The German Grading System Explained, from 1.0 to 6.0

Guide · Updated 2026-11-05

In the German grading system, a lower number is a better grade. At school, 1 is the best grade and 6 the worst. At university, 1.0 is the best, 4.0 is the lowest pass and 5.0 is a fail.

Every rule here comes from a document we opened on 4 November 2026. GradeCat is not part of any German authority, and your school’s own rules come first.

The school scale: 1 to 6, and 0 to 15 points

In the last school years before the Abitur (the gymnasiale Oberstufe), grades turn into points from 0 to 15. The KMK agreement on the Oberstufe and the Abitur maps them like this, with the higher points for a plus and the lower for a minus:

School grade	Points
1	15, 14 or 13
2	12, 11 or 10
3	9, 8 or 7
4	6, 5 or 4
5	3, 2 or 1
6	0

For written Abitur exams in subjects with national education targets (Bildungsstandards), the same agreement turns a percent into points. You need at least 95% for 15 points, 90% for 14, 85% for 13, 80% for 12, 75% for 11, 70% for 10, 65% for 9, 60% for 8, 55% for 7, 50% for 6, 45% for 5, 40% for 4, 33% for 3, 27% for 2 and 20% for 1. Below 20% is 0 points.

Made-up example. A student scores 68% on a written exam. That clears the 65% line but not 70%, so it is 9 points, a 3.

Below the Oberstufe, each Land (state) sets its own averaging rules, which we have not read.

What sehr gut to ungenügend mean

German grades also carry words. The BIBB model exam rules for vocational chamber exams tie all six words to a 100-point key and to decimal grades:

Word	In English	Chamber points	Decimal grades
sehr gut	very good	100 to 92	1.0 to 1.4
gut	good	91 to 81	1.5 to 2.4
befriedigend	satisfactory	80 to 67	2.5 to 3.4
ausreichend	sufficient	66 to 50	3.5 to 4.4
mangelhaft	poor	49 to 30	4.5 to 5.4
ungenügend	insufficient	29 to 0	5.5 to 6.0

For example, 84 chamber points is a 2.1, which is gut. The key is a model, so each chamber must adopt it in its own rules.

For school, the KMK says the Abitur needs at least ausreichend, an average of 4. Check the word key on your report.

The university scale: 1.0 to 5.0

At FU Berlin and Mannheim, single university grades take these values: 1.0, 1.3, 1.7, 2.0, 2.3, 2.7, 3.0, 3.3, 3.7, 4.0 and 5.0. See the FU Berlin framework rules (§ 18) and the Mannheim B.Sc. BWL exam rules (§ 36). A 4.0 is ausreichend, the lowest pass. A 5.0 is a fail.

An average is weighted by credits (ECTS). Both universities keep only the first decimal and drop the rest without rounding. An average then gets a word:

up to 1.5: sehr gut
1.6 to 2.5: gut
2.6 to 3.5: befriedigend
3.6 to 4.0: ausreichend

Made-up example. A student has 1.3 on 10 credits, 2.0 on 5, 2.7 on 5 and a thesis of 1.7 on 12. The weighted sum is 56.9 over 32 credits, and 56.9 ÷ 32 = 1.778125. Rounding would give 1.8, but these rules cut it to 1.7, which is gut.

The details differ. FU Berlin lets a programme weight the thesis by 1.0 to 2.0. Mannheim averages each area of study first, which can move the result by 0.1, and awards “mit Auszeichnung” (with distinction) for 1.2 or better.

The Abitur average (Abiturschnitt)

The Abitur grade matters for university entry. Under the KMK agreement, the total is at most 900 points:

Block I, your counted semester results, is worth at most 600. You need at least 200, with no more than 20% of counted results under 5 points and none at 0.
Block II, the Abitur exams, is worth at most 300. You need at least 100.
You need at least 300 points in total.

The steps are:

Block I = P ÷ S × 40, rounded half up to a whole number. P is the sum of your counted semester points, and S is how many results count.
Block II = 4 × each exam’s points with five exam subjects, or 5 × each with four. Round each product, not only the sum.
Add the two blocks to get the total, E.
Grade N = 5 2/3 − E ÷ 180, cut to one decimal. This matches the KMK table, which gives 1.0 for 823 to 900 points and 4.0 for 300.

Made-up example. A student has P = 462 points over S = 44 counted results. Block I is 462 ÷ 44 × 40 = 420. Five exams of 12, 10, 11, 9 and 13 points sum to 55, so Block II is 4 × 55 = 220. The total is 640 points. N = 5 2/3 − 640 ÷ 180 = 2.111, which is 2.1. The KMK table gives 2.1 for 625 to 642 points.

With an extra oral exam in a written subject, that exam’s points are (2 × written + oral) ÷ 3, not rounded. Made-up example: 11 written and 12 oral give 34 ÷ 3 = 11.333 points. With four exam subjects, 5 × 11.333 = 56.667, which rounds to 57.

Which courses count still depends on your Land. The 2024 version of the agreement counts 36 semester results, with two higher-level subjects counted twice. Länder must apply it to students who enter the Einführungsphase from 2027.

For medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary medicine, hochschulstart gives 30% of places, after advance quotas, to the best Abitur results.

Converting foreign grades: the modified Bavarian formula

For foreign school-leaving certificates, the KMK agreement on foreign grades uses this formula:

X = 1 + 3 × (Nmax − Nd) ÷ (Nmax − Nmin)

Nd is your average. Nmax and Nmin are the upper and lower corner values for your country’s scale in the ZAB’s anabin database. Nmin is not always the pass mark. The result keeps one decimal, and “es wird nicht gerundet”: it is not rounded.

Made-up example. On an invented scale with corner values 100 and 50, an average of 78 gives 1 + 3 × 22 ÷ 50 = 2.32, which is 2.3.

Made-up example. On an invented scale with corner values 20 and 10, an average of 15.5 gives 1 + 3 × 4.5 ÷ 10 = 2.35. That becomes 2.3, not 2.4, because nothing is rounded.

A school average and a university average are converted separately, then averaged. A certificate without grades counts at the lowest pass grade.

We could not read the anabin records, so we give no country values. Some universities use the same formula for foreign degrees under their own rules, which we have not read, so ask yours.

Using GradeCat with German grades

GradeCat has no German calculator yet. Two tools can still help:

The Grading Scale lets you save your own scale. You could enter the 16 KMK percent lines above, with labels such as “9 points”, and check a percent against them.
The GPA Calculator uses US 4.0 scales only. It does not convert German grades, and none of our sources sets a German to US GPA conversion.

For other countries and tools, start at the GradeCat home page.

German grades FAQ

Is 1.0 the best grade in Germany?

Yes. At university, 1.0 is the best grade. At school, 1 is the best grade and 6 the worst.

Is 2.5 a good grade in Germany?

At FU Berlin and Mannheim, an average of 2.5 is gut, the second band. An average of 2.6 is befriedigend.

What is a passing grade in Germany?

At university, 4.0 (ausreichend) is the lowest pass. The Abitur needs at least 300 of 900 points, which is a 4.0 average.

How many points do I need for a 1.0 Abitur?

The KMK table gives 1.0 for 823 to 900 points. At 822 points, the grade is 1.1.

Can I convert German grades to a US GPA?

None of our sources sets an official German to US GPA conversion. Ask the school that will receive your grades how it reads them.

Sources

All opened on 4 November 2026:

Tools for this guide

Grading Scale: See how percents turn into letter grades, and set your own scale.
GPA Calculator: Calculate your term and cumulative college GPA.

More guides

This guide is general information. Your school's rules come first. Found a mistake? Tell us.