Complete Guide: University Grading System in Australia

Many of our students looking to study in Australia are still unsure about how the university system in Australia works, ask questions about how to calculate the Australian GPA, and wonder, “What is a good GPA in Australia?”. In this complete guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about how the education system works in Australia and the university grading system in Australia.

What is Australia’s Education System like?

Before discussing how the university grading system works, let’s first discuss the Australian education system. The Australian education system officially has the following levels of education:

• School Education consists of primary school from kindergarten to grades six or seven, secondary school from grades seven to 10 or eight to 10, and senior education from grades 11 to 12.

• Tertiary education is the level of education you get after graduating from school and includes both higher education or vocational education and training.

What distinguishes Australian education from other education systems worldwide is the 1995-established Australian Qualifications Framework, which manages certificates for school graduates and tertiary education qualifications. Thanks to the Australian Qualifications Framework, all tertiary education institutions that are accredited by the AQF are linked into one system, which allows you to move and transfer between institutions if you please. 

It is also essential to know that study durations vary based on the study type: foundation years are usually one year; Vocational Education and Training are from one to four years; undergraduate programmes are three years, with a fourth year for honours if desired; postgraduate programmes are one to three years; and doctoral studies are three years with an additional review year.

Facts and Figures 

Australia’s tertiary institutions include 43 universities spread out across Australia, six of which rank among the top 100 universities, and the Australian education system itself ranks eighth worldwide. Australia also has seven of the best student cities in the world, which rank among the top 100 student cities. Some of the best areas of study offered in Australia include Arts and Humanities, Clinical and Pre-Clinical Health, Engineering and Technology, Life Sciences, Social Sciences, and Social Sciences.

University Grading System of Australia

The Australian grading system differs by state; these states consist of New South Wales, Victoria, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Region, Tasmania, and the External Territories.

State of Victoria

In the Australian city of Victoria, a passing grade starts at 50; any grade below 50 is considered a failing grade; a score of 50–59 is regarded as a pass; a score of 60–69 is a credit; 70–79 is a distinction; and 80–100 is a high distinction. Victoria has various high-ranking institutions, including the University of Melbourne, Monash University, RMIT University, Deakin University, and La Trobe University.

Upon graduation, you can graduate with an additional title, which is either “With Merit”, “With Distinction”, or “With Commendation”. To graduate with Merit, you must have obtained overall distinction grades; to graduate with distinction, you must have obtained overall distinction grades; and to graduate with commendation, you must have received overall high distinction grades. Below is Victoria’s grading scale table in reference to RMIT University in Melbourne.  

RMIT has a 4-point GPA, and grading points go as follows:

• High Distinction (HD) awards you four grade points

• Distinction (D) awards you three grade points

• Credit (CR) awards you two grade points

• Pass (P) awards you one-grade point

Other grading codes also apply; however, they do not apply the mark range; they include:

• A supplementary pass (PX) awards you one grade point 

• Competent with high distinction (CHD) awards you four grade points

• Competent with distinction (CDI) awards you three grade points

• Competent with credit (CC) awards you two grade points

• Competency achieved – Graded (CAGS) awards you one grade point

Australian Capital Territory

Some of the top universities in the Australian Capital Territory include  The Australian National University, the University of Canberra, the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT), Reid, and

Australian Catholic University, Canberra Campus.

For reference, we have used the grading system used by the Australian National University, which follows the same grading system as the one used by the State of Victoria’s RMIT University in Melbourne. The university’s GPA scale is out of seven, however. 

Regarding honours, the university follows the following system:

Western Australia

Western Australia’s top universities include the University of Western Australia UWA, Curtin University, Murdoch University, Edith Cowan University, and the University Of Notre Dame, Perth. For reference, we have used the grading system of the University of Western Australia, which follows the same grading system as the one previously mentioned in the State of Victoria and uses a GPA scale out of seven. It has the following GPA Values: 

New South Wales

New South Wales has various prestigious universities, which include the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Macquarie University, and the University of Technology Sydney UTS. New South Wales has a grading system similar to that of Victoria; however, the scale differs slightly, as do the awards post-graduation. For reference, we relied on the University of Sydney’s grading scheme. 

 Honours also differ as they have a different classing system.

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory’s top university is Charles Darwin University. The following grading scheme is a reference to the one used at Charles Darwin University.

Charles Darwin has a GPA scale of seven, with each grade reflecting a different GPA value. 

• High distinction awards you seven points on the GPA scale

• Distinction awards you six points on the GPA scale

• Credit awards you five points on the GPA scale

• Pass awards you four points on the GPA scale

• Pass Supplementary awards you four points on the GPA scale

South Australia

Among the top universities in South Australia are the University of South Australia, The University Of Adelaide, and Flinders University. The following grading system is a reference to the one used at the University of Adelaide.

The University Of Adelaide has a GPA scale of seven, with each grade reflecting a different GPA value. 

• High distinction awards you seven points on the GPA scale

• Distinction awards you six points on the GPA scale

• Credit awards you five points on the GPA scale

• Pass awards you four points on the GPA scale

• Fail gets you one and a half points on the GPA scale.

Queensland

Queensland’s highest-ranking higher education institutions include the University of Queensland (UQ), Central Queensland University (CQU), Griffith University, and the Queensland University of Technology QUT. For Queensland, we have used Queensland University’s grading system for reference, which is similar to the one used in South Australia’s previously mentioned University of Adelaide and also uses a seven-point GPA scale.

The minimum distinction to be awarded at the University of Adelaide is 5.5 for bachelor’s programmes and 6.6 for Postgraduate programmes. Queensland has a different honours system for bachelor's degrees than the previously mentioned cities, and these are the following:

• First Class Honours (Honours I): 6.20–7.00 GPA

• Second Class Honours, Division A: (Honours IIA): 5.65–6.199 GPA

• Second Class Honours, Division B: (Honours IIB): 5.00 to 5.649 GPA

• Third Class Honours (Honours III): Less than 5.00 GPA

How to Calculate Your GPA

To calculate your grade point average, also known as GPA, whether it be on a four-point scale or a seven-point scale, you will need to apply the following formula:

GPA = Σ (grade value x unit credit points) ÷ Σ unit credit points

In other words, you’ll be doing the following to calculate your Australian GPA:

Sum(Subject1 Grade Point X Subject1 Credit Points, Subject2 Grade Points X Subject2 Credit Points, Subject3 Grade Point X Subject3 Credit Points, etc.)) / (Total Credit Points) 

What is a Good GPA in Australia? 

High Distinction and Distinction are among the top honours that you can receive as a student in Australia; these can range from obtaining 80 or 85 out of 100 in all courses for a High Distinction to 75-84 or 70-79 for a Distinction. A High Distinction is a 7.0 GPA or a 4.0 GPA; a Distinction is a 6–6.99 GPA out of a seven-point grade point average, or a 3.5–4.9 GPA for a Distinction out of a four-grade point average.

At Casita, we wish our students the best of luck in their Australian study journey and urge you to research the city before arriving, including Top Universities in Australia, How To Get an Australian Student Visa, 5 Different Types of Student Accommodation in Australia, Australia’s Common Rules & Regulations, and Language Courses Required to Study in Australia, among other helpful information that you need to know before arriving. You can refer to our experts for more information regarding student accommodation in Australia.