Marks System

Relevant Definitions

Letter Mark. In the US, grades are usually awarded as letters, A, B, C, D and F.  There is no grade of E.   Other countries use a straight number system with a maximum of ten.  It is normal to call letter marks just 'grades' in American English, but this can be confusing as a student's grade is also "kindergarten" or 6th grade.  In other countries, this definition of grade is usually called a 'form', like the sixth form.  Letter Mark refers the the letter given in the US for overall course scoring.

Grade Points.  Because the US uses letter for marks, there needs to be a numerical system in order to determine how the student is doing over all.  Grade points are awarded based on the letter grade. For example, 4 points are awarded for an A, 3 for a B, and so on. 

Weighted GPA. students take more advanced courses, the grade points may be increased. For example, if a student earns a A in an advanced English class of 5 units, the student earns a 5 instead of a 4 for grade points for weighted GPA. The total points for that class is 5 (units) x 5 (points) = 25 points (total). Then divide this by totals (5) for a GPA of 5.0. The higher number of points are used to calculate the student's weighted GPA. Lower number of points (4 instead of 5 points) is used for unweighted GPA.