grades

Grades are a measure used in education to summarize a student's achievement in a course or program. They typically reflect the extent to which a student has demonstrated proficiency in specified learning objectives or competencies. Grades appear as letters, numbers, or other symbols on reports, transcripts, and diplomas, and are used to communicate performance to students, parents, and institutions.

Common systems include letter grades (A, B, C, D, F) with plus or minus variants, and numeric scales such as percentages. In many higher education settings, letter grades are converted to a grade-point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale. Some schools use pass/fail or mastery-based indicators that emphasize proficiency over point totals.

Grading policies define how scores are calculated, including the weighting of exams, quizzes, assignments, labs, and participation. Rubrics describe criteria for different performance levels. Some approaches use standards-based grading, which reports mastery of defined objectives, while others rely on traditional point accumulation and curves. Debates surround issues such as integrity, reliability, and grade inflation.

Grades influence opportunities such as admission to programs, scholarships, and academic honors, and they contribute to transcripts used by employers or other schools. They can affect student motivation and self-perception. International differences exist in scale, passing marks, and how grades are interpreted or converted across systems.

Because grades summarize learning outcomes in a single metric, they are an approximation and should be interpreted alongside other evidence of achievement, such as portfolios, exams, and teacher feedback.