Austria vs New Zealand Grading System

How does the Austria grading system work?

Austrian universities use a 1–5 inverted scale identical to Germany. 1 is the best grade, 4 is minimum pass, 5 is fail.

⚠️ Austrian grades are INVERTED — 1 is BEST, 5 is Fail. Same system as Germany.

How does the New Zealand grading system work?

New Zealand universities use a 9-point GPA scale where 4 is typically the minimum pass.

Do Austria and New Zealand mark to the same standard?

No — and it is the difference in marking culture, not the arithmetic, that makes a direct comparison mislead. Here is how each country actually uses its own scale.

What a good grade means in Austria

The inverted, whole-number scale is the thing to state plainly on any application: a 1 is the best possible grade and a 4 is a bare pass, which is counterintuitive to anyone from a percentage system and produces exactly the wrong impression if left unexplained. Because there are only four passing values, an Austrian transcript carries less fine-grained information than a German one, and "mit Auszeichnung" is consequently the strongest signal available — worth stating explicitly where you have it.

What a good grade means in New Zealand

New Zealand marking sits close to the Australian pattern: an A grade starts around 80% and A+ marks are awarded sparingly, so a B+ average is a solid degree rather than a modest one. Postgraduate entry is generally framed as a B average or better in your final-year courses, and universities describe that as an indication of readiness rather than a hard cut-off — applicants below it are commonly routed through a postgraduate certificate or diploma rather than refused outright.

Will a grade from Austria get you into New Zealand?

New Zealand universities typically ask for 6 / 9 for a taught master's — a one-to-two-year postgraduate degree made mostly of classes. On Austria's scale that is roughly 3–4 / 5 (Befriedigend (Satisf.)). New Zealand universities publish this as a letter average rather than a fixed number: a B average in final-year courses, which is 6 on the 9-point scale modelled here. Canterbury frames it as an indication of readiness rather than a hard cut-off, and applicants below it are commonly routed through a postgraduate certificate or diploma instead of being refused.

University of Canterbury — master's degrees, entry · checked 2026-07-25 · the figure in your own terms is a double conversion, so it is a range. how this is worked out

Austrian 1 (Sehr Gut) → 4.0 GPA. Treated equivalently to German credentials by WES.

What goes wrong converting grades from Austria to New Zealand?

Austria runs an inverted scale where 1 is the BEST grade, while New Zealand runs the normal way round. Reading a result from Austria as though higher were better inverts the conclusion entirely.

Mistakes specific to Austria grades

• Reading the scale the wrong way round. A 1 is excellent and a 4 is the minimum pass, the opposite of the percentage instinct.
• Expecting decimal precision. Austrian grades are whole numbers, so there is no equivalent of a German 1.3.
• Omitting mit Auszeichnung. On a four-value scale it is the main way to distinguish an outstanding degree from a good one.

What should you do next, applying from Austria to New Zealand?

1. Check the course, not the country. Entry requirements are set per programme and revised every cycle. The 6 / 9 above is the typical bar, not a guarantee — selective courses ask for more.
2. Do not read the two scales the same way round. Austria runs an inverted scale where a lower number is the better grade, while New Zealand runs the usual way. This is the single most common misreading on this route.
3. Check whether an evaluation is even required. Unlike the US and Canada, New Zealand universities commonly assess foreign transcripts in-house. Confirm on the course page before paying for a report you may not need.
4. Get your documents moving early. Universities normally require your transcript sent directly by your institution rather than as a copy from you, which takes longer than most applicants expect.
5. Read both systems in full. How Austria grading works · How New Zealand grading works

What do these grading terms mean?

GPA (Grade Point Average)

The US way of expressing an overall grade, on a 0–4.0 scale where 4.0 is the top — so a 4.0 is roughly what a 90–100% or a First Class would be elsewhere.

Percentage scale

A 0–100 marking scale — but the numbers are not comparable across countries: 70% is an outstanding result in the UK and a modest one in India.

Credits / credit hours

A measure of how much a subject counts toward your degree — bigger subjects carry more credits and pull your average further.

Transcript

The official document from your university listing every subject you took and the grade you got — not the same as your degree certificate, and universities abroad want both.

Honours degree

A bachelor's degree that includes a higher-level final year or research project — in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand it is often an extra year, and master's entry can depend on it.

Frequently asked questions