Grading System was recently introduced and applied to the education system of Nepal. It was only in 2016 AD, that the System was implemented to the newly introduced SEE. SLC(School Leaving Certificate), the graduating examination of the secondary schooling system (Class 10) was reintroduced as SEE (Secondary Education Examination).
Before 2016 AD, only a few institutions used Grading System. The concept of the grading system became popular when HSEB ( Higher Secondary Examination Board) applied Letter Grading alongside the GPA. Although a few years have passed since it was introduced, yet many fail to understand the Grading System. The confusion could have been a result of the sudden introduction of the grading system in an environment where a lot of people were so used to the Percentage evaluation.
Today, Grading is widely used, at both the school level and University level. And the number of institutions using the Percentage evaluation seems considerably less. Many schools and universities have created their own Guidelines and ranges for their own system but the grading system of Nepal was determined by the Government, Education Act 2016. When the exams are conducted by the NEB and other Education Boards, the scores attained by the examinee will not be shown, only in internal assessments by schools or colleges, numerical scores will be shown in their result. And the current Grading system was introduced by NEB for SEE, Grade 11 and Grade 12. This blog will discuss meanings, ranges, and changes in the Grading System.
What is Letter Grading System?
For, Letter Grading, Letters are used as a Scale to band students into a category according to their scores. Here, students are scored using a letter, the very letter that is a scale range to the marks obtained by the student. Letter grading uses letters from A to F to evaluate students. The Letter Grading system in Nepal uses A+, A, B+, B, C+, C, D+, D, E and NG as its categories to evaluate a student, using A+ as the highest grade, E and NG as the failing grades and D as the lowest passing grade. According to the current Grading, students with at least a D will get promoted.
What is GPA?
GPA simply means Grade Point Average. When using GPA, all the grades accumulated in all the courses/ subjects are calculated with an average value. GPA uses values as 4.0 to 0.0. Nepal associates GPA with Letter Grades, thus when a student attains a GPA of 3.6, their letter grade is determined as A.
What is CGPA?
CGPA means Cumulative GPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average). When calculating CGPA, the student’s points accumulated in the total degree credit hours along with the GPA scores attained by the students in their exams. CGPA includes, the overall GPA one has earned throughout their semesters or academic years.
How do I Convert my Percentage from GPA?
One cannot convert their Percentage from their GPA Scores. GPA is an average given for the overall marks accumulated from the examination, it is not the total marks but just the average for the total marks students attained while percentage requires the actual scores. Percentage requires the total scores attained by the students divided by the total grades of all courses to be multiplied by 100 percent. As GPA doesn’t give the criteria required for the calculation of the percentage, it is impossible to assume the exact percentage attained by a student through their GPA scores.
What are the changes in the New Grading System?
The Government has brought a few changes to the Grading System in Nepal. Implementing from the year 2078, the Grading which was applied to only Grade 10-11, will be applied to grade 1 to grade 12 with the following guidelines:
| Marks percentage | Letter Grade | Performance | Grade Point Average |
| ≥90 | A+ | Outstanding | 4.0 |
| ≥80 but <90 | A | Excellent | 3.6 |
| ≥70 but <80 | B+ | Very Good | 3.2 |
| ≥60 but <70 | B | Good | 2.8 |
| ≥50 but <60 | C+ | Satisfactory | 2.4 |
| ≥40 but <50 | C | Acceptable | 2.0 |
| ≥35 but <40 | D | Basic | 1.6 |
| <35 | NG | Not graded | – |
Description of each grade
| Grade | Performance | Description |
| A+ | Outstanding | The student has vast and profound knowledge with advanced critical insight along with an extensive and insightful appreciation of the theoretical or practical subject matter. They also have a remarkable ability to use, organize, analyse and concisely present the subject clearly and fluently with a remarkable performance; a notable ability for creative, original and rational views with exceptional communication skills. |
| A | Excellent | The student has vast and profound knowledge with refined critical insight along with an extensive and insightful appreciation of the theoretical or practical subject matter. They also have a remarkable ability to use, organize, analyse and concisely present the subject clearly and fluently with a commendable performance; a notable ability for creative, original and rational views with progressive communication skills. |
| B+ | Very Good | The student has vast knowledge with refined insight along with an extensive and individual appreciation of the theoretical or practical subject matter. They also have a distinct ability to use, organize, analyse and concisely present the subject clearly with effective performance; a commendable ability for creative, original and rational views with proper communication skills. |
| B | Good | The student has acceptable knowledge with refined insight along with an extensive and decent appreciation of the theoretical or practical subject matter. They also have the ability to use, organize, analyse and concisely present the subject clearly with decent performance; the ability for creative, original and rational views with acceptable communication skills. |
| C+ | Satisfactory | The student has satisfactory knowledge with refining insight along with a comprehensive and comparatively decent appreciation of the theoretical or practical subject matter. They also have the ability to use, organize, analyse and concisely present the subject clearly with faultless performance; an acceptable ability for creative, original and rational views with adequate communication skills. |
| C | Acceptable | The student has satisfactory knowledge with refining insight along with an inclusive and incomplete understanding of the theoretical or practical subject matter. They also have a confined ability to use, organize, analyse and concisely present the subject clearly with guiltless performance; a confined ability for creative, original and rational views with basic communication skills. |
| D | Basic | The student has slight knowledge with refining insight along with an inclusive and sufficient understanding of the theoretical or practical subject matter. They also have the ability to use, organize, analyse and concisely present the subject clearly with guiltless performance; a minimum ability for creative, original and rational views with tolerable communication skills. |
| NG | Not Graded | The student has little knowledge with inadequate insight along with a broad and trivial understanding of the theoretical or practical subject matter. They also have a concerningly faulty ability to use, organize, analyse and concisely present the subject; a very confined ability for creative, original and rational views with incompetent communication skills. |
Conclusion
This blog “Grading system in Nepal” discusses all the meanings, ranges and changes of the Grading System implemented by the government of Nepal, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
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