Academic Grading in Serbia - Serbian Grading System Compared To Other Systems

Serbian Grading System Compared To Other Systems

Converting the numbers of the Serbian grading system into the letters of systems such as those used in the United States and Great Britain, is difficult. It can really only be done if one can compare the frequency distribution of grades in the two systems.

The grades 9 and 10 are hardly ever given on examinations (on average, a 9 is awarded in less than 2%, and a 10 in less than 0.4% of cases). This is because the mark 10 implies perfection (i.e. a 96-100% score on all questions, extraordinary level) and a mark 9 an excellent level, which could be translated as a level close to that of the teacher.

As the incidence of a 9 or 10 in Serbian university examinations are considerably lower than that of the top marks in the American or British grading system, it would be a mistake to equate a 10 to an A, a 9 to a B, and so forth. If the 8, 9 and 10 are taken together, as in the table above, they represent up to 15% of examination results. If, in a grading system based on letters, the A represents the top 10% or thereabouts, the grades 8 and above should be represented by A and A- grades.

It should be borne in mind though, that Serbian secondary education is similar to Russian and partially to German; therefore the pre-university secondary education is at much higher level than in many other Western countries. (Proof of this claim can be found in the fact that Mathematical Gymnasium from Belgrade won only in last 3 years around 60 medals from international competitions, including gold medal from 2008. Russian Olympiad in Mathematics, gold and silver medals from International Olympiads in Mathematics, International Olympiads in Physics and International Olympiads in Informatics, and around 400 in previous 30 years, thus becoming unique in the world. This becomes relevant in comparing quality of students attaining various grades with other systems where more/less candidates are assessed at the level concerned and candidates with less knowledge. Moreover, the equivalence of university preparatory education the world over should not be assumed, the US high-school being considered inadequate for admission to Serbian universities.

Every foreign diploma held by Serbian nationals should undertake process of recognition or equivalence of foreign diploma (e.g. BA, BSc, etc.) or honorary title (e.g. PhD, PhEng, etc.). Not surprisingly, Serbian graduates from US universities (even from the best ones) are not given equivalence automatically, but rather are put in 3rd, 4th or 5th years of diploma studies. Recent examples include graduates from University of California at Berkeley and MIT who were given 8 differential subjects to study at the Faculty of Mathematics, and too many subjects to even get enrolled to final year at the Faculty of Physics so the graduate was enrolled in 3rd year of undergraduate studies of General (not even Theoretical, Experimental, or Applied) physics. Such decisions are to be made by the commissions of faculties in question, and approved or disapproved by the Professors Assembly and, after that, by the dean. Recent example also includes Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs, mr Vuk Jeremić, whose Bachelor of Science in Theoretical Physics from the prestigious University of Cambridge could not be recognized as equivalent to diploma by the Faculty of Physics, University of Belgrade, and it took Mr Jeremic more than 8 (eight) years to have his diploma finally recognized in September 2005.

A mark 7 is a good grade, implying the student has good command of the subject matter, but not exceptionally good. Mark 6 implies the student has satisfactory command of the subject matter. Marks 7- and 6+ are a fairly frequent marks in internal use (before the final mark is given, which can be either 7, or 6). As such it relates to the mark B in many other systems, 7- and 7 more likely B+ under systems with a very broad B category.

The conversion of the lowest passing grade may present another problem. A grade of 40% is a clear fail (although an internal mark 4 may be sometimes compensated by high grades obtained in all other tests and colloquia of the same subject). A mark 5, on the other hand, is 'almost satisfactory'. For purposes of assessing student's progress throughout the year, mark 5 is an usuful mark and may lead to a pass, provided the student improves in the next tests and retakes the test(s) he/she failed (if the test can be organized again during the same school year). For final exams, a 5 is unacceptable as an average. A mark 5 is slightly below that of the D in many systems: student in some cases may pass certain exam with an average mark between 5 and 6 if one of the higher marks from the same subject is extraordinary (10) or excellent (9).