The Danish Grading Scale

Understanding Marks Given According to the Danish Grading Scale

When attempting to understand the value of marks given in the system of another country, it is important not to automatically assume that the practice is similar to your own familiar system.

While some systems use a fixed distribution curve and expect all classes to fall within that curve, others specify the level of performance necessary for each mark. Denmark grades each student on his or her specific level of performance; therefore "grading on the curve" is not a valid structure used at CBS. Please note that ECTS marks are not to be understood as US marks (A, B, C, etc.). We have do not provide official translation from Danish grades to specific country grades. That is left up to each school to determine.

In Denmark, where education at all levels, including higher education, is regulated by the Ministry of Education, the marking scale and its use is described in a ministerial order which gives the following overview of the scale:

Danish Mark	Explanation of the Mark	Equivalent ECTS Mark
12	Is given for an excellent performance, displaying a high level of command of all aspects of the relevant material with no or only a few minor weaknesses	A
10	Is given for a very good performance, displaying a high level of command of most aspects of the relevant material with only minor weaknesses	B
7	Is given for a good performance, displaying good command of the relevant material and some weaknesses	C
4	Is given for a fair performance, displaying some command of the relevant material but also some weaknesses	D
02	Is given for a performance meeting only the minimum requirements for acceptance (Lowest passing grade)	E
00	Is given for a performance which does not meet the minimum requirements for acceptance (Failure)	Fx
-3	Is given for a performance which is unacceptable in all respects (Failure)	F

The participation of external examiners from other institutions in almost all exams contributes to the stability of the scale and should prevent individual interpretation bias in marks.

In order to help our partner schools understand the marks that their students have received while on exchange at the CBS, the distribution of all seven grades given during the academic year 2008-2009 are listed below:

UNDERGRAD
Marks	-3	00	02	4	7	10	12	Total
Number Given	1,545	3,498	4,812	9,200	13,819	9,970	4,253	47,097
Percent %	3.28%	7.43%	10.22%	19.53%	29.34%	21.17%	9.03%	100.00%

Average Mark (Undergraduate): 5.94

GRADUATE
Marks	-3	00	02	4	7	10	12	Total
Number Given	1,269	969	1,637	3,553	5,739	4,336	1,965	19,468
Percent %	6.52%	4.98%	8.41%	18.25%	29.48%	22.27%	10.09%	100.00%

Average Mark (Graduate): 6.04

The figure shows us that the grade most commonly given is 7. The least common grade for the undergraduates is -3, whereas the least common grade on graduate level is 00. Also, the figure shows us that out of 100 grades given at the graduate level, around ten of them will be a 12. Likewise, on the undergraduate level, out of 100 grades given, around nine of them will be a 12.

The above statistics are based on the vast majority of the grades given at all of our study programs during the academic year 2008-2009. New study programs introduced in September 2009 are therefore not included. Grades given for bachelor and master theses and courses taken at the International Summer University Program are not included in the statistics.

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NOTE: (The Danish government implemented this new grading scale effective 1 September 2007. If you studied here at CBS prior to Autumn semester 2007 and are looking for an explanation of the old 13-point Danish grading scale, you will find a link to that system in the left-hand menu.)

Sidst opdateret af The International Office 16.03.2010