the 1–10 scale. Before this reform, primary and secondary school grades used a different grading scale that expressed an assessment of the pupil's progress: •
Ottimo ("Excellent") •
Distinto ("Very Good") •
Buono (Good) •
Sufficiente (Pass) •
Insufficiente (Fail) A recent school reform provides for the average grade of a student to include the grade for behavior; as in academic subjects, acceptable ratings range from 6 to 10. In universities, a point system is used for exams, with 30 points being the best grade and 18 the minimum passing grade. This stems from the practice that exams were traditionally given by 3 examiners. Each had to rate the student's examination performance on a 1–10 scale, and the final grade was the sum of the three ratings. On a 1–10 scale, passing is 6, so on a 1–30 scale the minimum passing grade is 3*6 = 18. Nowadays the form of each examination is decided by the professor (number of examiners, whether written, oral, or both, etc.), but the traditional grading system remained. Degrees have an analogous point system, in which however the highest grade is 110. A
cum laude notation (
e lode in
Italian) is used to augment the highest grade for both exams and degrees, in all its levels, to reflect truly outstanding performance.
Summary • Primary and secondary school • 10-point grading scale; highest result 10, pass result 6 • Licenza media (commonly known as "Terza media") • 10-point grading scale; highest result 10 e lode, pass result 6 • Maturità • 100-point grading scale; highest result 100 e lode, pass result 60 • University • Exams: 30-point grading scale; highest result 30 e lode, pass result 18 • Laurea (
bachelor's degree) and laurea magistrale (master's degree): 110-point grading scale; highest result 110 e lode, pass result 66
Kosovo In Kosovo, grading is as follows:
Latvia The
academic grading system in Latvia is using ten-point
scale, where "10" () is the highest achievable grade, and "1" () is awarded for extremely poor performance. The minimal passing grade is "4" (). In most universities, to get the "4", you must acquire at least 50% correct on the work you hand in. Though some universities have a minimum passing grade of "5" (). The absence of any kind of performance is indicated by "nv" ( 'no assessment possible'); in the past, The mark for absence of work was "0" (). Teachers for minor
assignments are encouraged to award either grades by percentage or STAP system. For percentage grades, 0% is awarded for extremely poor performance and 100% is awarded for exceptional work. The grade of 10 is reserved for exceptional achievements. 9 is most commonly used for a United States equivalent of an A. In some cases, the grade can be rounded for example if a student got 67% the grade can sometimes be rounded to a 7.
Lithuania In
Lithuania, the grading system was changed to a 10-point scale in 1993. Prior to that,
Soviet Lithuania had a 5-point grading scale. 10 is the highest achievable grade for excellent performance and 1 is the lowest. Usually, 1 is given when there is no work submitted at all (called
kuolas in the academic jargon, meaning 'stake'); otherwise, most teachers keep 2 as the lowest grade and rarely mark work as 1. The lowest grade for passing a subject in the secondary education institutions is 4, while in the higher education institutions 5 is the lowest passing grade.
Notes: • *No answer provided, failed to complete the task ().
