With admission deadlines rolling in, it must be time to arrange your recommendations, resume and academic documents to begin the tedious application process. One of the mandatory eligibility criteria universities ask for is the academic results and hence, the transcripts of all the previous degrees taken. The result is taken as a mark of merit and treated as a primary entry requirement into most institutes.
If you plan to apply abroad, there might be added confusion regarding different grading systems, like the GPA and percentage listed under the university entry requirements. You might have your score as percentages, while the criteria require a grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 or 5.0 scale. Conversion from GPA to percentage can be a hectic process, but once you get the hang of how to find percentage of marks, you shall be able to convert all your grades easily.
Read on to learn how to find percentage of marks from your GPA for a smoother application process.
International Grading System
The grading system in the United Kingdom and the USA indicates the student’s academic performance through the letters A to F, where A is a first-class honours degree, and F indicates that the candidate has failed the paper or course. Similarly, the grade distinction is a first-class master’s degree received by any candidate scoring more than 70%, and a Fail indicates a score below 50%.
Listed below are the undergraduate and postgraduate grading system tables to offer a glance at how it works.
The Undergraduate grading system table
| HONOURS TYPE | HONOURS | GRADE | PERCENTAGE |
| First | 1 | A | 70% and above |
| Upper Second | 2:1 | B | 60-69% |
| Lower Second | 2:2 | C | 50-59% |
| Third | 3 | D | 40-49% |
| Sufficient | – | E | 30-39% |
| Fail | – | F | Below 30% |
The Postgraduate grading system table
| PASSING GRADE | EQUIVALENT PERCENTAGE |
| Distinction |
70-100% |
| Merit |
60-69% |
| Pass |
50-59% |
| Fail |
Below 50% |
GPA versus Percentage
Below are the basics of a GPA and a percentage score and what you need to know before converting a simple GPA to percentage.
What is GPA?
A Grade Point Average or a GPA is a score obtained by students throughout their academic year placed on a 4, 5, or 10-point scale. These scores depend solely on the student’s academic performance and merit, increasing with better performance and decreasing with poor performance. Read on to learn how to calculate GPA from your letter grades.
How to Calculate GPA?
To calculate your GPA, you need to divide the total number of grade points you have earned in your result by the total number of the assessed teaching units you have taken.
One way is to consider the letter’s correct score against the correct letter grade: A=4, B=3, C=2, and D=1.
However, if your current university has chosen to include an A+ or an A-, where the letter “A” is still equal to 4, then the new scoring system would be A+ = 4.3, A=4, A- =3.7, and so on.
What is a Percentage?
A percentage indicates a portion of an item in relation to 100 units of that item. “Per cent” literally means per hundred. A percentage grading system indicates the candidate’s academic scores as a fraction of 100.
How to calculate a percentage?
To obtain the percentage, you divide the total number of marks obtained on a certain paper by the highest mark and multiply the result by 100. For example, (15/25) x 100 = 60%
Usually, grade A is taken to be 100-90%, B is 89-80%, C is 79-70% and so on.
If you have complex lettered grades that involve pluses and minuses, the following table can be of use:
| LETTER GRADE | PERCENT GRADE % |
| A+ |
97-100 |
| A |
93-96 |
| A- |
90-92 |
| B+ |
87-89 |
| B |
83-86 |
| B- |
80-82 |
| C+ |
77-79 |
| C |
73-76 |
| C- |
70-72 |
| D+ |
67-69 |
| D |
65-66 |
| E |
65-55 |
| F |
Below 55 |
Calculator: how to convert GPA to Percentage
Since we know the basics, it is possible now to convert simple GPA to percentage seamlessly.
The percentage from a simple 4.0 scale
Countries like the USA have a grading system using a 4-point scale. Now, the total percentage for any full score is always 100. Hence, for every 25 points in the percentage scale (100 divided by 4) is ONE point on the 4.0 GPA scale.
Hence, the formula for conversion remains: GPA = (percentage/100) x 4, or GPA = percentage divided by 25.
If your GPA is 3.0 on 4, then your percentage would be = 3 x 25 = 75%
The percentage from a simple 10-point scale
Many European countries use a grading system on a 10-point scale. The GPA to percentage conversion will remain the same; for every 10 points on a percentage scale (100/10) is ONE point on the 10-point scale.
Hence, the formula remains: GPA = (percentage/100) x 10, or GPA = percentage divided by 10.
If your GPA is 6.5 on 10, then your percentage would be = 10 x 6.5 = 65%
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Which grading system should one choose?
The choice of the grading system depends entirely on the selected university and its criteria. If no specific grading point is mentioned, upload the original marking scheme or the last attended educational institution. This reduces the efforts of grade conversion and saves up time for other important application segments.
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Conclusion
Varying grade systems can be a hassle only if you lack the right strategy to approach and convert percentages into GPA and vice-versa. We hope our concise guide on how to calculate GPA will assist you in easily adding details to applications and assessing your results each term.
What is the full form of GPA?
The full form of GPA is Grade Point Average. It is a measure of a candidate’s academic merit in their educational institution. The GPA measuring scales vary from country to country and institution to institution.
What is considered a good GPA to get into university?
Different universities and colleges have different systems of judging “good” GPAs. There are differences in the results provided as well. For instance, many of the GPAs in results are either on a 4-point or a 5-point scale, and many institutions choose to give the grades in percentages. It is best to check the entry requirements of the specific university/college you intend to apply.
Is a 4.0 GPA equivalent to 100 per cent?
No, it is not necessary that a 4.0 GPA is ABSOLUTELY equal to 100 per cent in cases of complex grading systems.
