Mexican grading system
In Mexico, grades run from 10 (best) to 0, and 6 is the lowest pass in schools and at universities such as UNAM; some universities require 7. Marks are often written out of 100, so 85 is the same as 8.5.
Example · Credit-weighted average of 3 courses
muy bien (very good)
A pass. 6 is the lowest pass.
3 courses, 15 credits. Your institution’s own rules on rounding or cutting off decimals decide the grade on your record.
Wikipedia’s US table gives letters, not points, so it cannot average these grades: check them one at a time.
Grades: 0 to 10
Schools and universities across Mexico; many write the same marks out of 100. Some universities, including the federal institutes of technology and some private universities, pass a subject only at 7 (70).
| Grade | On the transcript | Meaning | Pass? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | excelente | excellent | Pass |
| 9.0–9.9 | muy bien | very good | Pass |
| 8.0–8.9 | bien | good | Pass |
| 7.0–7.9 | regular | average | Pass |
| 6.0–6.9 | suficiente | sufficient, lowest pass | Pass |
| 0–5.9 | NA (no acreditada) | fail | Fail |
Mexican grades in US terms
Wikipedia’s table reads the grades on the US scale as below. It is one convention, not a rule: each US university, or the credential evaluation service it names, makes its own conversion, so the school you apply to decides what your grades are worth. The same table gives a US GPA range for each row: 3.5–4.0 for 9.0–10.0, 3.0–3.49 for 8.0–8.9, 2.0–2.99 for 6.0–7.9, and below 2.0 for 0–5.9.
| Mexican grade | US letter |
|---|---|
| 9.0–10.0 | A |
| 8.0–8.9 | B |
| 6.0–7.9 | C, D |
| 0–5.9 | E, F |
What to know about grades in Mexico
- Failed subjects usually appear on certificates as NA (no acreditada) rather than a number; UNAM records a fail as 5, and NP means the student did not sit the exam.
- Grades are absolute rather than curved, so the best student in a class can finish well below 10.
- Some universities let a student who failed a subject take an extraordinary exam (examen extraordinario) on the whole course, and its score replaces the course grade.
- A final average of 9 (90) or more usually earns an honors diploma, and master's and doctoral programs commonly ask for an average of 8 (80).
Sources: Wikipedia, Academic grading in Mexico; Wikipedia, Grading systems by country: Mexico; UNAM, Reglamento General de Exámenes.