Academic grading in Australia

This article is a summary of academic grading in Australia.

Tertiary Institutions

Australian universities issue results for each subject, based on the following gradings:

% ACU,[1] ACS,[2] Adelaide,[3] Bond, Canberra,[4] CDU,[5] CQU,[6] CSU,
Flinders,[7] MQ,[8] Newcastle,[9] QUT,[10] SCU,
UNE, UNSW,[11] Sydney,[12][13] UOW,[14] UTS,[15] UWS[16]		 UWA,[17] ANU,[18] Curtin,[19] Deakin,[20] ECU,[21] Monash,[22] Murdoch,[23] RMIT,[24] UTAS,[25] Swinburne,[26] VU[27] USQ[28] La Trobe[29] Melbourne[30] UniSA[31] UQ [32]
100 High Distinction (HD) High Distinction (HD) High Distinction (HD) A First Class Honours (H1) High Distinction (HD) 7
95-99
90-94
85-89
80-84 Distinction (D) A Distinction (D) 6
75-79 Distinction (D) B Second Class Honours Div A (H2A)
70-74 Credit (C) B Second Class Honours Div B (H2B) Credit (C) 5
65-69 Credit (C) C Third Class Honours (H3)
60-64 Pass (P) C Pass (P) Pass 1 (P1) 4
55-59 Pass (P) D
50-54 Pass 2 (P2)
40-49 Fail (N) Fail (N) Fail (F, FNP, FNS, FNC or FLW) Fail (N) Fail (N) Fail 1 (F1) 1, 2, 3
< 40 Fail 2 (F2)

Note that the numbers above do not correspond to a percentile, but are notionally a percentage of the maximum raw marks available. Various tertiary institutions in Australia have policies on the allocations for each grade and scaling may occur to meet these policies. These policies may vary also according to the degree year (higher percentages for later years), but generally, only 2-5% of students who pass (that is, who achieve raw marks of 50 or more) may be awarded a High Distinction grade, and 50% or more of passing students are awarded a basic Pass grade. Raw marks for students who fail are not scaled and do not increase the allocations of higher grades. Some universities also have a Pass Conceded (PC) grade for marks that fall in the range of 45-49 inclusive.

University of Sydney

In 2000, the university-wide academic board for The University of Sydney approved a policy of using Norm-referenced assessment for all faculties (although not all faculties use the official policy[33]). In Section 3.2 of the academic board assessment guidelines (Distribution of Grades), the percentages are stated as follows:[13]

Percentage grade distributions of passing students
%HD %D or HD %Cr, D or HD
First Year 3 14 42
Senior/Upper 4 18 50

This may be alternatively stated by percentile as follows:

Grade distributions by percentile of passing students
Grade First Year Senior/Upper
High Distinction (HD) 97-100% 96-100%
Distinction (D) 86-96% 82-95%
Credit (Cr) 58-85% 50-81%
Pass (P) 0-57% 0-49%
Fail (F) not scaled not scaled

Note, however, that Section 3.2.2 cautions that this distribution "may vary from unit of study to unit of study, and from year to year", and that "the proportions should apply [only] at highly aggregated levels".

Many courses also have Non-Graded Pass (NGP) and Non-Graded Fail (F), where it is considered more appropriate to have qualitative than quantitative assessment.

Grade point average

Grade point averages are not generally used in Australia below a tertiary level. They are calculated according to a more complicated formula than in some other nations:

Grade Point Average (GPA) = Sum of (grade points × course unit value) / total number of credit points attempted

Where grade points are as follows:

Grade CSU [34]UTAS [35] USQ[28] Monash [36] Macquarie [37] SUT[38] Bond[39]

Murdoch[40]
RMIT[41]

 Flinders[42]
Newcastle[43]
SCU[44]
Charles Darwin[45]
 UWS
JCU
QUT[46]
UQ[47]
Griffith[48]		 ACU[1] UTS [49] UWA [50] Adelaide[51] UniSA[52]
High Distinction
7
7
4
4
4
4
7
7
7
4
7
7
7
Distinction
6
6
3
4
3
3
6
6
6
3.5
6
6
6
Credit
5
5
2
3
2
2
5
5
5
2.5
5
5
5
Pass
4
4
1
2
1
1
4
4
4
1.5
4
4
4.5 (P1) / 4 (P2)
Conceded Pass / Near Pass / Fail Level 1
3
3
0.7
1
0.5
0
n/a
3
3
0.5
4
3
3.5 (Supp.) / 3 (Conc.)
Fail
0
1.5
0.3
0
0
0
0
2
1
0.5
0
1.5
1.5 (F1 / F) / 1 (F2)
Withdrawn Fail
0
1.5
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
1.5

A conceded pass is a pass for a course that has been awarded only after supplementary assessment has been undertaken by the student.

