Grade Calculator

The 7-point GPA — with the cutoffs your institution uses, because 82% is a Distinction at one university and a High Distinction at another.

Your units
WAM — the weighted average mark — is computed from actual marks out of 100 rather than from grade points, so it distinguishes a student at the top of every band from one at the bottom. GPA cannot. Several universities now treat WAM as the primary measure.
The average you want to finish on.
What is left of your degree. Leave at zero if you have finished.

How this is worked out

Most Australian universities use a 7-point GPA, where the grade point is simply the grade number: High Distinction 7, Distinction 6, Credit 5, Pass 4. The average is credit-point weighted, exactly as elsewhere:

GPA = Σ(grade × credit points) ÷ Σ(credit points)

The grade names are shared. The percentage cutoffs are not. At QUT a High Distinction starts at 85%; at ANU it starts at 80%. A mark of 82 is a Distinction at QUT and a High Distinction at ANU — same work, same words, different grade point.

And not every Australian university uses 7 points at all. RMIT runs the same grade names on a 0–4 scale, so an RMIT GPA of 3.0 and a UQ GPA of 3.0 mean entirely different things. Both scales are on this page.

WAM is a different measure, not a different presentation of the same one. A weighted average mark is computed from your actual marks out of 100 rather than from grade points, so it distinguishes a student who sits at the top of every band from one who sits at the bottom. GPA cannot: everyone between 50 and 64 is a Pass and scores 4.

Macquarie made WAM its primary measure for exactly that reason. Sydney runs several variants — annual, semester and cumulative. If your university reports a WAM, it is usually the figure that matters for honours and for graduate entry.

A worked example

Scale
7-point GPA — QUT bands
Unit 1
Distinction — 12 credit points — 72.00
Unit 2
High Distinction — 12 credit points — 84.00
Unit 3
Credit — 12 credit points — 60.00
Unit 4
Distinction — 12 credit points — 72.00
Total credit points
48
GPA
6.00
The same units at ANU
unchanged — the grade names are the same; only the percentage cutoffs differ
A mark of 82%
Distinction at QUT, High Distinction at ANU
To reach 6.50 with 48 credit points left
an average of 7.00 — every remaining unit a High Distinction

GPA compresses, WAM does not

The clearest way to see the difference is two students with identical GPAs. One scores 64, 74, 84 and 64 — the top of the Pass, Credit, Distinction and Pass bands. The other scores 50, 65, 75 and 50 — the bottom of the same bands. Identical GPAs. WAMs of 71.5 and 60.0.

GPA throws that information away by design, because it maps a range onto a single integer. For ranking within a cohort, for honours eligibility and for competitive graduate entry, the discarded information is exactly the information that matters.

This is why several Australian universities have moved to WAM as their primary measure. If yours reports both, find out which one your target programme uses before optimising for the wrong one.

The cutoffs are institutional, and the gap is real

QUT sets High Distinction at 85, Distinction at 75 and Credit at 65. ANU sets them at 80, 70 and 60. That is a five-mark shift at every boundary — an entire grade band's worth of difference for the same numerical performance.

Over a full degree that compounds. A student consistently marking in the low 80s graduates from ANU with a GPA around 7 and from QUT with one around 6, on identical work.

It is one reason a bare GPA travels badly between Australian institutions, and why an application is better served by quoting the GPA with its scale and, where possible, the WAM alongside it.

Honours, and what the grade average is used for

Australian honours is normally a separate additional year, and entry is usually gated on a GPA or WAM threshold in the relevant discipline rather than across the whole degree. The honours class awarded — I, IIA, IIB, III — comes from performance in that year.

Graduate entry to competitive programmes generally uses a GPA or WAM cutoff as a first filter. Medicine, law and clinical psychology publish thresholds; many use the whole-of-degree figure, some the final two years.

Scholarships and prizes frequently use WAM specifically, because a cutoff on a compressed 7-point scale produces far too many ties to rank.

Credit points, and where the weight sits

A standard unit is commonly 12 credit points, with a full-time year around 96. Capstone projects, theses and double-weighted units carry more, and they move the average proportionally further.

Universities differ here too — some use 6 credit points per standard unit, some 10, some 12.5. Enter whatever your transcript shows rather than assuming a convention, because the weighting is what makes the average differ from a flat mean.

Nothing you type here is transmitted anywhere. It is calculated in your browser and this site makes no external requests at all.

Assumptions and sources

Australia 7-point GPA
University of Queensland final grades, QUT grading scales, ANU grading scale.
RMIT scale
RMIT, results, grades and GPA. https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/my-course/assessment-results/results-grades/gpa
WAM
Macquarie University, weighted average mark, and the University of Sydney. https://students.mq.edu.au/study/assessment-exams/weighted-average-mark
Cutoff variation
QUT sets High Distinction at 85%, ANU at 80% — a five-mark shift at every boundary on the same 7-point scale. Both band sets are available above. checked 2026-08
Not covered
Institution-specific WAM weighting by year level, honours classification rules, supplementary and deferred assessment treatment, and universities using other scales.
Rates current as of — verify before relying on this. Your university's policy is the authority. Grade names are shared across Australian institutions but the percentage cutoffs behind them are not, and not every university uses the 7-point scale. Check yours before relying on a figure.
Questions

What people ask about GPA and WAM

What is the difference between GPA and WAM?

GPA is computed from grade points, so everyone in the 50–64 Pass band scores 4. WAM is computed from your actual marks, so it separates the top of a band from the bottom. Two students can share a GPA and have WAMs eleven marks apart — which is why several universities now treat WAM as the primary measure.

Which percentage is a High Distinction?

It depends on the university. QUT starts High Distinction at 85%, ANU at 80%. A mark of 82 is a Distinction at one and a High Distinction at the other — same work, different grade point. Both band sets are available above.

Is the 7-point scale universal in Australia?

No. RMIT uses the same grade names — High Distinction, Distinction, Credit, Pass — on a 0–4 scale, so an RMIT GPA of 3.0 and a UQ GPA of 3.0 are not comparable at all. Always quote the scale with the number.

What GPA do I need for honours?

It varies by discipline and institution, and the threshold usually applies to the relevant discipline rather than the whole degree. Many programmes use WAM rather than GPA for this, because a 7-point scale produces too many ties to rank a cohort.

How many credit points is a unit?

Commonly 12, with a full-time year around 96 — but some universities use 6, 10 or 12.5. Enter whatever your transcript shows. The weighting is what makes the average differ from a flat mean, so getting it right matters.

Is anything I type sent anywhere?

No. Everything is calculated in your browser and this site makes no external requests at all — you can confirm that in your browser's network tab.

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