There's no international grading scale. A 75 is a Distinction in Australia, a First in the UK, a C in the US and a B+ in Canada. Same number, four different messages.
This page sets out the systems most students run into when they study abroad, compare transcripts or apply overseas: the UK grading system, India's 10-point scale, Australia's HD to Fail bands, Canada's percentage scale and Germany's 1.0 to 5.0. The US scale is covered on the college grading system page, and it's included in the comparison table at the end.
Three of these scales are built into the grade calculator: switch the college grading scale between US, UK and India and the cutoffs change to match.
The UK grading system
UK universities don't use letter grades. They classify the whole degree, and each piece of work is graded out of 100 against the same bands. Prospects, the UK graduate careers service, sets them out like this.
| Classification | Score |
|---|---|
| First-class honors (a First) | 70 and above |
| Upper second-class honors (a 2:1) | 60 to 69 |
| Lower second-class honors (a 2:2) | 50 to 59 |
| Third-class honors (a Third) | 40 to 49 |
| Fail | Below 40 |
Score and letter grade from the number wrong.
Two things surprise US students. The passing score is 40%, and a score above 70 is the top band. Scores in the 80s and 90s are rare in essay-based subjects. A 68 in the UK is a strong 2:1, not a D+.
Taught master's degrees use a higher bar. Prospects notes the passing score rises to 50%, with Distinction usually at 70 and Merit at 60.
The UK university grading scale is the "UK" tab in the grade calculator, so you can grade a piece of work out of 100 and see the classification band directly.
India's grading system
Most Indian universities follow the University Grants Commission's Choice Based Credit System, a 10-point scale set out in the UGC guidelines for CBCS. Each letter carries a grade point, and the percentage cutoffs commonly used with it are described by Leverage Edu.
| Grade | Meaning | Grade point | Common percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| O | Outstanding | 10 | 90 and above |
| A+ | Excellent | 9 | 80 to 89 |
| A | Very good | 8 | 70 to 79 |
| B+ | Good | 7 | 60 to 69 |
| B | Above average | 6 | 55 to 59 |
| C | Average | 5 | 50 to 54 |
| P | Pass | 4 | 40 to 49 |
| F | Fail | 0 | Below 40 |
The passing score is 40, like the UK, and the top grade is an O rather than an A. The exact percentage cutoffs vary by university, so the "India" tab in the grade calculator lets you edit them.
The CGPA that appears on Indian transcripts is an average of these grade points weighted by credits, which is the same idea as a US GPA but on a 10-point scale rather than 4.0.
Australia's grading system
Australian universities grade each course into a band from High Distinction down to Fail. The UNSW guide to grades is a good reference for the standard version.
| Grade | Score |
|---|---|
| High Distinction (HD) | 85 to 100 |
| Distinction (DN) | 75 to 84 |
| Credit (CR) | 65 to 74 |
| Pass (PS) | 50 to 64 |
| Fail (FL) | Below 50 |
The passing score is 50. UNSW's guide also gives a useful sense of scale: it places a score of 80 (a Distinction) around the 20th percentile of students, and a score of 65 (a Credit) in the lower third of passing grades.
Thresholds vary by university, and a few set High Distinction at 80 rather than 85, so check the handbook for the one you're at.
Australian transcripts often carry a WAM, a weighted average mark, alongside or instead of a GPA. It's a credit-weighted average of your raw scores, and UNSW uses a WAM of at least 75 to award a pass degree with Distinction.
Canada's grading scale
Canada has no national scale, and universities set their own. The University of Toronto's is a common shape and is published in its Arts and Science academic calendar under the university's grading practices policy.
| Letter | Percentage | Grade point |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | 90 to 100 | 4.0 |
| A | 85 to 89 | 4.0 |
| A- | 80 to 84 | 3.7 |
| B+ | 77 to 79 | 3.3 |
| B | 73 to 76 | 3.0 |
| B- | 70 to 72 | 2.7 |
| C+ | 67 to 69 | 2.3 |
| C | 63 to 66 | 2.0 |
| C- | 60 to 62 | 1.7 |
| D+ | 57 to 59 | 1.3 |
| D | 53 to 56 | 1.0 |
| D- | 50 to 52 | 0.7 |
| F | Below 50 | 0.0 |
Compared with the US it looks similar but sits ten points lower. An A starts at 85, not 93, and the passing score is 50 rather than 60. The calendar states that a student needs at least a passing grade of 50% to get standing in a course. An A+ is worth the same 4.0 as an A, and courses taken credit/no-credit are left out of the GPA, as the university registrar explains.
Other Canadian universities use different cutoffs, and some in Quebec grade mainly in percentages. Treat the Toronto scale as the pattern, not the rule.
Germany's grading system
Germany runs the other way around. Grades go from 1.0 (the best) to 5.0 (a fail), and lower is better. The bands, as set out by Studying in Germany, are:
| Grade | German term | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 to 1.5 | sehr gut | Very good |
| 1.6 to 2.5 | gut | Good |
| 2.6 to 3.5 | befriedigend | Satisfactory |
| 3.6 to 4.0 | ausreichend | Sufficient (the lowest pass) |
| 5.0 | nicht ausreichend | Not sufficient (fail) |
A 4.0 is the lowest passing grade, so a German 4.0 and an American 4.0 mean opposite things. Many universities record grades in steps of 0.3 (1.0, 1.3, 1.7, 2.0 and so on), and a 1.0 with distinction is uncommon. Law degrees use a separate 18-point scale.
The same score in five systems
| Country | Top grade | Passing score | What 75% means |
|---|---|---|---|
| US (college) | A, 93 and up | 60 (D-) | C |
| UK | First, 70 and up | 40 | First |
| India (UGC) | O, 90 and up | 40 | A |
| Australia | HD, 85 and up | 50 | Distinction |
| Canada (Toronto) | A+, 90 and up | 50 | B |
| Germany | 1.0 | 4.0 | Not percentage-based |
That last column is the whole point. A percentage is only meaningful inside its own system.
Converting between systems
There isn't a formula. The bands don't line up, and the meaning of a score in an essay-based UK degree isn't the same as in a US multiple-choice course. Universities and credential evaluators convert transcripts using their own tables, and they'll usually recalculate rather than accept a number you've converted yourself.
If you need a rough working figure, use the comparison table above to place your score in its band, then read across. For anything official, ask the institution you're applying to which conversion it uses.
For grading a piece of work in any of the three built-in systems, the grade calculator has the US, UK and India scales ready, and the GPA calculator works on the US 4.0 scale.