Grade (education) facts for kids
Grades are like a report card for your learning! They are how teachers show you and your parents how well you are doing in school. Grades can be letters, like A, B, C, D, or F. They can also be numbers, like 1 to 10 or 0 to 100. In some places, they might use different ways to show your progress.
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What Are Grades?
Grades help you know what you're good at and where you might need to try a bit harder. They also help teachers see if their lessons are working. Think of grades as feedback on your schoolwork, tests, and projects. They show how much you have learned about a subject.
Different Kinds of Grades
Around the world, schools use different systems for grading. The most common ones are letter grades and number grades.
Letter Grades
In countries like the United States, letter grades are very common.
- A usually means excellent work.
- B means good work.
- C means average work.
- D means passing, but you might need to improve.
- F means failing, and you might need to retake the class or work extra hard.
Usually, a grade of C or D is enough to pass a class.
Number Grades
Some schools use numbers instead of letters. For example, a system might use numbers from 1 to 10, or 0 to 100.
- In a 1-10 system, 10 might be the best, and 1 the lowest.
- In a 0-100 system, 100 is perfect, and 0 is the lowest.
Often, a score in the middle, like 50% or 60%, is considered a passing grade. Sometimes, numbers can go down to show better performance, like 1 being the best and 5 being the lowest.
How Grades Are Calculated
Most often, your grades are based on percentages. This means your teacher adds up all your points from assignments, quizzes, and tests. Then, they divide that total by the maximum number of points you could have earned. This gives you a percentage.
Understanding Percentages
A percentage tells you how much of the total you got right. For example, if you get 90 out of 100 points on a test, that's 90%. This percentage then turns into a letter grade.
Here is a common way grades are given in the United States:
| Percent | Grade |
|---|---|
| 97%-100% | A+ |
| 93%-96% | A |
| 90%-92% | A- |
| 87%-89% | B+ |
| 83%-86% | B |
| 80%-82% | B- |
| 77%-79% | C+ |
| 73%-76% | C |
| 70%-72% | C- |
| 67%-69% | D+ |
| 63%-66% | D |
| 60%-62% | D- |
| 0%-59% | F |
What is a Grade Point Average (GPA)?
A Grade Point Average, or GPA, is a special number that shows your overall performance across all your classes. To find your GPA, each letter grade you get is given a certain number of points. For example, an A might be worth 4 points, a B worth 3 points, and so on.
All these points are added up and then divided by the number of classes you took. This gives you one average number, your GPA. Colleges and universities often look at your GPA to see how well you did in high school.
