Peru vs United Arab Emirates Grading System

How does the Peru grading system work?

Peruvian universities use a 0–20 scale where 11 is the minimum pass — different from France (10) and not a 50% midpoint.

⚠️ Peruvian pass mark is 11/20, not 10/20 as in France. A 17+ is an excellent result.

How does the United Arab Emirates grading system work?

UAE universities use a 4.0 GPA scale aligned with US conventions under Ministry of Education and KHDA oversight.

Do Peru and the United Arab Emirates 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 Peru

As with every 20-point system, the top of the scale is barely used: a 17 is an excellent result and marks approaching 20 are effectively unavailable, so an aggregate of 14 or 15 represents a solid degree. Peru's added complication is that the pass mark and the descriptor boundaries both vary between universities, which means two Peruvian transcripts showing the same number can describe meaningfully different standings — the grading key is the only reliable way to tell.

What a good grade means in the United Arab Emirates

Because the 4.0 scale maps almost directly onto the US one, UAE grades need little translation, and a 3.0 CGPA is the standard published bar for master's entry within the country itself. The genuine complication is not the scale but the sheer variety of institutions: a degree from a branch campus of a British university will be classified in British terms while a degree from a US-modelled institution reports a straight GPA, and an applicant should present whichever framing their transcript actually uses rather than converting between them.

Will a grade from Peru get you into the United Arab Emirates?

United Arab Emirates universities typically ask for 3.00 / 4 for a taught master's — a one-to-two-year postgraduate degree made mostly of classes. On Peru's scale that is roughly 14.3–15.5 / 20 (Muy Bueno (Very Good)). A 3.0/4.0 cumulative GPA is the standard UAE master's entry bar. UAEU also operates a conditional route for applicants between 2.5 and 3.0, who must then reach a 3.0 across their first 9 credit hours — so a grade below the threshold is a condition to satisfy rather than an automatic refusal.

United Arab Emirates University, College of Graduate Studies — admission · checked 2026-07-25 · the figure in your own terms is a double conversion, so it is a range. how this is worked out

Excelente (17–20) → approximately 4.0 GPA.

What goes wrong converting grades from Peru to the United Arab Emirates?

The pass marks differ — 11.0 in Peru against 2.00 in the United Arab Emirates — so the two scales have different usable ranges and the middle of one is not the middle of the other.

Mistakes specific to Peru grades

• Multiplying a 20-point mark by five. A 14/20 is a good Peruvian degree; "70%" carries a different meaning in every destination country.
• Assuming the pass mark is fixed. It is 11 at most universities and 12 at some, which shifts what the middle of the scale means.
• Expecting marks near 20. The upper reaches of the scale are effectively unused, as in France and Morocco.

What should you do next, applying from Peru to the United Arab Emirates?

1. Check the course, not the country. Entry requirements are set per programme and revised every cycle. The 3.00 / 4 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, United Arab Emirates 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 Peru grading works · How United Arab Emirates 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.

CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average)

The same idea as a GPA but covering your whole degree rather than one term — the scale differs by country (India 10, Nigeria 5.0, Pakistan 4.0), so the number alone means nothing without its scale.

Degree classification

A named band your final result falls into — First Class, 2:1, Distinction — used across the UK, Ireland, Nigeria, India and much of the Commonwealth instead of a single number.

Frequently asked questions