New Zealand vs Sweden Grading System
Enter your grade to convert between GPA (9-Point Scale) or Letter Grades and A–F / U–G–VG–MVG
A Bachelor's / first-degree grade — for graduate (Master's) admission or employment
Got a school-leaving qualification instead — A-levels, Class 12, WASSCE, the Abitur? Here's what actually happens to those.
Hover or tap a band to see what it means.
Hover or tap a band to see what it means.
⚠️ Many Swedish transcripts show only Pass/Fail or U/G/VG — no numerical grade. Conversion precision is limited.
Enter a grade above to see what it means in Sweden
You'll get the classification it corresponds to, the range it falls in rather than a single false-precise number, and how firm that answer is.
How does the New Zealand grading system work?
New Zealand universities use a 9-point GPA scale where 4 is typically the minimum pass.
Credential-evaluator source: Scholaro — New Zealand 9-point GPA (credential-evaluation database) · cross-checked against Tertiary Education Commission, New Zealand · grading data verified 2026-07-24 · how we convert · report an error
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
Do New Zealand 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 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.
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 New Zealand get you into Sweden?
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.
NZ GPA 9 (A+) → 4.0 US GPA. GPA 7 (B+) → approximately 3.3.
What goes wrong converting grades from New Zealand to Sweden?
The pass marks differ — 4 in New Zealand against 50 in Sweden — so the two scales have different usable ranges and the middle of one is not the middle of the other.
Mistakes specific to New Zealand grades
- Reading the nine-point GPA against a 4.0 scale. A New Zealand 7 is a B+, not a near-perfect result, and the difference is large.
- Assuming the whole degree counts. Postgraduate entry usually looks at your final-year or highest-level courses.
- Treating a shortfall as a refusal. A postgraduate certificate or diploma is the normal bridging route into a New Zealand master's.
What should you do next, applying from New Zealand 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.
- 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 New Zealand 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Credits / credit hours
- A measure of how much a subject counts toward your degree — bigger subjects carry more credits and pull your average further.
Frequently asked questions
What is a 6 from New Zealand on Sweden's scale?
Approximately 52–65 / 100 — Pass (Godkänd / G). 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 New Zealand?
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.