Does anyone know how to convert a Canadian 4-point scale Grade Point Average to the equivalent under the UK grading system?

Thanks!

Joe

Joe, I'm not sure I can answer your question but I see that lots of people have viewed and no-one has offered any ideas yet, so here I go...

My experience is that there is no standard way of converting from the 4.0 scale to the UK scale. The caveat here is that my experience comes from converting from US to Irish and vice versa, but this is basically equivalent to what you are asking.

So, as far as I know, each institution has to come up with its own conversions. However, in terms of admissions criteria, I doubt they would bother to create a conversion, but would just attempt to judge what is an average/above average/excellent grade... universities are quite good at doing this, so if this is your situation I wouldn't panic. They will also depend on your references to express an opinion about how your academic performance rates.

As you may know, the UK and Irish system is percentage-based but often works (especially in Oxbridge) by classifying grades as "First Class Honours" etc... As I say, the conversions seem to vary every time, but roughly speaking I think you could equate a 3.7-4.0 or whatever an "A" letter grade is in US terms to a First in UK and Irish terms. But please take that with a pinch of salt because it is totally subjective.

Clear as mud! Hope that helps.

I think its difficult to use grade levels as a means to convert over into the first class/high second class requirement. Different schools use different grading scales or bell curves which make it difficult to say A or A+ or B or B+ is first class or second class.

Rather, I think Oxford and other universities use class rank as a key measure. Generally speaking, if you finish within the top 10% of your class, it is very likely that you have obtained first class standing. Your results compared to the majority of your peers is probably more indicative of your abilities than using letter grades that don't translate well into UK marking approaches.

That's my two cents.

Just to confuse things, some Canadian HEI institutions use a nine point scale, and others a four point scale.

Roughly speaking, a 2:1 (upper second) in the UK is almost always 60% and above in your final mark. If you're looking for equivalency as a foreign student, just make sure your average is over 60%.

What I've been working to is that a Canadian GPA 3.7 to 4.0 = 1st (First Class); 2.75 to 3.65 would be an 2:1 (Upper Second Class - minimum grade to get you in to The University of Edinburgh LL.M) and 2.0 to 2.75 would be a 2:2 (second class - not enough to get you in to The University of Edinburgh LL.M)

Also important to help out the University admission teams is the back sheet that says "good" or "very good" which usually accompanies your transcripts.

Equivalency is a difficult area for me when I'm working with admissions, but more than your GPA are taken in to consideration when applying to a uni, so you have to make sure that you have the "whole-package" and not just great transcripts.