Grading Scale Converter: Percent to Letter Grade and GPA

The same 88% can be a B+, a B, or a B, depending on where you go to school. The converter shows the score on all three common scales at once, with GPA points, so you can check what your report card means.

The three common US grading scales

A grading scale maps percent ranges to letters, and each letter to GPA points. Most US schools use one of these three:

On whole-letter scales (10-point, 7-point) a letter is worth whole points: A 4, B 3, C 2, D 1. The plus/minus scale is the most fine-grained, which is why most of this site’s calculators default to it.

Worked example: one score, three scales

Take an 88%:

• Plus/minus: 87–89 is a B+, worth 3.3.
• 10-point: 80–89 is a B, worth 3.0.
• 7-point: 85–92 is a B, worth 3.0.

Now a 91%: an A− (3.7) on plus/minus, an A (4.0) on a 10-point scale, but only a B (3.0) on a 7-point scale. That 1.0-point gap is why GPAs from schools with different scales are hard to compare directly. And a 72% is a C− (1.7) on plus/minus, a C (2.0) on 10-point, and a D (1.0) on 7-point.

The comparison table in the converter shows this for any score, plus the 4.33 and 5.0-weighted values.

4.0, 4.33 and 5.0 points

• 4.0 scale: the default. A+ and A both earn 4.0.
• 4.33 scale: A+ earns 4.33 and plus/minus grades move in thirds (A− 3.67, B+ 3.33, B− 2.67). Whole-letter scales have no plus grades, so their 4.33 column matches the 4.0 column.
• 5.0 weighted: used for honors, AP, IB or dual-enrollment classes. The converter adds +1.0 to any passing grade, so an A becomes 5.0 and a B 4.0. Schools differ: some add +0.5 for honors, and some don’t weight D grades. Arkansas’s state rules set A = 5, B = 4, C = 3, D = 2, F = 0 for weighted courses.

To turn these points into a GPA across all your classes, use the high school GPA calculator. To translate a GPA back into a letter and percent, use the GPA scale converter.

What is the collegiate grading scale?

The collegiate grading scale is the letter-to-points system a college registrar uses, and most registrars publish points only, not percents. Three public registrar pages show how close they are to the high school plus/minus scale on this page, and where they differ:

Grade points per letter: this converter vs. three university registrars (undergraduate scales, checked October 2026)

The middle of the scale is identical everywhere: a B+ is 3.3 and a C is 2.0. The edges are where colleges differ. Some have no A+, and some stop at D. None of the three registrar pages defines a percent range for any letter, so in college the percent behind an A or B comes from the course syllabus, not from a campus-wide chart.

That has two practical effects. A high school 4.0 grading scale and a college one convert letters to points the same way, so the 4.0 GPA scale explained page works for both. And once grades become points, college terms combine exactly like high school ones, which the semester and cumulative GPA calculator handles.

Printable grading charts

Choose Standard plus/minus, 10-point or 7-point under Chart to show & print, then press Print. The chart prints with percent ranges and all three point columns; buttons, menus and the slider are left off the page. Teachers grading tests can pair it with the EZ Grader, which turns the number wrong into a percent first.

States with an official statewide scale

Most states leave grading scales to districts. In Alabama, for example, our research found no statewide scale, with districts such as Mountain Brook setting their own. Our state research did confirm a statewide scale in these seven states, all on the 10-point pattern for the grades listed:

Each state page shows the official table, what it covers, the source, and how firmly we could verify it. For other states, check your district’s student handbook — and see the state school facts pages for related rules.