Dutch grading system
In the Netherlands, grades run from 10 (best) to 1, and 5.5 is the lowest pass, because it rounds up to a 6.
Example · Weighted average of 3 courses
zeer goed (very good, 9)
A pass. 5.5 is the lowest pass.
3 courses, weights adding up to 15. Your school’s or university’s own rules decide how the average is rounded.
Wikipedia’s US table gives letters, not points, so it cannot average these grades: check them one at a time.
Grades: 1 to 10
Secondary schools, final exams, universities and universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands. Each band is the range that rounds to one whole grade, shown in brackets: 5.5 to 6.4 rounds to a 6, the lowest pass.
| Grade | On the transcript | Meaning | Pass? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9.5–10 | uitmuntend | outstanding (10) | Pass |
| 8.5–9.4 | zeer goed | very good (9) | Pass |
| 7.5–8.4 | goed | good (8) | Pass |
| 6.5–7.4 | ruim voldoende | more than satisfactory (7) | Pass |
| 5.5–6.4 | voldoende | satisfactory (6) | Pass |
| 4.5–5.4 | matig | almost satisfactory (5) | Fail |
| 3.5–4.4 | onvoldoende | unsatisfactory (4) | Fail |
| 2.5–3.4 | ruim onvoldoende | very unsatisfactory (3) | Fail |
| 1.5–2.4 | slecht | poor (2) | Fail |
| 1.0–1.4 | zeer slecht | very poor (1) | Fail |
Dutch 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. Wikipedia credits this table to Nuffic, the Dutch organisation for international education, and lists only whole and half grades.
| Dutch grade | US letter |
|---|---|
| 8.5–10 | A+ |
| 7.5–8 | A |
| 7 | B+ |
| 6.5 | B |
| 6 | C |
| 5.5 | D |
| 1–5 | F |
What to know about grades in the Netherlands
- A 9 is seldom given and a 10 is extremely rare, so an average of 8 already counts as an excellent result.
- When a final grade is given as a whole number, 6 and above passes and 5 and below fails; with one decimal, 5.5 passes and 5.4 fails.
- Teachers often turn a test score into a grade as 1 plus 9 times the share of points earned, so the lowest possible grade is 1.
- Grades such as 7+ and 7− mean a quarter above or below, counted as about 7.3 and 6.8.
- Universities award a degree cum laude for an average of usually at least 8 or 8.5 with no grade below 6 or 7, and the exact rule varies.
Sources: Wikipedia, Academic grading in the Netherlands; Wikipedia, Grading systems by country (Netherlands); Wikipedia (Dutch), Schoolcijfer.