ECTS credits measure workload. They say nothing about how well you did. For that, European countries use their own national grading scales, and ECTS offers tools to compare them.
The old ECTS A–F scale
Earlier ECTS guidance used a relative letter scale based on the distribution of passing students:
| ECTS grade | Share of passing students |
|---|---|
| A | Top 10% |
| B | Next 25% |
| C | Next 30% |
| D | Next 25% |
| E | Bottom 10% |
| FX / F | Fail |
You'll still see these letters on some transcripts.
What replaced it: grade distribution tables
The 2015 ECTS Users' Guide recommends grade distribution tables. Instead of a letter, an institution shows what percentage of students in a reference group received each national grade. A receiving university can then see that, say, "a 1.7 in Germany put you in the top 20% of your cohort."
National scales are very different
| Country | Scale | Best |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 1.0–5.0 (lower is better) | 1.0 |
| France | 0–20 | 20 (16+ is rare) |
| Italy | 18–30 (and 30 e lode) | 30L |
| Netherlands | 1–10 | 10 (8+ is excellent) |
| Spain | 0–10 | 10 (Matrícula de Honor) |
The French and Dutch scales are famously "compressed": top marks are rarely given, so a 14/20 or an 8/10 can be strong.
Comparing with UK and US
- UK classes (1st, 2:1, 2:2, 3rd) are based on percentage bands. See Convert GPA to UK Grade.
- US GPA (0–4.0) is cumulative and usually absolute.
Receiving universities and credential evaluators (like WES in North America) use their own conversion tables. No single official formula exists.
What to do on applications
- Report grades as issued.
- Include the grading scale or transcript key.
- Add the grade distribution table if your university provides one.
- Mention rank if available.
A quick GPA calculation in your own system is easy with my GPA Calculator. Conversions between systems should come from the receiving institution.