The University Grading System Across the Australian States

Australia has become the new land of paradise with so many impressive outdoor locations and tourist spots. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The land is also home to some of the esteemed universities which are consistently ranking in the QS World Ranking list, Time Best Universities list and many other acclaimed lists. With so many facets to the country, which is also famous for the Group of 8 universities, the country's Grading System is also quite unique and stands out from the rest of the countries.  

What is the Grading System?

The Grading System has been put in place to evaluate the performance of the students in their academics and extracurricular activities. The grading system ensures students are given credit for their performance and boosts them to achieve more to stand out from the crowd. The grading system has proved to encourage more students to be at their best instead of scoring marks just to pass the exam.

Is There an International Grading System?

Yes. There is an international grading system which started earlier in the 70s to speed up the process of evaluation of students' performance. This grading system has been followed from then to the current times to give credits to students' capacity to understand the concepts and subjects. The international grading system varies from country to country as they have adapted the system according to their understanding and convenience.
Let us now see the international grading system in a table.

How does the Australian Grading System work?

Like any other country, Australia has adapted the grading system to understand its students' knowledge and capacity. Though the curriculum is the same across all Australian universities, the grading system differs from one state to another. Australian Grading System has been split into five different types of grades where each grade represents a particular score and performance.

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Courses Grading System

Let us now understand Australia's Grading system for undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Vocational Courses Grading System

Vocational courses include the study of Diploma, Advanced Diploma and Certificates I to IV courses. For most Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, grades are categorised into only two types. One is Competent - Pass and the other is non-competent which means Fail.

Does the grading system differ across Australia?

Yes. The grading system differs across all six states and two territories in Australia. Because there are both public and private universities that have their own scoring system for their students. Due to their diversity of exam patterns and calculation of scores, each state follows its own unique scoring system that reflects its students' academic performance.

Australian Capital Territories (ACT)

ACT is home to some eminent universities such as Australian Catholic University, Australian National University, Charles Sturt University, University of Canberra, etc. These universities precisely follow the below grading system to evaluate their students' performance.

New South Wales

New South Wales has some of the prominent universities such as Macquarie University, Southern Cross University, University of New England, University of New South Wales, University of Newcastle, etc. The above-mentioned universities follow the tabulated grading system to rank their students' performance.

Victoria

Famous universities like Deakin University, Federation University Australia, La Trobe University, Monash University, RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology and many others are situated in Victoria, Australia. These universities have adopted the below-tabulated grading system.

Western Australia

Western Australia is home to the top six universities in Australia - The University of Western Australia, Curtin University, Murdoch University, Edith Cowan University, Central Queensland University and the University of Notre Dame. The said universities have adopted the following grading system to assess their students' academic performance.

Queensland

Queensland, one of the famous states in Australia, has some of the predominant universities like - Bond University, CQ University, Griffith University, James Cook University, Queensland University of Technology, University of Queensland, University of Southern Queensland and University of the Sunshine Coast. Unlike other states, Queensland follows a completely distinct grading system which is tabulated below.

South Australia

The South of Australia possesses some outstanding universities like Flinders University, Torrens University Australia, University of Adelaide and University of South Australia. The Universities in South Australia follow the standard and known grading system in Australia except for the P and F grades which have been split into two levels 1 and 2 as Pass Level 1, Pass Level 2 and Fail Level 1 and Fail Level 2.

Tasmania

Contrary to other states in Australia which have more than 5 to 6 universities, Tasmania has only one university, which is the University of Tasmania. The sole university in Tasmania has adopted the below grading system, which is unique and followed only in Tasmania.

Northern Territory

Northern Territory in Australia is home to only a couple of universities, are Charles Darwin University and Flinders University, which is also based in Adelaide and South Australia. These two universities have been following the grading system, which is tabulated below.

How to Calculate the Australian Grade Point Average (GPA)?

            Sum of (Grade Point * Credit Points)

GPA = ______________________________

                       Sum of Credit Points

Besides GPA, Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks (ATAR) are an important factor in the Australian Education System. If a student has scored 80% in ATAR, it means that he/she has performed well then more than 80% of the students in the university.

The Australian government also sponsors scholarships if a student exceeds a certain ATAR level.

What is a good mark in an University in Australia?

A GPA of 6 and 7 are considered to be a good score range in Australian universities.

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