Convert between percent, US letter grade, and 4.0 scale GPA.
Advanced: custom grading scale
Set the minimum percent for each letter (plain A/B/C/D scale). Lower bound of F is always 0.
Thresholds must be in descending order (A > B > C > D).
Custom thresholds apply to the plain A/B/C/D bands. +/− sub-bands (A+, B-, etc.) are disabled while custom mode is active.
Questions correct → percent
Standard US grading scale
| Letter | Percent | GPA (4.0) |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | 97–100% | 4.0 |
| A | 93–96% | 4.0 |
| A- | 90–92% | 3.7 |
| B+ | 87–89% | 3.3 |
| 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 | 60–66% | 1.0 |
| F | Below 60% | 0.0 |
How the mapping works
Percent to letter grade — the 10-point scale
Most US high schools and colleges use a 10-point scale: A is 90–100, B is 80–89, C is 70–79, D is 60–69, and F is anything below 60. With pluses and minuses, each band is split into three sub-ranges of three points each — for example A- is 90–92, A is 93–96, and A+ is 97–100. The 60% cutoff for passing is a historical convention rather than a legal rule, and many instructors set their own syllabus thresholds that override it.
Regional differences (Canada, UK, Australia)
Outside the US, letter grades and percent bands line up differently. In Canada, many provinces treat 80%+ as A and 86%+ as A+, with passing often set at 50%. In the UK, honours degrees use First (70%+), 2:1 (60–69%), 2:2 (50–59%), Third (40–49%), with 40% as the pass mark — a 70% in the UK is considered excellent, not a C. Australia uses High Distinction (85%+), Distinction (75–84%), Credit (65–74%), Pass (50–64%). GPA conversions for study abroad are not universal, so always check the receiving institution's official conversion chart.
+/- scales vs plain A/B/C/D
A plain scale collapses pluses and minuses: anything 90–100 is A, 80–89 is B, and so on — each letter maps to one GPA value (A = 4.0, B = 3.0). A +/- scale splits each band into three, giving finer resolution: an A- (90–92) is 3.7, a B+ (87–89) is 3.3. This calculator defaults to +/- and reports the standard 4.0 equivalent; flip to the custom scale above if your school uses different cutoffs (some use 94 as the A threshold rather than 93).
FAQ
What percent is a passing grade?
In the standard US scale, 60% is the minimum passing grade — anything below earns an F. Some schools and individual courses raise the bar to 65% or 70%, and many graduate programs require a C (73%) or B- (80%) minimum for credit. Always check your syllabus: a "D" may count toward graduation in one program and not in another.
Is 90% an A or an A-?
On the standard +/- scale, 90% is the bottom of the A- range (90–92) and maps to a 3.7 GPA. To reach a plain A (3.7 in some scales, 4.0 in the +/- scale used here), you need 93%. Schools that do not use +/- letters treat anything from 90–100 as a flat A with a 4.0 GPA — the answer depends entirely on which scale your school uses.
B+ vs A- — what's the difference?
B+ covers 87–89% (GPA 3.3), A- covers 90–92% (GPA 3.7). The jump from B+ to A- is a three-point percent difference but a 0.4-point GPA difference — the largest single-step jump around the B/A boundary. That's why teetering between 89% and 90% can feel like a big deal for a transcript: pushing one percent higher shifts an entire letter tier.
How do I convert my grade to a 4.0 GPA?
Use the letter-grade lookup: A+ and A are 4.0, A- is 3.7, B+ is 3.3, B is 3.0, B- is 2.7, C+ is 2.3, C is 2.0, C- is 1.7, D+ is 1.3, D is 1.0, F is 0.0. For a course average, first convert each grade to its GPA point, multiply by the course credit hours, sum, and divide by total credits — that gives your weighted GPA. This calculator handles single-grade conversion; course-weighted GPA is a separate formula.
Why do grading scales differ between countries?
Each system evolved independently. The US 60% passing line comes from early 20th-century letter-grade adoption; the UK 40% mark reflects exam conventions where a "first" (70%+) was rare by design; Canadian provinces blended British and American influences; continental Europe often uses 1–10 or 1–6 numeric scales with no letter equivalent. When converting across systems, always use the receiving institution's official table — a direct percent-to-percent swap will misrepresent a transcript.
Look up what a percent score maps to on the standard US 10-point scale and what it becomes on a 4.0 GPA. Works in both directions: enter a percent to see the letter and GPA, or pick a letter to see the percent band and GPA value. Examples: 88% falls in 87-89, so it reads as B+ with a 3.3 GPA; 72% sits in 70-72, which is C- at 1.7 GPA; 94% is an A at 4.0. An advanced mode lets you override the A/B/C/D thresholds when your school uses different cutoffs, and a correct-answers-out-of-total helper turns raw quiz scores into the matching letter. A reference table shows every band from A+ down to F so you can sanity-check borderline cases before submitting a transcript.