GPA to Letter Grade Calculator: US, UK, ECTS, and Australian Schemes
Enter your GPA and scale, the calculator divides your GPA by the scale maximum to produce a normalised percentage, then maps that percentage to a letter grade in four schemes at once: US (A+ through F with +/-), UK degree classifications (First through Fail), ECTS (A through F with FX), and Australian grades (HD through NN).
If you already know your raw percentage, say you scored 87% in a subject, the percentage to letter grade calculator handles that directly, without the GPA conversion step.
One result of this tool tends to surprise people: the same GPA yields very different letters depending on which grading system is used. A GPA of 2.80, for example, sits at exactly 70%, which is C- in US grading and First Class in the UK. Both thresholds are set at 70%. The two systems attach different labels to the same number. The section below the calculator explains why.
GPA Scale to Letter Grade Chart: Full Reference Table, All Four Schemes
GPA values on a 4.0 scale, the normalised percentage each represents, and the letter grade each produces in all four schemes simultaneously. Values calculated directly from the tool’s threshold settings:
| GPA (4.0) | Norm % | US Letter | UK Class | ECTS | Australian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.00 | 100% | A+ | First | A | HD |
| 3.88 | 97% | A+ | First | A | HD |
| 3.72 | 93% | A | First | A | HD |
| 3.60 | 90% | A- | First | A | HD |
| 3.48 | 87% | B+ | First | B | HD |
| 3.40 | 85% | B+ | First | B | HD |
| 3.32 | 83% | B | First | B | D |
| 3.00 | 75% | C+ | First | C | D |
| 2.80 | 70% | C- | First | C | CR |
| 2.68 | 67% | D+ | 2:1 | D | CR |
| 2.40 | 60% | D- | 2:1 | D | Pass |
| 2.00 | 50% | F | 2:2 | E | Pass |
| 1.60 | 40% | F | Third | FX | Pass |
The bold rows at GPA 2.80 and 2.40 are where the cross-system divergence is most acute, explained in the next section.
The Same Percentage, Four Different Labels
At GPA 2.80 on a 4.0 scale, the normalised percentage is exactly 70.00%. The UK First Class threshold is set at 70%. The US C- threshold is also set at 70%. Both fire at precisely the same value. The tool assigns C- in the US scheme and First in the UK scheme, not because of a rounding quirk or conversion choice, but because that is genuinely what 70% means in each system.
The gap exists because grading cultures evolved separately with different expectations about how marks are distributed. In the US, strong students routinely score in the 90s, the A band starts at 93%, and the working expectation for top performers is scores clustered near the maximum. In the UK, exam marking is calibrated so that 70% marks exceptional work; anything above 85% is rare, and 90%+ is effectively reserved for the best work submitted across a cohort of thousands. When a GPA is converted to a proportional percentage and compared to each scheme’s thresholds, it inherits these cultural baselines and produces different labels for the same number.
The second significant boundary is at a GPA of 2.40, which is exactly 60.00%. In the US, 60% is D-, the bare minimum passing grade in most courses, one step above an F. In the UK, 60% is the threshold for Upper Second (2:1), the second-highest degree classification, and the standard minimum that most UK graduate programmes and professional employers list as their entry requirement. The same GPA is nearly failing in one system and well-regarded in another.
These are not conversion errors. They are the actual thresholds each system uses, applied to the same underlying number.
Default Thresholds for Each Scheme
The thresholds applied by default, taken directly from the tool configuration:
US (13 grades): A+ ≥ 97%, A ≥ 93%, A- ≥ 90%, B+ ≥ 87%, B ≥ 83%, B- ≥ 80%, C+ ≥ 77%, C ≥ 73%, C- ≥ 70%, D+ ≥ 67%, D ≥ 63%, D- ≥ 60%, F below 60%.
UK (5 classes): First ≥ 70%, Upper Second (2:1) ≥ 60%, Lower Second (2:2) ≥ 50%, Third ≥ 40%, Fail below 40%.
ECTS (7 grades): A ≥ 90%, B ≥ 80%, C ≥ 70%, D ≥ 60%, E ≥ 50%, FX ≥ 40%, F below 40%.
Australian (5 grades): HD ≥ 85%, D ≥ 75%, CR ≥ 65%, P ≥ 50%, NN below 50%.
Thresholds vary by institution. Some universities place the US at 90%, or shift the UK First boundary to 68% or 72%. The “Edit thresholds” panel in the tool lets you adjust any grade boundary for the active scheme without affecting the others. “Reset thresholds for this scheme” restores that scheme’s defaults while leaving any edits to other schemes intact.
The Normalised Percentage: Why the Scale Field Matters
The tool does not convert GPA directly to a letter. The intermediate step is a normalised percentage: GPA divided by the scale maximum, multiplied by 100. That percentage is then checked against each scheme’s threshold table.
