ECTS Grading Scale - Description of The Fundamental Idea

Description of The Fundamental Idea

The ECTS grading scale is based on the class percentile (similar, but not identical to the class rank) of a student in a given assessment, that is how he/she performed relative to other students in the same class (or in a significant group of students). The ECTS system classifies students into broad groups and thus makes interpretation of ranking simpler. This grouping is the core of the ECTS grading system.

The ECTS system initially divides students between pass and fail groups and then assesses the performance of these two groups separately. Those obtaining passing grades are divided into five subgroups: the best 10% are awarded an A grade, the next 25% a B grade, the following 30% a C, the following 25% a D and the final 10% an E.

Those who have not achieved a performance sufficient to allow a passing grade are divided into two subgroups: FX (Fail – some more work required before credit can be awarded) and F (Fail – considerable further work is required). This distinction allows differentiation between those students who have been assessed as almost passing and those who have clearly lacked the required knowledge and skills.

This system can be represented in a table, as follows:

Grade best/next Definition
A 10 % outstanding performance with only minor errors
B 25 % above the average standard but with some errors
C 30 % generally sound work with a number of notable errors
D 25 % fair but with significant shortcomings
E 10 % performance meets the minimum criteria
FX Fail - some more work required before the credit can be awarded
F Fail - considerable further work is required

The use of words like “excellent” or “good” is no longer recommended as they do not fit with percentage based ranking of the ECTS Grade Transfer Scale."

Since the passing and failing groups are evaluated separately, indicating the percentage of students who failed a course unit/module is not obligatory, but transparency is increased if the percentage failure rate for each course graded is given. It is recommended that these rates be included in the Transcript of Records.

Read more about this topic:  ECTS Grading Scale

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