Guide to UNSW grades

Each course a student undertakes at UNSW is assessed using a variety of methods.

Course authorities are responsible for assigning a single, final result to each student who has enrolled in any of their courses throughout the semester. This result generally takes the form of a mark between 0 and 100 which determines your final grade.

Grade definitions

Find out what your grades mean:

Code	Grade	Mark	Explanation
AF	Absent Fail	N/A	Unsatisfactory performance; no assessment attempted.
AS	Audited Course	N/A	Assessment not attempted; course not counted towards award requirements.
AW	Academic Withdrawal	N/A	Discontinued course after academic penalty deadline. Not included in WAM, but counted as fail in academic standing. Included on transcript. Treated as fail by UAC and others for GPA.
CM	Competent with Merit	N/A	Demonstrated competence and outstanding performance.
CN	Not Yet Competent	N/A	Has not demonstrated competence in assessment requirements.
CO	Competent	N/A	Demonstrated competence in assessment requirements.
CR	Credit	65-74	Good performance. Demonstrates analytical and contextual thinking and presents alternative views with evidence.
DN	Distinction	75-84	Superior performance. Explores course from multiple perspectives and their interrelation.
EC	Enrolment Continuing	N/A	Course taken over more than one Teaching Period. Assessment finalised later.
EM	Excluded Misconduct	N/A	Permanently excluded due to academic misconduct.
FL	Fail	0-49	Unsatisfactory performance; lacks understanding of topic/context.
HD	High Distinction	85-100	Outstanding performance and deep understanding of course content.
LE	Late Entry	N/A	Result not submitted by Course Authority.
NA	Not Assessed	N/A	Course has no assessment requirements.
NC	Not Completed	N/A	Coursework: Assessment not completed on time. Counted as fail in academic standing but not in WAM. Research: Program not completed; does not reflect performance.
NF	Not Failed	N/A	Course discontinued without failure. Not recorded on transcript.
PC	Pass Conceded	N/A	Below pass standard; granted to allow progression. Discontinued after Summer Term 2015/6.
PE	Professional Experience	N/A	Pending result in a designated professional experience course.
PW	Permitted Withdrawal	N/A	Withdrawn without financial penalty. WAM/standing/transcript inclusion depends on year. From 2021: not included in WAM or standing.
PS	Pass	50-64	Acceptable performance with adequate understanding of course requirements.
RC	Research Continuing	N/A	Ongoing research; no mark given.
RD	Result Deferred	N/A	Unable to complete course; must re-enrol.
RS	Research Satisfactory	N/A	Satisfactory research completion.
SY	Satisfactory/Successful	N/A	Satisfactory completion without graded pass. UoC counted; not included in WAM.
UF	Unsatisfactory Fail	N/A	Failed an essential component of the course.
WC	Withheld – Special Consideration	N/A	Pending outcome of Special Consideration request.
WD	Withheld – Incomplete Assessment	N/A	Incomplete or unsubmitted assessment.
WJ	Withheld – Unresolved Matter	N/A	Result finalised but not released due to unresolved matter.
XE	Exchange Enrolment	N/A	Student on Exchange program.

PW (Permitted Withdrawal) grades historical information

Information on how PW grades are treated can be found in the table below:

	Included in the calculation of WAM?	Included in the calculation of Academic Standing?	Appears on an official transcript?
Prior to 2014	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable
Between 2014 and Semester 2, 2018	Not included	Included as a failed course	Yes
Between Term 1, 2019 and Term 3, 2020	Not included	Included as a failed course	No
2021 onwards	Not included	Not included	No

* PW grades are not counted in the calculation of maximum repeat fails.

See more

WAM at UNSW

UNSW calculates two types of WAM (Weighted Average Mark) for all undergraduate and postgraduate students:

Term WAM: Calculated from relevant results in a single term, semester or hexamester.
Cumulative WAM: Calculated from relevant results across the entire program.

Only results with an associated numerical mark are included in your WAM calculation.
However, since Semester 1, 2003, the grade 'AF' is assigned a mark of zero and is included.

Marks for courses completed at other institutions (transfer credit) are not included in your WAM. This is due to differing grading systems.

From Semester 1, 2016, if you’re granted transfer credit for courses completed at UNSW under a different program, your marks will count towards the WAM of your new program.

Grades not included in WAM calculation

Grade	Meaning
SY	Satisfactory
XE	Student undertaking an Exchange program
NA	Not Assessed
RS	Research Satisfactory
AS	Audited Course
NF	Course discontinued without failure
NC	Not Completed
RD	Result Deferred
EC	Enrolment Continuing
AW	Academic Withdrawal
PW	Permitted Withdrawal
FL	Fail (has a nominal value for WAM calculations of 25)

Note: Under the Successful/Fail grading basis (e.g. SY/FL with no mark), the grade FL is not included in WAM.

For grades entered without an associated numerical mark under the standard grading basis (mark between 1–100 with a grade), the following nominal marks are used for WAM calculations:

Grade

Nominal mark used in WAM

PS

55

CR

70

DN

80

HD

90

FL

25

Grade	Nominal mark used in WAM
PS	55
CR	70
DN	80
HD	90
FL	25

❗ Important

As UNSW does not use a grade point average (GPA) system, we are unable to assist with calculating a GPA.