Where a course result is a Non-Graded Pass, the result will only be included if the GPA is less than 4, and will be assigned the grade point of 4, otherwise NGP results will be disregarded. The term course unit values is used to distinguish between courses which have different weightings, for example between a full year course and a single semester course.

Some other universities, such as the University of New South Wales, University of Sydney, and University of Wollongong,[53] use a Weighted Average Mark (WAM) for the same purpose as a GPA, however this is based on the raw percentage grades, or marks, achieved by the student rather than grade points such as High Distinction or Distinction.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Assessment and Grades". Australian Catholic University. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  2. ↑ "Computer Professional Education Program: Subject Grading". Australian Computer Society. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  3. ↑ "Results". Adelaide University. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  4. ↑ "Grading Scheme". University of Canberra. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  5. ↑ "Grading Policy" (PDF). Charles Darwin University. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
  6. ↑ "Grading and Results Policy". CQ University. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  7. ↑ "Assessment Policies and Procedures". Flinders University. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  8. ↑ "Grading Policy - Policy Central". Macquarie University. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  9. ↑ "Grades". Newcastle University. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  10. ↑ "QUT grading scale". Queensland University of Technology. Archived from the original on 23 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  11. ↑ "Explanation of UNSW Grades". UNSW. Retrieved 2010-03-01.
  12. ↑ "Grades". University of Sydney.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "University of Sydney Academic Board Resolutions: Assessment and Examination of Coursework" Approved by the Academic Board 2000-12-13, link verified 2008-07-05
  14. ↑ "Legend of Grades". University of Wollongong. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  15. ↑ "Grading Schema". UTS. Archived from the original on 3 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  16. ↑ "Grades". UWS. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  17. ↑ "Grades and marks". University of Western Australia. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  18. ↑ "ANU - Results - Student Administration Services (SAS)". Australian National University. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
  19. ↑ "Grading". Curtin University. Archived from the original on 26 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  20. ↑ "Results Key". Deakin University. Retrieved 2013-05-17.
  21. ↑ "Grading Schema". Edith Cowan University. Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  22. ↑ "Results legend". Monash University. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
  23. ↑ "Assessment Policy". Murdoch University. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  24. ↑ "Higher Education Grading". RMIT University. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  25. ↑ "Legend of Results" (PDF). University of Tasmania. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  26. ↑ "Grade Point Average". Swinburne University of Technology. Retrieved 2014-12-04.
  27. ↑ "Academic Results Codes". Victoria University. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Grading" (PDF). University of Southern Queensland. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
  29. ↑ "La Trobe University Higher Education Assessment Grades" (PDF). La Trobe University. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
  30. ↑ "Explanation of academic results". University of Melbourne. Retrieved 2013-02-03.
  31. ↑ "How is a grade point average (GPA) calculated?". University of South Australia. Archived from the original on 21 May 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
  32. ↑ "University of Queensland Course Profile Grading System". University of Queensland.
  33. ↑ "Grading, Marking and Assessment in the Linguistics Department of the University of Sydney" link verified 2008-10-21
  34. ↑ "Calculating your Grade Point Average" Link verified 2012-11-05
  35. ↑ "Results" Retrieved 2015-01-18
  36. ↑ "Grade Point Average and Weighted Average Mark" Link verified 2007-08-29
  37. ↑ "Calculating Your Grade Point Average"
  38. ↑
  39. ↑ http://www.bond.edu.au/degrees-and-courses/study-abroad-student-exchange/study-abroad/grading-scale/index.htm
  40. ↑ https://www.murdoch.edu.au/students/myinfo/GPA.html
  41. ↑ http://www.rmit.edu.au/students/gradingbasis/gpa
  42. ↑
  43. ↑ "Grade Point Average (GPA) Calculation Guideline". University of Newcastle. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
  44. ↑ "Coursework Awards - Grade Point Average" Link verified 2012-11-05
  45. ↑ Charles Darwin University Grading Policy(2013).
  46. ↑ "QUT grading system" Retrieved 2010-07-19
  47. ↑ "Explanation of grades" Retrieved 2012-03-08
  48. ↑ http://www62.gu.edu.au/policylibrary.nsf/alldocscat/33caa8054dfaee5e4a256bc80062f6f1?opendocument
  49. ↑ "Calculating grade point average" Retrieved 2010-07-29
  50. ↑ "" Link verified 2011-07-18
  51. ↑ "Grade Point Average". University of Adelaide. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  52. ↑ "How is a grade point average (GPA) calculated?". University of South Australia. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
  53. ↑ University of Wollongong (2008). 2008 Course Handbook: Assessment. Accessed on 2008-12-24.

See also