Iran vs New Zealand Grading System

How does the Iran grading system work?

Iranian universities use a 0–20 scale where 10 is the minimum pass. Scores of 17+ are genuinely excellent.

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 Iran 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 Iran

As in every 20-point system, the top of the scale is largely unused: a 17 is an excellent result and marks above 18 are very rare, so a moadel of 15 represents a strong degree rather than the 75% it becomes under arithmetic conversion. Iranian universities — Sharif, Tehran and Amirkabir in particular — are well known to admissions committees in engineering and the sciences, and a strong moadel from those institutions is read in context rather than at face value.

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 Iran 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 Iran's scale that is roughly 12.5–13.3 / 20 (Good). 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

Excellent (17–20) → approximately 4.0 GPA.

What goes wrong converting grades from Iran to New Zealand?

The pass marks differ — 10.0 in Iran against 4 in New Zealand — so the two scales have different usable ranges and the middle of one is not the middle of the other.

Mistakes specific to Iran grades

• Multiplying the 20-point average by five. A 15/20 is a strong Iranian degree; "75%" does not convey that in US terms.
• Assuming the pass mark is always 10. Some institutions pass at 12 and postgraduate thresholds are higher.
• Underestimating document lead times. Obtaining and legalising Iranian transcripts for use abroad frequently takes longer than applicants expect.

What should you do next, applying from Iran 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. 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.
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 Iran grading works · How New Zealand 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.

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.

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.

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