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Nines System




The system owes its name to the fact that each of the top four letter grades in it cover a range of nine points. The minimum passing mark under it is almost always 65%, or five points higher than in the more widely-used Tens System .

The simplest variant of the Nines System is shown below:

  • 92 to 100 = A

  • 83 to 91 = B

  • 74 to 82 = C

  • 65 to 73 = D

  • Below 65 = F


The option exists to append "+" and "−" signs to each of the letters (but customarily not to the "F"), splitting each of the top four letter grades into three subdivisions, covering a span of three points each as nine is evenly divisible by three. This yields the following possible grades:

  • 98 to 100 = A+

  • 95 to 97 = A

  • 92 to 94 = A−

  • 89 to 91 = B+

  • 86 to 88 = B

  • 83 to 85 = B−

  • 80 to 82 = C+

  • 77 to 79 = C

  • 74 to 76 = C−

  • 71 to 73 = D+

  • 68 to 70 = D

  • 65 to 67 = D−

  • Below 65 = F


An "F+" (or "E") grade will sometimes be added, often with a range of 60 to 64, and less commonly an "F−" will exist as well, often for sub-50 grades.

At some institutions the "A+" grade is not recognized, usually due to the fact that the Grade Point Average system is in use; when this scenario arises, the "A+" range shown above may merely be lumped in with the "A," or a more even division of the "A" category may be observed, for example by reckoning 96 to 100 as "A" and 92 to 95 as "A−."


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