Moldova Moldova uses a 10-point scale system, 5 being the minimum grade for passing:
Netherlands In the
Netherlands, grades from 1.0 up to 10.0 are used, with 1 being worst and 10 being best. One's score is determined by dividing the number of points acquired by the total amount. Then it is multiplied by 9 and one point is added. So if one scores a 58/64 on a test their score is calculated as following: 58 / 64 * 9 + 1 = 9.2. Sometimes points are deducted for the number of faults on a test (typically, on vocabulary or topographical tests with more than 10 questions, each fault will nonetheless lead to a reduction in score of one. So 2 faults on a 50 question vocabulary test would constitute an 8). The grades 9 and 10 are hardly ever given on large examinations (on average, a 9 is awarded in only 1.5%, and a 10 in 0.5% of the cases). Generally, either one or two decimal places are predominantly used in secondary and higher education. In primary education, fractions of grades are identified with a + or −, which signifies a quarter (converted to either 0.8 or 0.3 if only one decimal place is used). Thus, a grade of 6.75 (or 6.8) could be written as 7−, whereas a grade of 7+ would count for 7.25 or 7.3. A 5.5 constitutes a pass, whereas 5.4 and below constitute a fail. If no decimal places are used, 6 and up is a pass and 5 and below is a fail; however, in this case of grading in full numbers there exists sometimes "6-", which would officially translate to 5.75, but can be interpreted here as "barely, but just good enough". If the grade would be a 5.49 and one decimal is used, the 5.49 will be a 5.5, but if no decimals are used (usually at the end of the year) the 5.49 will end up as a 5 which indicates a fail. Depending on the specific university, some students who finish their studies with an average of 8.0 or higher, could get the nomination
cum laude (which is comparable with
summa cum laude as awarded in Germany and the United States). The grade scale with its labels:
North Macedonia Primary and secondary education: University grading: Norway In primary school (
Barneskole, from age 6 to 13) no official grades are given. However, the teachers write an individual comment or analysis on tests and at the end of every term. Lower secondary school (
Ungdomsskole; age 13–16) and upper secondary school (
Videregående skole; age 16–19) use a scale running from 1 through 6, with 6 being the highest and 2 the lowest passing grade. It is not possible to fail a grade in Lower Secondary School; even 1 is a passing grade. For non-final tests and mid-term evaluations the grades are often post fixed with + or − (except that there is no 6+ or 1−). It is also common to use grades such as 5/6 or 4/3 indicating borderline grades. However, the grades students get on their diploma (
Vitnemål), are single-digit grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6. The student's non-weighted grade point average is also given on the Vitnemål. In higher education, according to the
ECTS-system, grades for undergraduate and postgraduate examinations are awarded according to a graded scale from A (highest) to F (lowest), with E as the minimum passing grade. The ECTS system was implemented at Norway's universities and colleges in the early 2000s, with most schools having converted to ECTS by 2003. Before 2003, the formerly most common system of grades used at the university level was based on a scale running from 1.0 (highest) through 6.0 (lowest), with 4.0 being the lowest passing grade. The way the new Bologna system was introduced implies that students who had started their studies while the old system still was in effect will graduate with transcripts containing grades from both systems (i.e. both numbers and letters). An academic year has two semesters, from August to December and from January to June, although exceptions occur. Courses are measured in "studiepoeng" according to the ECTS standard (European Credit Transfer System credits). A normal full-time study progression awards 60 credits (studiepoeng/stp) per year (30 per semester). Most institutions either use a 7.5, 8, 10, 12, 15 or 20-credit block system.
Poland The most commonly used system in Polish grade schools is as follows (with usual corresponding score percentages): The grade 'excellent' as a final grade is usually awarded for extracurricular merit. In examinations, it is sometimes awarded for a perfect or near-perfect score (100%+, for example by answering extra-credit questions). Grades (especially expressed numerically) can be suffixed with + (plus) or – (minus). On rare occasions, the = (double minus, 'rails') is used, especially as
2= also called "dwa na szynach" (literally:
two on rails) to express the very lowest passing grade. Before 1990, grades 1 and 6 were not used. It was grade 2 that was called "insufficient".
3=>, also called
trzy na szynach (literally:
three on rails) was the very lowest passing grade. The grade 6 might have been issued on rare occasions. Post-secondary institutions use a different system, usually consisting of the following grades (with usual corresponding score percentages): The scores corresponding to each grade vary greatly from institution to institution and from course to course, but usually, a score of 50% or 51% is required to obtain the lowest passing grade (3.0). The notations
zal. (
zaliczony – passed) and
nzal. (
niezaliczony – not passed) are used when the course only requires attendance and/or is not important (such as sports).
Portugal In Portuguese primary and middle schools, up until the 9th grade inclusive, the grading system is as follows: From the 10th grade onwards, including
tertiary education, a 20-point grading scale is used, with 10 passing grades and 10 failing grades, with 20 being the highest grade possible and 9.5, rounded upwards to 10, the minimum grade for passing. This 20-point system is used both for test scores and grades.