Getting the scale field right is essential. A GPA of 6.30 on a 7.0 scale normalises to exactly 90.00%, the same result as 3.60 on a 4.0 scale, and produces identical letters across all four schemes. Entering 4.0 when your transcript uses a 7.0 scale shifts every output by a factor of nearly two.
Common scale values: 4.0 (US standard), 5.0 (weighted US), 7.0 (Australian seven-point), 10.0 (India and others).
This Tool vs the Single-Scheme Calculators
Use this tool when you want to compare all four systems in one view.
For a single scheme with more institutional depth, two dedicated calculators go further:
The GPA-to-UK degree classification calculator covers the proportional conversion used here, alongside the admissions-criteria GPA thresholds published by individual UK universities, such as Oxford and UCL, which set their own equivalency tables that differ from a simple 70% boundary.
The GPA to ECTS calculator covers the European Credit Transfer System in detail, including the distinction between ECTS FX (borderline fail, some additional work may earn a pass) and ECTS F (considerable further work required), and the shift in how ECTS grades were applied before and after 2009.
FAQ: GPA to Letter Grade Calculator
What letter grade is a 4.0 GPA?
A 4.0 on a 4.0 scale = 100%. US: A+ (≥97%). UK: First (≥70%). ECTS: A (≥90%). Australian: HD (High Distinction) (≥85%). A perfect 4.0 GPA converts to the highest possible classification in every grading system, with no variation between schemes because the percentage equivalent is the maximum score.
What is the letter grade for 3.7 GPA?
A 3.7 on a 4.0 scale = 92.5%. US: A- (A- threshold is 90%; A requires 93%, which is GPA 3.72). UK: First (≥70%). ECTS: A (≥90%). Australian: HD (≥85%). All four schemes agree that this is a strong result. The only discrepancy is that the US issues A- rather than A, since 93% is the A floor.
What letter grade is a 3.5 GPA?
A 3.5 / 4.0 = 87.5%. US: B+ (87%–89%). UK: First (≥70%). ECTS: B (80%–89%). Australian: HD (≥85%). The US assigns a B+ while the UK assigns its highest classification, a difference of effectively five grade levels in US terms for the same proportional score.
What letter grade is a 3.3 GPA?
A 4.0 on a 4.0 scale = 100%. US: A+ (≥97%). UK: First (≥70%). ECTS: A (≥90%). Australian: HD (High Distinction) (≥85%). A perfect 4.0 GPA converts to the highest possible classification in every grading system, with no variation between schemes because the percentage equivalent is the maximum score.
What letter grade is a 3.0 GPA?
A 3.0 / 4.0 = 75%. US: C+ (73%–76%). UK: First (≥70%). ECTS: C (70%–79%). Australian: D (Distinction) (75% threshold exactly). A C+ in US terms is the same percentage that earns a First Class result in the UK, the highest degree classification.
What letter grade is a 2.8 GPA?
A 2.8 / 4.0 = 70.00% exactly the precise boundary for both UK First Class and US C-. US: C- (threshold 70%). UK: First (threshold 70%). ECTS: C (threshold 70%). Australian: CR (Credit) (threshold 65%). This is the only value at which UK First and US C share the same minimum percentage. One step below GPA 2.79 (69.75%) shifts the UK result to 2:1, while the US remains C-.
What letter grade is a 2.4 GPA?
A 2.4 / 4.0 = 60.00% exactly, the boundary for UK 2:1 and US D-. US: D- (60%–62%). UK: Upper Second (2:1) (≥60%). ECTS: D (60%–69%). Australian: Pass (65% is the CR threshold, 60% falls below). Barely passing in US terms; solidly Upper Second in UK terms.
What letter grade is a 2.0 GPA?
A 2.0 / 4.0 = 50%. US: F the US D- threshold is 60%; a 2.0 GPA is 10 percentage points short. UK: 2:2 (Lower Second, ≥50%). ECTS: E (50%–59%, a passing grade). Australian: Pass (≥50% exactly). A GPA of 2.0 is failing in the US, and a 2:2 is a passing grade in the UK.
Why does the same GPA give different letter grades in different systems?
The four systems set their threshold percentages to reflect how marks actually distribute in their respective educational cultures. In the US, 93%+ earns an A because strong students routinely score there, and the grading scale is calibrated accordingly. In the UK, 70% earns First Class because that marks genuinely exceptional work within a system where exam marking is deliberately stricter and marks above 85% are uncommon. When a GPA is converted proportionally to a percentage, it enters different threshold systems. It receives the label each system assigns to that number, producing “C-” in one place and “First” in another from the same 70%.
Enter your GPA and scale above to see the letter grade in all four schemes simultaneously. For the reverse calculation, converting letter grades back to a GPA, the letter-grade-to-GPA calculator converts multiple letter grades as inputs and outputs a single overall GPA. If your GPA is close to a scholarship requirement, the scholarship calculator can help check your eligibility. For institutional depth on a single scheme, the UK classification calculator and the ECTS calculator provide more detail than the multi-scheme view here.