Brazil vs China Grading System

How does the Brazil grading system work?

Brazilian universities use a 0–10 scale with 5.0 as the pass mark. Grading varies between public and private institutions.

How does the China grading system work?

Chinese universities use a 100-point scale with 60 as the minimum pass. The Gaokao entrance exam score is NOT a GPA equivalent and must never be used for international applications.

⚠️ The Gaokao score is your entrance exam result — not your university GPA. Use course transcript grades for international applications.

Do Brazil and China 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 Brazil

The variable pass mark is the detail that matters most: a 6.5 means something quite different at an institution passing at 5 than at one passing at 7, so the number alone under-describes the result. On top of that the 0–10 scale is used conservatively at the upper end, with 9s uncommon and 10s rare, so a 7.5 is a solid degree rather than the mediocre 75% it becomes under direct conversion. Send the grading key from your transcript, because it states your university's own pass mark.

What a good grade means in China

Chinese marking deflates at the top. A course grade above 90 is genuinely hard to get, and leading universities such as Fudan and Shanghai Jiao Tong set A+ at 95 or above. An overall average in the low 90s already marks an outstanding graduate; a 95 aggregate is effectively unheard of. Admissions offices that see Chinese transcripts regularly understand this — an 85 average from a well-regarded Chinese university is a strong result, not a middling one.

Will a grade from Brazil get you into China?

We do not yet hold published entry requirements for China, so we do not compare your grade against a bar we cannot cite. The conversion above still tells you how your result reads in China terms.

WES evaluates Brazilian credentials case-by-case. Course-by-course evaluation recommended.

What goes wrong converting grades from Brazil to China?

China rarely awards near the top of its own scale — 92 is realistically the ceiling rather than 100 — so a converted result will look lower than you expect even when it is strong.

Mistakes specific to Brazil grades

• Multiplying by ten to get a percentage. A Brazilian 7.5 is a good result, not the modest 75% it appears to be in US terms.
• Assuming a national pass mark. It varies by institution between 5 and 7, which changes what any given grade means.
• Omitting the histórico escolar. Evaluators want the full academic record rather than the diploma alone.

What should you do next, applying from Brazil to China?

1. 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.
2. Check whether an evaluation is even required. Unlike the US and Canada, China universities commonly assess foreign transcripts in-house. Confirm on the course page before paying for a report you may not need.
3. 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.
4. Read both systems in full. How Brazil grading works · How China grading works

What do these grading terms mean?

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.

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.

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.

Credential evaluation

A paid report from an approved company that restates your foreign qualification in local terms, which many US and Canadian universities require before they will assess you.

WES

World Education Services, the most widely accepted credential evaluation company for the US and Canada — it converts your transcript into a US GPA that universities will accept.

Grade compression

Where a marking culture rarely uses the top of its own scale, so the highest grades anyone actually earns sit well below the theoretical maximum.

Frequently asked questions