Different Grading Systems for Calculating GPA
Before understanding how a GPA calculator works, it is essential to understand the different grading systems. Various global grading systems exist like marks, percentage and others to assess the academic performance.
| Grading Systems |
Read as |
What do they look like? |
| Marks |
Numbers |
Marked out of a total score |
| Grades |
Alphabets like A, A+, B, C+ |
Based on marks, grades are given to students |
| Percentage |
A consolidated percentage score |
Based on marks, a percentage is obtained |
| GPA |
Numerical format out of 4.0 scale. |
Given a 4.0 point based on marks/grades/percentage |
These conversions may vary per institution, and GPA calculations can be made accordingly. The first three are used in high schools, while GPA is used for university admission and university score results.
How to Calculate Grade Point Average?
There are two types of GPA calculators, a weighted GPA and an unweighted GPA. An unweighted GPA is usually calculated using a 4.0-point scale used across institutions.
- Since an unweighted GPA is an easy parameter to understand an applicant’s academic performance, the unweighted GPA calculator is used in most cases.
- Plus, an unweighted GPA calculation is the standard form for competitive assessments between applications.
- High schools use weighted GPAs to add value-based weightage to courses at the Honors, AP, and IB levels of study. Hence, each school is unique, and the competitive level is moderate and distinct, based on which the GPA calculator is used.
- However, an unweighted GPA calculator is more useful at a larger level of competition. This method is also useful for computing GPA from credit hours.
- Grade point average GPA can be calculated using percentage scores or SGPA to CGPA calculator (with the cumulative GPA obtained, GPA can be computed); GPA can be calculated using grades.
Calculating GPA can include semester GPA, cumulative GPA, grades or credit points. An official GPA report will include the applicant's overall performance after using the GPA calculator. Applicants can use the grading scale to compute their GPA before manually calculating a GPA formula. Since weighted and unweighted GPAs play a pivotal role in correct official GPA calculation, let us understand their significance in the following section.
Types of GPA Calculators
Some universities abroad prefer a weighted GPA, while others prefer an unweighted GPA. The unweighted GPA is a more popular scale for computing GPA. Let us understand how they differ in the section below.
Difference Between Weighted and Unweighted GPA
Check out the difference between weighted and unweighted GPAs in the table below before getting on using a manual GPA calculator:
| Weighted GPA |
Unweighted GPA |
| Weighted GPAs consider courses based on difficulty levels like AP, IB and other challenging courses. |
An unweighted GPA does not consider any difficult courses, rather it just directly calculates the GPA of applicants based on all the courses taken. |
| The letter grades are converted to weighted points, and then multiplied by credit hours. Points for all classes are added first and then divided by the total credit hours. |
Calculating the unweighted GPA includes involves converting the letter grades into equivalent numerical values, add them, then divide by the total number of classes taken. |
| There can be GPA scale apart from 4.0 or higher to include difficult courses taken for GPA calculation. |
The unweighted GPA uses the standard 4.0 scale for calculating GPA. |
There are GPA calculation components which should not be missed while calculating. Check out the next section.
GPA Calculator Components
Various formulae are used to convert to GPA, and there are also different types of GPA calculators. However, we will discuss unweighted GPA calculations based on different components like grades and percentages. First, we will discuss the percentage to GPA and then see how grades are converted into GPA. Let us get to the Grade Point Average calculator for students needing it for application or job purposes.
How to Calculate GPA from Percentage?
How to calculate GPA from percentage is not a difficult task. Rather, applicants can use a formula to convert their percentage grades to GPA. Thus, using a GPA calculator based on percentages will be easier for calculation. Based on the percentage of the applicant, here's the GPA from the percentage formula below:
Percentage to GPA Calculator
The percentage to GPA calculator formula, which is given below, can be used for calculating percentages on a 4.0-point GPA scale only:
GPA = (Final percentage/100) x 4
For example, GPA calculator to percentage will be computed as:
If the Percentage Obtained = 89%
Conversion to GPA on a 4.0 point scale would be:
GPA= (Percentage Obtained/100) x 4
Thus,
- GPA = (89/100) x 4
- GPA = (0.89) x 4
- GPA = 3.56 on a 4.0-point scale
This is how applicants whose institutions give final percentages at the end of the year can calculate their Grade Point average scores using percentage to GPA calculators. Getting GPA from percentage can be used for Indian school students, where percentage marks are calculated. GPA calculator from percentage is the easiest method of calculation; thus, if possible, applicants should ideally convert their scores to a percentage and then use the GPA calculator from percentage.
How to Calculate GPA from Marks?
Indian applicants who get marks or numbers on their subjects and, ultimately, a percentage is given, can also calculate their GPA from their marks. So, how to calculate GPA from marks? Applicants can calculate their GPA from their marks by converting the sum of their marks into percentages. Converting percentages to GPA is the easiest way to answer the question of how to calculate GPA from marks.
So, for those seeking answers to questions like, How do you calculate GPA for class X or XII? You can do so by converting the percentage to GPA using the formula given above. Thus, this is one way to tackle the GPA calculator for those who get scores as a percentage in their finals and ease using the GPA calculator from percentage.
How to Calculate GPA by Grades?
Applicants whose grades are converted from marks have to calculate their GPA through grades. Those wondering how to calculate GPA from marks should convert to grades first and then to GPA. The GPA calculator from grades is based on the numerical value assigned to each grade. Whichever is the highest grade, A or A+, is regarded as 4.0 on a 4.0-point scale of Grade Point Average.
