South Korean grading system
In South Korea, university grades run from A+ (best) to F, and D0 is the lowest pass. University grades on the 4.3 scale: A+ to F, lowest pass D−.
Example · Credit-weighted average of 3 courses
Between A0 and A+
Excellent either way: your institution’s rule on rounding decides which grade goes on your record. D0 is the lowest pass.
3 courses, 15 credits.
University grades: A+ to F
Most South Korean universities, on the 4.5 scale. A0 (read ‘A zero’) is a plain A, and the same goes for B0, C0 and D0.
| Grade | Meaning | Pass? |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | excellent | Pass |
| A0 | excellent | Pass |
| B+ | good | Pass |
| B0 | good | Pass |
| C+ | average | Pass |
| C0 | average | Pass |
| D+ | poor | Pass |
| D0 | poor | Pass |
| F | fail | Fail |
University grades on the 4.3 scale: A+ to F
Universities that use the 4.3 scale, such as Seoul National University.
| Grade | Meaning | Pass? |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | excellent | Pass |
| A0 | excellent | Pass |
| A− | excellent | Pass |
| B+ | good | Pass |
| B0 | good | Pass |
| B− | good | Pass |
| C+ | average | Pass |
| C0 | average | Pass |
| C− | average | Pass |
| D+ | poor | Pass |
| D0 | poor | Pass |
| D− | lowest pass | Pass |
| F | fail | Fail |
South Korean grades and a US GPA
This page gives no US equivalents for South Korean 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 South Korea
- The 4.5 scale is the most common, but some universities top out at 4.3 or 4.0, so a Korean GPA is always given with its maximum, as in 3.8/4.5.
- Some universities count A+ and A0 the same.
- Courses graded S (satisfactory) give credit without a letter grade, P (pass) marks a course taken without credit, and neither counts in the GPA.
- High schools have ranked students in each subject on a curve, from rank 1 (the top 4%) to rank 9; students who entered high school from 2025 are ranked in five bands instead.
Sources: Wikipedia, Academic grading in South Korea; Korean government, korea.kr, 올해 중2부터 선택과목 없는 ‘통합형 수능’…내신 5등급 체제로; Seoul National University, 성적등급 및 평점환산기준표.