Netherlands vs New Zealand Grading System

How does the Netherlands grading system work?

Dutch universities use a 1–10 scale where 6 is the minimum pass. A 10 is almost never awarded. An 8 is genuinely excellent performance.

⚠️ A 10/10 is almost never awarded in the Netherlands. An 8 or 9 is outstanding.

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 the Netherlands 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 the Netherlands

This is the most extreme grade compression of any major destination, and Nuffic — the Dutch credential authority — states it outright: high grades of 9 and 10 are rarely awarded regardless of how good the work is, with a 10 given in roughly 0.1% of cases. The most common grades are 6 and 7, and an average of 8 is considered excellent. The convention dates to the nineteenth century, when 10 was defined as absolute perfection. Read a Dutch 7.5 as a genuinely good degree, and never as "75%".

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 the Netherlands 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 Netherlands's scale that is roughly 6.8–7.2 / 10 (Satisfactory (Ruim vold.)). 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

An 8.0 → approximately 3.3 GPA. A 9+ → approximately 4.0 GPA.

What goes wrong converting grades from the Netherlands to New Zealand?

Netherlands rarely awards near the top of its own scale, so a result that looks modest in the Netherlands terms converts higher than a direct comparison suggests.

Mistakes specific to the Netherlands grades

• Multiplying a Dutch grade by ten. An 8.0 is not "80%" — it is an excellent result that few students average across a degree.
• Expecting a degree classification. Dutch degrees generally have none; cum laude exists but is awarded sparingly and on institutional rules.
• Assuming a Dutch bachelor's guarantees entry to any Dutch master's. Research master's and selective programmes set their own grade bars, typically 7.0 to 7.5.

What should you do next, applying from the Netherlands 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. Dutch institutions issue a transcript plus a diploma supplement explaining the grading scale in English — send the supplement, because it makes the 0.1% point about 10s for you and pre-empts the misreading that costs Dutch applicants most.
4. Read both systems in full. How Netherlands 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.

Taught master's

A one-to-two-year postgraduate degree made mostly of classes and assignments, as opposed to a research master's built around a thesis.

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