Please explain grading in USA schools to a non-American

Question

I’m in the UK. In secondary school (ages 11-18), we have graded results – F, E, D, C, B, A, A\* – for the qualifications you get at 16 and 18.

Batchelors degrees are graded as 1, 2:1, 2:2, 3. They equate to about (respectively) >70%, 60-70%, 50-60%, 40-50%.

I’m constantly confused when watching American TV shows when they talk about school grades etc! The only term I’ve ever heard used in tv is GPA.

How do the scoring systems work in the USA and what scores do they equate to?

In: Other

Answer 1

It varies widely based on who’s assigning grades. Growing up, the common definition below the college level was “90 or above, A, 80-89.99 B, 74-79.99 C, 70-73.99 D,” and so on.

College professors are generally free to use their own grading scales. Some don’t even use letter/numerical grades except for the final course grade.