When selecting students from a global pool of applicants, comparing high school GPAs (HSGPA) across different grading systems can be a challenge.
To ensure objective comparisons, the use of one or several standardized admission tests like SAT, ACT, ITB-Business (undergraduate studies) and GMAT, GRE, GTEBS (graduate studies) is recommended. However, if you still need to convert GPAs from various countries, a useful tool is the Modified Bavarian Formula.
This formula was originally developed to convert international grades into the German grading scale (1 = excellent, 6 = insufficient), where a 4.0 is the minimum passing grade. The formula is:
➡️ [(Best possible grade – achieved grade)/(Best possible grade – minimum grade to succeed)]*3 + 1.
🟢 Example 1: Converting the French Grading Scale to the German Scale
In the French grading scale, which is also used in many countries like Senegal, Vietnam or Morocco, the grading scale goes from 0 to 20, with 10 as the passing grade. If a student has a 15, the calculation is: [(20 – 15)/(20-10)]*3+1=2.5. This means the grade 15/20 in Senegal scale would be roughly equivalent to a 2.5 in Germany.
🟢 Example 2: Adapting the Principle for Finland
Since the Finnish grading scale ranges from 0 (fail) to 5 (excellent) with 1 as the minimum passing grade, the formula can be adjusted to:
5-[(Best possible grade – achieved grade)/(Best possible grade – minimum grade to succeed)]*4. Applying this to a 15/20 in Morocco, we get: 5-[(20 – 15)/(20-10)]*4=3
Limitations of the Formula
Of course, no single formula can perfectly standardize grades, since school systems vary greatly: Some countries award high grades to only the top students, others have more inclusive grading distributions. Some systems have strong grade inflation, while others are much stricter.
However, the Modified Bavarian Formula offers a simple way to create a common reference point across different systems.
