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.

Credential-evaluator source: Scholaro — Austria inverted 1–5 scale (credential-evaluation database) · cross-checked against Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Forschung, Austria · grading data verified 2026-07-24 · how we convert · report an error

Full Austria guide

How does the Sweden grading system work?

Swedish universities use a three-tier system: U (Fail), G (Pass), VG (Pass with distinction). Many transcripts show only descriptors with no numerical grade, limiting conversion precision.

⚠️ Many Swedish transcripts show only Pass/Fail or U/G/VG — no numerical grade. Conversion precision is limited.

Credential-evaluator source: Scholaro — Sweden grading system (multiple scales in use) · source-verification in progress · how we convert · report an error

Full Sweden guide

Do Austria and Sweden 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 Sweden

This is the one country on the site where we openly say the conversion is an approximation rather than a measurement, and the reason is structural rather than a gap in our research: there is no common scale to convert from. A Swedish applicant is generally better served presenting their transcript as it is, with the ECTS letters where they exist, than converting it into a percentage or GPA that implies a precision the original never had. Admissions offices across Europe read Swedish transcripts routinely and are used to this.

Will a grade from Austria get you into Sweden?

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

What goes wrong converting grades from Austria to Sweden?

Austria runs an inverted scale where 1 is the BEST grade, while Sweden 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 Sweden?

Check the course, not the country. Entry requirements are set per programme and revised every cycle. We hold no published national bar for this destination, so the course page is the only figure that binds.
Do not read the two scales the same way round. Austria runs an inverted scale where a lower number is the better grade, while Sweden runs the usual way. This is the single most common misreading on this route.
Check whether an evaluation is even required. Unlike the US and Canada, Sweden universities commonly assess foreign transcripts in-house. Confirm on the course page before paying for a report you may not need.
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.
Read both systems in full. How Austria grading works · How Sweden 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.

Frequently asked questions

What is a 1 from Austria on Sweden's scale?

Approximately 80–100 / 100 — Pass with special distinction (MVG). That is a range rather than a single number because grade conversion is an estimate, and the range widens where either country's data is less certain. Enter your own grade in the converter above for your figure.

Can you study a master's in Sweden with a degree from Austria?

Sweden has no single national grading scale — universities variously use A–F, G/VG/MVG, or plain pass/fail, and many courses award no numeric grade at all. There is no common scale on which an entry requirement could be stated, and Swedish master's selection weighs completed credits and course match more heavily than a grade average. So converting your grade tells you how your result reads in Sweden terms, but it will not tell you whether you clear a bar — because no such bar is published.

Austria vs Sweden Grading System