Romania The system used in Romanian primary schools is as follows: In secondary schools, high schools, and academic institutions, a 10-point scale is used (with no official names for the grades), 5 being the minimum grade for passing: There is no 0 and no way to have such a score, because all examinations include at least one starting point; some regular tests, especially in the lower grades, may have 2 or 3. Usually, grades are specified as numbers with two decimals (8.60). The minimum passing grade is 5. If a student scores 86%, he will be given a grade of 8.60, which will be rounded to a 9. Further, for a score of 94%, a grade of 9.40 is given that is rounded down to 9. The average of grades have two decimals, thus a student can earn an average grade of e.g. 9.55. However, the rounding is applied before average computation, so that a student who gets the grades 8.50 and 9.75 will have them rounded to 9 and 10, making the average for that subject 9.50. The same style of grading is used in the national exams, such as the Bacalaureat and the Evaluare Națională. However, in the Bacalaureat, the average between all subjects must be at least 6 in order to pass, besides each test's grade having to be at least 5. In addition, no matter the starting points, the grade 1 is "awarded" to students who are caught trying to copy or engage in other means of cheating during a test.
Russia Most Russian educational institutions use a five-point grading scale: Qualifiers + and − are often used to add some degree of differentiation between the grades: e.g., 4+ is better than 4, but not quite as good as 5−. Grading varies greatly from school to school, university to university, and even teacher to teacher, even for courses that lend themselves to objective markings, such as mathematics and applied sciences. Even though the grades technically range from 1 to 5, 1 is not common and is rarely given for academic reasons—in a number of cases, a 1 is given as a result of failure to show up for or to complete an exam. A 2 grade usually means that the student showed no or little knowledge in a subject. It may be worth mentioning that 1 is a fairly exotic grade in Russian schools, but it does officially exist. The generally used grades are 2 to 5. Plus (+) and minus (−) modifiers follow the same tendency; they are rarely used in middle school and almost never in colleges or universities. Some institutions and teachers, dissatisfied with the five-point scale, work with various larger ones, but these grading systems are not recognized by the state and require conversion for official use. A considerably more complex grading system has been implemented for the recently introduced
Unified state examinations. In this system, a "primary grade" is the sum of points for completed tasks, with each of the tasks having a maximum number of points allocated to it. The maximum total primary grade varies by subject so that one might obtain a primary grade of 23 out of 37 in mathematics and a primary grade of 43 out of 80 in French. The primary grades are then converted into final or "test grades" by means of a sophisticated statistical calculation, which takes into account the distribution of primary grades among the examinees. This system has been criticized for its lack of transparency. At universities some subjects are graded "Pass/No pass" or "Credit/No Credit" (зачёт/незачёт, pronounced "zachòt/nyezachòt"); the rest are typically graded on the five-point scale. The "Pass/No Pass" grades do not have any official numeric representation. When
zachòt – (credit- or pass-) type subjects are graded as "Pass/No pass", this represents a student's knowledge of a subject. Each university applies its own standards with respect to the knowledge a student must have in order to pass a subject.
Zachòt equival to pass with mark of minimum 77% to maximum 100%. Students in Russia must pass all prescribed courses in order to graduate. Since the word
zachòt can be translated variously into English (e.g. as "credit" or "pass"), this notation can create problems for Russian students applying to Western universities. Such grades may confuse Western universities and complicate the accurate calculation of students' GPAs in Western systems. For Western system "Pass" calculation recommended to perform based on averages. Western universities and equivalency organizations usually disregard
zachòt, despite the fact that this notation is typically used for about half of a student's course results. Consequently, most Western GPA conversions of Russian degrees reflect only part of a candidate's coursework. All course examinations and
zachot tests must be passed at the time each is given, as there are no repeats, resits or grade appeals. Hence only those who satisfy all the requirements during the allotted examination period for each semester graduate, leaving a huge number of students behind who in the West would have had a chance to resit examinations and even get their grades reconsidered. Furthermore, grades in Russia are determined not only by examination results but also by other criteria such as class attendance and participation, term papers and projects, in-class and homework assignments, laboratory reports, presentations, and sometimes even grooming and behavior. All these must be passed during the semester before a 'final examination mark' and final
zachot is awarded. Russian degrees do not have composite classifications such as in the British system of First Class, Upper/Lower Second Class, Third Class, Pass, etc. This is because each course is examined independently, students must pass all of them, and they do not add up or contribute to an average grade or 'class'. Another reason is that during the Russian Revolution, social stratification and classification were supposedly abolished in the interest of promoting social equality. Accordingly, all students would be expected to perform at or above the minimum level required to qualify and graduate. Calculation of an aggregate mark or GPA is not considered fair or even possible, as it would be felt to disregard much of a candidate's academic work. The
zachòt notation would complicate such calculation, and the final thesis qualifying mark is usually considered as the final result. Students who have shown exceptional academic talent by getting
5's in most of their courses are awarded a 'degree with excellence', which comes in a special red cover.
