Sri Lanka vs Vietnam Grading System

How does the Sri Lanka grading system work?

Sri Lankan universities use a British-style classification system under UGC oversight. A 4.0 GPA scale is now widely used alongside class of degree.

How does the Vietnam grading system work?

Vietnamese universities use a 10-point scale where 5.0 is minimum pass.

Do Sri Lanka and Vietnam 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 Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan marking is strict and the classifications are hard-won: First Class is uncommon, and the state university intake is already a small fraction of A-level candidates, so a Second Class Upper from a Sri Lankan state university represents a strong record within a highly selected group. As with India and Nepal, reading the percentage against an American one badly understates it — a 65% here is a good Second Class Upper rather than a poor result.

What a good grade means in Vietnam

The 10-point scale is used sparingly at the top: a 9 is uncommon and a 10 essentially never awarded for a whole subject, so a graduating average of 8.0 (Giỏi) already places a student well up their cohort. This is the trap for anyone converting mentally by multiplying by ten — a Vietnamese 7.5 is not "75%, a middling result", it is a solid Khá. Credential evaluators who see Vietnamese transcripts regularly know the distribution; a direct decimal comparison does not.

Will a grade from Sri Lanka get you into Vietnam?

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

First Class (3.5–4.0) → approximately 3.85 US GPA.

What goes wrong converting grades from Sri Lanka to Vietnam?

The pass marks differ — 2.00 in Sri Lanka against 5.0 in Vietnam — so the two scales have different usable ranges and the middle of one is not the middle of the other.

Mistakes specific to Sri Lanka grades

• Comparing a Sri Lankan percentage with a US one. A 65% is a Second Class Upper, which is the grade most UK master's courses ask for.
• Leaving the classification off. It travels internationally far better than the raw percentage does.
• Assuming quick document turnaround. Sri Lankan universities can take time to issue and dispatch transcripts directly, as evaluators require.

What should you do next, applying from Sri Lanka to Vietnam?

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, Vietnam 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 Sri Lanka grading works · How Vietnam 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.

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.

First Class Honours

The top degree classification, awarded to a small minority of graduates — usually 70%+ in the UK and Ireland, or a CGPA of 4.50+ on Nigeria's 5.0 scale.

2:1 (Upper Second Class)

The second-highest degree class, and the grade most UK and Irish master's courses ask for — usually 60–69%.

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