Now, how to find GPA from grades is the question. For this, applicants can check their grades and see which percentage category they fall into. Based on the percentage category, the GPA can be calculated. For instance:
| Grades |
Percentage Category |
| 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% |
| D- |
Below 65% |
Thus, the GPA calculator from grades can be computed based on the above-given percentage criteria and calculated accordingly.
GPA Conversion Calculator: Grade vs Percentage
If calculating GPA on a 4.0 point scale, then the following GPA can be computed based on the formulae given above for reference:
| Grades |
Percentage |
Point value of letter grades (4.0 scale) |
| A+ |
97% - 100% |
4.0 |
| A |
93% - 96% |
4.0 |
| A- |
90% - 92% |
3.7 |
| B+ |
87% - 89% |
3.5 |
| B |
83% - 86% |
3.0 |
| B- |
80% - 82% |
2.7 |
| C+ |
77% - 79% |
2.3 |
| C |
73% - 76% |
2.0 |
| C- |
70% - 72% |
1.7 |
| D+ |
67% - 69% |
1.3 |
| D |
65% - 66% |
1.0 |
| F |
Below 65% |
0 |
For reference, applicants can also check this table, which already consists of the predefined values and eases the GPA calculations. The final GPA calculator is based on grades and/or the percentage of mark value derived from it.
Grade Point Average Calculator: Credit-Based
Finally, there is also a credit-based GPA calculator that calculates GPA on a 4.0-point scale. For institutions that assess their students based on credits and hours, the cumulative or CGPA calculator is used for those students. Check out the difference between GPA and CGPA. The formula used for computing CGPA based on credits is:
Total points Obtained / Total Credit Hours = CGPA
Let’s calculate CGPA now based on the formula given above.
- Step 1: Calculate the grades in theri numerical values:
- A grade is 4.0 x 3 credit hours, which is 12 points
- A- grade is 3.7 x 2 credit hours, that is, 7.4 points
- B+ grade is 3.5 x 4 credit hours, which is 14 points
- Step 2: Add the points, 12+7.4+14 = 33.4
- Step 3: Calculate credit hours, 3+2+4=9.
- Step 4: Divide the total points by cumulative GPA, and result will be 3.7
Indian applicants who get scores such as a CGPA at school or in college can convert their CGPA to GPA to understand how they have scored. The CGPA to GPA can be calculated using the following formula:
GPA = (CGPA / Maximum CGPA) * Target GPA scale
Check out the following related reads for CGPA:
GPA Calculator SSC
When applicants apply to study abroad, they have to submit their HSC marks to the GPA calculator, which is for class XII. However, international applicants also have to submit their SSC marks to the GPA calculator, which is for class X. The GPA calculator SSC scores are based on a simple calculation. But before getting on to the GPA calculator SSC results, we need first to understand the SSC grading system.
SSC Grading System
Here is how the SSC grading system works. Check out the table below for reference:
| Marks Obtained |
Grade Points |
Grades |
| 80 – 100 |
5.00 |
A+ |
| 70 – 79 |
4.00 |
A |
| 60 – 69 |
3.50 |
A- |
| 50 – 59 |
3.00 |
B |
| 40 – 49 |
2.00 |
C |
| 33 – 39 |
1.00 |
D |
| 0 – 32 |
0.00 |
F |
How to Use the GPA Calculator SSC
Calculating SSC grades on a GPA calculator can be simplified by converting marks to percentage rather than use the grades. After applicants get the percentage score, conversion to GPA is simple. The formula for a percentage to GPA has already been discussed above.
To conclude, we can say that GPA calculators are easy to use based on simple formulas. However, apart from manual GPA calculators, there are also GPA calculators available on university websites for applicants. Applicants can manually convert their GPA from marks, percentages and even CGPA.
Credential-evaluating agencies like WES, ECE, and EP use advanced GPA calculators for credential evaluation.
How to Raise GPA?
Raising GPA is needed when you are planning to use those scores either for admission or for a job change. If you are still in college and lag behind because of low GPA but want to apply abroad, you will have to take some steps.
- You should regularly attend your classes which means not losing out on attendance marks. These marks play a crucial role in increasing GPA scores in the end.
- There are cases where topics are discussed again and it is more like a revision for the upcoming short test or annual test. This gives a better grip on preparation in turn, higher scoring.
- Active participation in class results in better communication and professors or teachers understand the underlying potential. This in turn helps students score better on their assignments and tests resulting in a higher overall GPA.
- You can also aim for a particular GPA score and plan how you go about it. Since study methods, learning, retention and preparation varies person to person you should aim for your strategy to get your desired GPA at the end of your study.
- Finally, understand your shortcomings and know where you lag so that you can make up the gap easily in the next semesters. Keep using GPA calculator to keep track of how you are performing.
Again there is no sure shot plan because each student has a different way of learning. But these can also be considered if nothing works to raise GPAs.
There are different ways of calculating GPAs for admissions or for applying for jobs abroad. The Indian applicants can use a GPA calculator or calculate GPA using their percentage marks or grades. Applicants can also convert their CGPA scores to GPA. Also, GPA can be computed through SGPA, applicants must first use SGPA to CGPA calculator or SGPA to Percentage calculator and then compute GPA. Thus, there are many ways in which GPA can be calculated.