Italy Grading System Explained
18–30 Scale for exams (30 is best, 18 is pass)
How do grades from Italy 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.
⚠️ Italy uses TWO different scales: 18–30 for individual exams and 66–110 for final degree. Enter your exam grades here, not your degree score.
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 Italy grading system work?
Italian university exams use an 18–30 scale where 18 is minimum pass. Final degrees use a separate 66–110 scale. These are NOT interchangeable.
Italy runs two different scales and confusing them is the classic error: individual exams are marked out of 30 with 18 the pass mark, while the final degree is awarded out of 110.
On the exam scale, 30 e lode (30 with honours) is the maximum, and marks are recorded exam by exam rather than as a running average.
The final degree mark out of 110 is calculated from your weighted exam average plus the thesis, with 110 e lode as the top result — so a strong exam record does not automatically produce a top degree mark.
⚠️ Italy uses TWO different scales: 18–30 for individual exams and 66–110 for final degree. Enter your exam grades here, not your degree score.
What does each grade mean in Italy?
| Range | Classification | ≈ US GPA |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 30 e Lode (Excellent) | 4.0 |
| 27 – 29 | Ottimo (Very Good) | 3.5 |
| 24 – 26 | Buono (Good) | 3.0 |
| 21 – 23 | Discreto (Satisfactory) | 2.5 |
| 18 – 20 | Sufficiente (Sufficient) | 2.0 |
What does a good grade actually look like in Italy?
Italian marking is generous at the pass end and demanding at the top: 18 out of 30 clears an exam, but 30 e lode is a genuine distinction. The practical point for anyone applying abroad is to send the right number. A converter or an admissions form asking for your grade usually means the exam scale, while an entry requirement quoted as "83/110" means the degree scale — and quoting one where the other is expected produces an answer that is wildly wrong in either direction.
How do WES and other evaluators read grades from Italy?
30 e Lode → 4.0 GPA. Ottimo (27–29) → approximately 3.5 GPA.
Credential-evaluator source: Nuffic — Italian grading system (Dutch credential evaluator) · cross-checked against Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca (MUR), Italy · grading data verified 2026-07-24 · how we convert · report an error
Is a degree from Italy accepted abroad?
The laurea triennale runs three years, followed by a two-year laurea magistrale. Admission to a magistrale is set per programme and usually combines specific credit requirements in named subject areas with a grade threshold, so the credits matter as much as the mark.
What do people get wrong about grades from Italy?
- Mixing the 18–30 exam scale with the 66–110 degree scale. They measure different things and are not convertible into one another by proportion.
- Reading 18 as a weak result. It is the pass mark, and Italian exams are frequently retaken rather than passed narrowly.
- Overlooking e lode. Both 30 e lode and 110 e lode are distinctions worth stating explicitly on an application.
What grade do you need to study abroad from Italy?
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 Italy'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 Italy'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 Italy compare, side by side?
Each of these sets Italy against one destination in detail — the two grading cultures, the traps specific to that direction, and the converter preset for the route:
- Italy vs United States grading system
- Italy vs United Kingdom grading system
- Italy vs Canada grading system
- Italy vs Germany grading system
- Italy 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.
- Credits / credit hours
- A measure of how much a subject counts toward your degree — bigger subjects carry more credits and pull your average further.
- 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.
- 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.
Frequently asked questions
Is a good grade in Italy still good abroad?
Italian marking is generous at the pass end and demanding at the top: 18 out of 30 clears an exam, but 30 e lode is a genuine distinction. The practical point for anyone applying abroad is to send the right number. A converter or an admissions form asking for your grade usually means the exam scale, while an entry requirement quoted as "83/110" means the degree scale — and quoting one where the other is expected produces an answer that is wildly wrong in either direction.
Is a degree from Italy accepted for a master's abroad?
The laurea triennale runs three years, followed by a two-year laurea magistrale. Admission to a magistrale is set per programme and usually combines specific credit requirements in named subject areas with a grade threshold, so the credits matter as much as the mark.
What grade do you need to study abroad from Italy?
It depends on the destination, and the spread is wide. Stated on Italy's own scale, the typical taught-master's bar works out at roughly: Australia 21–23 / 30, Netherlands 21–23 / 30, New Zealand 21–23 / 30. Across the 11 destinations whose entry requirements we have read and cited, the lowest bar is Australia at about 21–23 / 30. 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 Italy?
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 21–23 / 30 on Italy'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.
What grade do you need for a master's in Italy?
Typically 22 / 30. Italy sets admission per programme rather than nationally, and the requirement is usually framed as "adequate personal preparation" plus specific credits (CFU) in named subject areas — the grade is only one part of it. Bologna's civil engineering laurea magistrale states a 22/30 exam average, or equivalently a final graduation grade of at least 83/110 on Italy's separate degree scale. Published by University of Bologna — Civil Engineering (laurea magistrale) enrolment requirements, checked 2026-07-25. This is an entry requirement, not a guarantee — programmes select competitively above their stated minimum.