Sweden Since the autumn of 2012, grades in Sweden have been given to students in the 6th grade and above. Previously, grades were given from the 8th grade for multiple years. Students below the 6th grade receive an estimation of their knowledge in each subject from their teachers. The current Swedish national grade scale has been used since 2011 and contains six grades which translate to a number of points, as shown below. The grades A to E are passing grades, while F denotes failure. Grades A, C and E all have different requirements and the requirements for A are, naturally, the hardest to reach. The grades B and D are given when a student has met all the requirements for the grade below (E or C) and a majority of the requirements for the grade above (C or A). When a student reaches the end of the Swedish nine-year-school and Upper Secondary School, their 17 best grades and points are turned into a qualification value (max 340 points) which they use to apply for their next level of education.
Switzerland Switzerland has a grading scheme from 1 to 6, where 6 is the highest, 1 the lowest, and 4 the minimum pass mark; anything below 4 designates
insufficient performance. It is used on all levels of education, such as primary schools, lower and higher secondary schools, universities, and vocational education. Except this general pattern, the meaning and the calculation of the grades is subject to the respective cantonal office of education. The cantonal office of educations usually follow the following pattern: A final mark can be any of the discrete number between 1 and 6, or anything between two of them usually rounded up or down to the next half or quarter value (.25, .5, .75), or to one or two digits behind the decimal point. An oversimplified way to calculate a grade is: (acquired points/total points ) × 5 + 1 = grade.
Turkey In Turkey, high school exam grades are from 0 to 100. But final grades are from 1 to 5 in the report cards given to the student at the end of every semester and education year of elementary, middle, and high schooler. In Undergraduate education, regulations are generally according to the US grade system, depends on the university rules.
Ukraine Current grading system was introduced in Ukraine in autumn 2000. The Ukrainian system for middle and high school provides grades that lie within 1 and 12. The lowest passing grade is 4. Additionally, the grades are divided into four levels:
initial (1–3),
sufficient (4–6),
average (7–9) and
high (10–12).
United Kingdom England and Wales GCSE exams are graded as follows in England and Wales. Grade marks fluctuate based on national results. ;A-Level A-Level exams are graded as follows. Grade marks fluctuate based on national results. ;Grading in universities A degree may be awarded with or without honours, with the class of an honours degree usually based on a
weighted average mark of the assessed work a candidate has completed. The degree classifications are: • First class honours (1st) • Second class honours, upper division (2:1) • Second class honours, lower division (2:2) • Third class honours (3rd) • Ordinary degree (pass)
UK Postgraduate Grading System The postgraduate grading system for master's degrees in the UK is similar to the Honours system but differs in some points. The minimum passing grade is 50% instead of 40%. The complete classifications look as follows: • Distinction: 70-100% • Merit: 60-69% • Pass: 50-59% • Fail: Less than 50%
Scotland Despite grade marks fluctuating based on national results, the
Scottish Qualifications Authority grading scheme goes as follows for
National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher: For National 3 and 4 courses in Scotland, the only grades are as follows:
European academic grading With the exception of Liechtenstein, which uses the
Swiss grading system, and Moldova, which uses the
Romanian grading system, the majority of European countries create their own academic grading standards. Most involve combinations of the key elements of grading, and all are used to evaluate students' performance on a scale of passing to failing (or comprehending to not comprehending material).
Austria,
Belgium,
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Bulgaria,
Croatia,
Czech Republic,
Finland,
France,
Germany,
Greece,
Hungary,
Italy,
Latvia,
Lithuania,
Luxembourg,
Norway,
Poland,
Portugal,
Romania,
Serbia,
Slovakia,
Slovenia,
Spain,
Sweden,
Switzerland,
Ukraine,
United Kingdom == North America ==