Iran Grading System Explained
0–20 Scale (10 to pass)
How do grades from Iran convert to US GPA?
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.
Enter a grade above to see what it means in the United States
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 Iran grading system work?
Iranian universities use a 0–20 scale where 10 is the minimum pass. Scores of 17+ are genuinely excellent.
Iranian universities mark on a 0–20 scale with 10 as the pass mark at undergraduate level, following the continental European pattern also used in France and Morocco.
Some institutions require 12 rather than 10 to pass, and postgraduate programmes generally set a higher threshold, so the pass mark is not uniform.
Grades are reported to one or two decimal places, and the overall result is a weighted average (moadel) across the degree.
What does each grade mean in Iran?
| Range | Classification | ≈ US GPA |
|---|---|---|
| 17.0 – 20.0 | Excellent | 4.0 |
| 15.0 – 16.9 | Very Good | 3.3 |
| 13.0 – 14.9 | Good | 2.7 |
| 10.0 – 12.9 | Pass | 2.0 |
| 0.0 – 9.9 | Fail | — |
What does a good grade actually look like 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.
How do WES and other evaluators read grades from Iran?
Excellent (17–20) → approximately 4.0 GPA.
Credential-evaluator source: Scholaro — Iran grading system (credential-evaluation database) · cross-checked against Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, Iran · grading data verified 2026-07-24 · how we convert · report an error
Is a degree from Iran accepted abroad?
Iranian bachelor's degrees (karshenasi) run four years, which meets the 16-year expectation of US graduate schools. They are followed by the karshenasi arshad master's, typically two years.
What do people get wrong about grades from Iran?
- 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 grade do you need to study abroad from Iran?
Each destination below publishes its own typical entry requirement for a taught master's — a one-to-two-year postgraduate degree made mostly of classes. The last column restates that bar in Iran's own grading terms, so you can hold it against your actual transcript instead of converting in your head.
The last column is a double conversion — the destination's bar onto the US 4.0 scale and then onto Iran's, so its uncertainty is wider than a single conversion and it is shown as a range for that reason. Treat it as orientation, and check the course page for the bar that actually binds. How this is worked out.
Only destinations whose entry requirement we have read and cited appear here. Several countries publish no numeric bar at all — France admits on the dossier, Japan by entrance examination — and others we simply have not researched yet. An absent row never means “no requirement”.
The last column links the organisations that maintain each country's programme data — we hold none of it ourselves, and none of them can tell you whether you will be admitted. Several countries have no single national directory for postgraduate study at all: master's applications go straight to the university, so the course page is the authoritative source.
How do grades from Iran compare, side by side?
Each of these sets Iran against one destination in detail — the two grading cultures, the traps specific to that direction, and the converter preset for the route:
- Iran vs United States grading system
- Iran vs United Kingdom grading system
- Iran vs Canada grading system
- Iran vs Germany grading system
- Iran vs Australia grading system
Applying to the US or Canada? Read the WES credential evaluation guide before you order — choosing the wrong report type is the most common (and costly) mistake.
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.
Frequently asked questions
Is a good grade in Iran still good abroad?
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.
Is a degree from Iran accepted for a master's abroad?
Iranian bachelor's degrees (karshenasi) run four years, which meets the 16-year expectation of US graduate schools. They are followed by the karshenasi arshad master's, typically two years.
What grade do you need to study abroad from Iran?
It depends on the destination, and the spread is wide. Stated on Iran's own scale, the typical taught-master's bar works out at roughly: Australia 12.1–13.6 / 20, Netherlands 12.5–13.3 / 20, New Zealand 12.5–13.3 / 20. Across the 12 destinations whose entry requirements we have read and cited, the lowest bar is Australia at about 12.1–13.6 / 20. These are typical requirements, not guarantees — selective programmes ask for more, and each figure is a conversion, so treat it as orientation and check the course page.
Can you study abroad with a low grade from Iran?
Often yes, but be specific rather than hopeful about it. The lowest published bar among the destinations we hold data for is Australia at roughly 12.1–13.6 / 20 on Iran's scale, so a result below that clears no destination on our list on grades alone. Below the bar the route is not closed — conversion, qualifying and pre-master's programmes exist in most countries and are designed for exactly this — but expect to need one, and expect grades to matter more where the programme is competitive. Convert your own grade above to see which bars it actually clears.