If you require a GPA for an application to another university, that institution may be able to advise how to convert your results to a GPA.

Calculating (WAM) Weighted Average Mark

Your Weighted Average Mark (WAM) appears on your academic record.

It is calculated according to the following formula:

Image of the WAM equation showing how to calculate your Weighted Average Mark.

M = mark received in a course
U = units of credit for a course
∑ = the sum of

Example

A student receives the following results for their courses: 80, 81, 82, 83, 84. The first three of these courses are 6 UOC and the last two are 3 UOC. They would calculate their WAM as:

[(80 x 6) + (81 x 6) + (82 x 6) + (83 x 3) + (84 x 3)] / (6 + 6 + 6 + 3 + 3) = 81.625

Each Faculty has its own method of calculating Faculty WAM for the purposes of determining eligibility for Honours, Medals and other recognitions.

You should contact your Faculty for further information.

Grading for UNSW Amalgamated Institutions

New South Wales Institute of the Arts
SCAE
AGSM

City Art Institute 1988 – 1989

Distinction
Credit
Pass
Pass*- (Where Distinction and Credit are not available).

Sydney College of Advanced Education (SCAE)

Prior to 1985 the following institutions, amalgamated within the Sydney College of Advanced Education (which subsequently amalgamated with UNSW), used their own unique grade categories:

Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education
City Art Institute
St George Institute

Transcripts obtained by former students of these institutions will show the following grade categories:

A - Most satisfactory
B - Satisfactory
C - Unsatisfactory
D - Most unsatisfactory
DA - Deferred Assessment
A - Distinction
B - Credit
C - Pass
D - Fail
DA - Deferred Assessment
S - Satisfactory (Practice Teaching)
U - Unsatisfactory (Practice teaching)
Distinction
Credit
Pass
Pass*- (Where Distinction and Credit are not available).

Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM)

AGSM was established in 1977. In 1998, UNSW and the University of Sydney undertook a joint venture. The new AGSM that resulted was a school of both universities and its graduates received a joint degree badged with both institutions’ crests. In 2006, the joint venture ended, and the AGSM integrated with the Faculty of Commerce and Economics at UNSW to form a new faculty, the Australian School of Business.

Those students who completed their program requirements within the joint venture and within program time limit requirements were eligible to graduate with a jointly badged award or degree and receive an AGSM academic transcript.

From 2006, AGSM grades aligned with UNSW (see Grade definitions).

The following grade categories can be found on AGSM transcripts prior to 2006:

Code	Grade	Mark	Explanation
SY	Satisfactory		Satisfactory completion of a course for which a graded pass is not available. Mark not awarded.
PC	Pass Conceded	45-49	Authority for the award of this result rests with the Postgraduate Coursework Committee (PCC). The grade is determined with reference to the student’s overall performance in the program to date, and not just performance in the course in question.
FL	Fail	0-49	Performance below the minimum level of competence.
AF	Absent Fail		Assessment not completed.
DF	Discontinued with Failure		Discontinuation after the Census Date.
LE	Late Entry		Result not finalised.
WD	Withheld – Incomplete Assessment		Result withheld.
EX	Exemption		Credit transfer without replacement.
AS	Advanced Standing		Credit Transfer with replacement.

All programs except for full-time MBA students who enrolled prior to 1 January 2002

Code	Grade	Mark	Explanation
HD	High Distinction	85-100	An outstanding performance.
DN	Distinction	75-84	A superior, well above average performance.
CR	Credit	65-74	A good, above average performance.
PS	Pass	50-64	An acceptable level of performance.

Code Grade Mark Explanation
A A 70-100 A superior to outstanding performance.
B B 60-74 A good average performance.
C C 50-59 An acceptable level of performance.

Code	Grade	Mark	Explanation
A	A	70-100	A superior to outstanding performance.
B	B	60-74	A good average performance.
C	C	50-59	An acceptable level of performance.

Comparison of Grading Systems

Whether you're an international student at UNSW or a local student planning to study overseas, it can be useful to know how your grades might translate across different grading systems.
The ECTS was developed to standardise grading across universities in the European Union and improve the portability of academic results. It uses fixed percentile bands based on the distribution of passing students:

A (percentage assigned 10%) = Excellent: outstanding performance with only minor errors
B (25%) = Very Good: above the average standard with some errors
C (30%) = Good: sound work with a number of notable errors
D (25%) = Satisfactory: fair but with some significant shortcomings
E (10%) = Sufficient: performance fulfils minimum criteria

In the United States, grading schemes usually have a higher proportion of As and Bs than in the ECTS. For example, even a conservative scheme in the US such as that recently adopted by Princeton University awards about 35% of students a grade of A- or higher.
While UNSW doesn’t formally use US or European (ECTS) grading systems, it can be helpful to see how your mark might align with these standards.

The Gumleaf diagram below offers a visual guide to estimate your percentile ranking and approximate equivalent grades.
How to read it:

Based on 2015 course data across UNSW.
The shaded area represents where the middle 75% of student results fall.
The red dashed line shows the median performance across all courses.
Horizontal grid lines mark percentile bands and ECTS boundaries.

Example comparisons:

A mark of 80 (Distinction) sits around the 20th percentile, roughly equivalent to a B (ECTS) or A (US).
A mark of 65 (Credit) falls in the lower third of passing grades - about a C (ECTS) or B− (US).

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