In the United Kingdom, the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification, generally taken in a number of subjects by pupils in secondary education in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State education in Scotland does not use GCSEs; instead its Scottish Qualifications Certificate operates National/Intermediate exams at the equivalent level. However, certain private schools in Scotland offer GCSEs, and the proportion of Scottish pupils taking GCSEs to facilitate admission to English universities is increasing.
The Leaving Certificate Examination, commonly referred to as the Leaving Cert, is the university matriculation examination in the Republic of Ireland and the final exam of the Irish secondary school system. It takes a minimum of two years preparation, but an optional Transition Year means that for those students it takes place three years after the Junior Certificate Examination. These years are referred to collectively as "The Senior Cycle." Most students taking the examination are aged 16–20; in excess of eighty percent of this group undertake the exam. The Examination is overseen by the State Examinations Commission. The Leaving Certificate Examinations are taken annually by approximately 55,000 students.
Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements of varying levels of achievement in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters, as a range, as a percentage, or as a number out of a possible total.
Latin honors are Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. This system is primarily used in the United States and Canada. It is also used in some Southeastern Asian countries with European colonial history, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, although sometimes translations of these phrases are used instead of the Latin originals. The honors distinction should not be confused with the honors degrees offered in some countries, or with honorary degrees.
The Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) is an examination administered to eighth and ninth grade students residing in New York City and used to determine admission to all but one of the city's nine Specialized High Schools. In 2008, about 29,000 students took the test, and 6,108 students were offered admission to one of the high schools based on the results. On average, 30,000 students take this exam annually. The test is given each year in October and November, and students are informed of their results the following March. Those who receive offers decide by the middle of March whether to attend the school the following September. The test is independently produced and graded by American Guidance Service, a subsidiary of Pearson Education, under contract to the New York City Department of Education.
The Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) is an admission test administered by The Enrollment Management Association in the United States to students in grades 3–11 to provide a standardized measure that will help professionals in independent or private elementary, middle, and high schools to make decisions regarding student test taking
Starting in September 2018, 12-year secondary education will replace 11-year which was mandatory before that. As a rule, schooling begins at the age of 6, unless your birthday is on or after September 1. In 2016/17 the number of students in primary and secondary school reached 3,846,000, in vocational school 285,800, and in higher education 1,586,700 students.
Germany uses a 5- or 6-point grading scale (GPA) to evaluate academic performance for the youngest to the oldest students. Grades vary from 1 to 5. In the final classes of German Gymnasium schools that prepare for university studies, a point system is used with 15 points being the best grade and 0 points the worst. The percentage causes the grade can vary from teacher to teacher.
There are two grading systems used in Italy:
The ECTS grading scale is a grading system defined in the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) framework by the European Commission. Since many grading systems co-exist in Europe and, considering that interpretation of grades varies considerably from one country to another, if not from one institution to another, the ECTS grading scale has been developed to provide a common measure and facilitate the transfer of students and their grades between European higher education institutions, by allowing national and local grading systems to be interchangeable. Grades are reported on a carefully calibrated and uniform A-to-F scale combined with keywords and short qualitative definitions. Each institution makes its own decision on how to apply the ECTS grading scale to its system.
The Russian Federation uses a five-point academic grading system, where:
The Tunisian grading system is mostly an over20point grading scale: it is used in secondary schools and universities. For primary schools, a new system has been introduced, based on a letter-grade scale; the old system uses a 10-point grading scale for the first term and a 20-point scale for the second and third terms.
Academic grading in Costa Rica is based on a 100-point scale.
Academic grading in Croatia is regulated by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports.
In the Czech Republic, primary and secondary schools use a 5-point grade system, with 1 as the best and 5 as the worst. They correspond to the following ratings: 1 = výborně (excellent), 2 = chvalitebně (commendable), 3 = dobře (good), 4 = dostatečně (sufficient), and 5 = nedostatečně (insufficient). Only whole numbers appear on report cards, but tests or oral exams are often marked with additional distinctive signs: 3+ is slightly better than 3, 2− is slightly lower than 2, 1-2 or 1/2 means halfway between 1 and 2, and 1* means exceptionally excellent.
Serbia inherited the academic grading system of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The grading process uses an absolute achievement scale to determine the grade of a student.
Education in Belgium is organised on the level of the three communities.
Grading system in Morocco is mostly a 20-point grading scale, it is used in secondary schools as well as in universities.
Academic grading in the United States commonly takes on the form of five, six or seven letter grades. Traditionally, the grades are A+, A, A−; B+, B, B−; C+, C, C−; D+, D, D−; F; with A+ being the highest and F being lowest. Numeric to letter grade conversions generally vary from system to system and between disciplines and status. In some cases, grades can be numerical, from 0 to 4, with 0 being the worst and 4 being the best.
This is a list of grading systems used by countries of the world, first organized by continent, with links to specifics in many entries.
