New Zealand grading system
In New Zealand, university grades run from A+ (best) to D−, and C− is the lowest pass. NCEA grades: Excellence to Not Achieved, lowest pass Achieved.
Example · Credit-weighted average of 3 courses
Between A and A+
Excellent either way: your institution’s rule on rounding decides which grade goes on your record. C− is the lowest pass.
3 courses, 15 credits.
University grades: A+ to D−
Courses at New Zealand universities; the marks and grade points shown are the University of Auckland's. Other universities use the same letters, but the mark ranges vary: A+ commonly starts at 90% or at 85%.
| Grade | Meaning | Marks | Pass? |
|---|---|---|---|
| A+ | excellent | 90–100% | Pass |
| A | excellent | 85–89% | Pass |
| A− | excellent | 80–84% | Pass |
| B+ | good | 75–79% | Pass |
| B | good | 70–74% | Pass |
| B− | good | 65–69% | Pass |
| C+ | pass | 60–64% | Pass |
| C | pass | 55–59% | Pass |
| C− | lowest pass | 50–54% | Pass |
| D+ | fail | 45–49% | Fail |
| D | fail | 40–44% | Fail |
| D− | fail: highly unsatisfactory work | 0–39% | Fail |
NCEA grades: Excellence to Not Achieved
Achievement standards in NCEA, the national secondary school qualification. Unit standards are graded only Achieved or Not Achieved.
| Grade | On the transcript | Meaning | Pass? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excellence | Achievement with Excellence (E) | comprehensive understanding | Pass |
| Merit | Achievement with Merit (M) | in-depth understanding | Pass |
| Achieved | Achievement (A) | understanding of the material | Pass |
| Not Achieved | Not Achieved (N) | standard not met | Fail |
New Zealand grades and a US GPA
This page gives no US equivalents for New Zealand grades: we found no table for them on Wikipedia or from an official source, and we do not make one up. A US university reads a foreign transcript itself or through the credential evaluation service it names, and its conversion is the one that counts.
Send your grades as they are, with the scale above. When a form asks for your average, give it on your own scale and say which scale it is: the converter’s average does exactly that, weighted by credits when you enter them.
What to know about grades in New Zealand
- A university GPA runs from 0 to 9: each course's grade points (A+ 9 down to C− 1, fails 0) are averaged, weighted by the course's points value.
- At the University of Auckland a GPA of 7.0 or above earns first class honours in a postgraduate honours or master's degree, and 5.5 to 6.9 second class honours (first division).
- An NCEA certificate is endorsed with Merit or Excellence when the student gains 50 credits at that grade or higher, at the certificate's level or above.
- NCEA is being replaced: a new foundational qualification for Year 11 starts in 2028, the New Zealand Certificate of Education (Year 12) in 2029 and the Advanced Certificate (Year 13) in 2030.
Sources: Wikipedia, Academic grading in New Zealand; Wikipedia, Grading systems by country: New Zealand; University of Auckland, Grade Descriptors Policy; University of Auckland, Assessment of Courses Procedures; NZQA, NCEA endorsements; Ministry of Education, More details about new senior secondary qualifications.