Singapore Grading System Explained
CAP 5.0 (NUS/NTU) or GPA 4.0 (SMU) · pass mark 2.00
How do grades from Singapore 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.
⚠️ NUS/NTU use 5.0 CAP, SMU uses 4.0 GPA. Check which university issued your degree.
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 Singapore grading system work?
NUS and NTU use a 5.0 CAP scale. SMU uses a 4.0 GPA. Singaporean degrees are highly regarded internationally.
NUS and NTU grade on a CAP or CGPA out of 5.0 — a cumulative average where 5.0 is the maximum — while SMU uses a 4.0 scale. Which university issued your degree therefore changes what the same number means.
Honours classes are attached to CAP bands: Highest Distinction from 4.50, Distinction from 4.00, Merit from 3.50 and Honours from 3.00. The class, not the number, is what most employers and universities read.
Individual course grades carry their own points, with an A or A+ at 5.0, A− at 4.5 and B+ at 4.0 — which is why a CAP of 4.0 corresponds to a B+ average rather than an A.
⚠️ NUS/NTU use 5.0 CAP, SMU uses 4.0 GPA. Check which university issued your degree.
What does each grade mean in Singapore?
| Range | Classification | ≈ US GPA |
|---|---|---|
| 4.50 – 5.00 | Honours (Highest Distinction) | 3.7 |
| 4.00 – 4.49 | Honours (Distinction) | 3.3 |
| 3.50 – 3.99 | Honours (Merit) | 3.0 |
| 3.00 – 3.49 | Honours | 2.7 |
| 2.00 – 2.99 | Pass | 2.0 |
| 0.00 – 1.99 | Fail | — |
What does a good grade actually look like in Singapore?
Singaporean degrees are highly regarded internationally, and the grading is demanding: NUS and NTU run bell-curve moderation, so grades reflect standing within a strong cohort rather than an absolute mark. That makes a CAP of 4.0 a genuinely good result even though, mapped to US letters, it sits at a B+ rather than an A. The honours class is the signal to lead with abroad, because Highest Distinction and Distinction are understood in Commonwealth terms in a way a raw 5.0-scale number is not.
How do WES and other evaluators read grades from Singapore?
For NUS/NTU (5.0 CAP): 4.0–5.0 (Honours HD) → approximately 4.0 US GPA.
Credential-evaluator source: Scholaro — Singapore grading system (credential-evaluation database) · cross-checked against Ministry of Education, Singapore · grading data verified 2026-07-24 · how we convert · report an error
Is a degree from Singapore accepted abroad?
Singaporean bachelor's degrees run three to four years, with honours normally requiring the fourth. That honours year matters for master's and PhD entry both in Singapore and abroad, and a three-year degree without it is assessed differently.
What do people get wrong about grades from Singapore?
- Reading a CAP of 4.0 as equivalent to a US 4.0. On the 5.0 scale it corresponds to roughly a B+ average — a good result, but not a perfect one.
- Quoting a CAP without saying whether the scale is 5.0 (NUS, NTU) or 4.0 (SMU). The two are not interchangeable.
- Omitting the honours class. Highest Distinction and Distinction translate far better internationally than the underlying number.
What grade do you need to study abroad from Singapore?
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 Singapore'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 Singapore'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 Singapore compare, side by side?
Each of these sets Singapore against one destination in detail — the two grading cultures, the traps specific to that direction, and the converter preset for the route:
- Singapore vs United States grading system
- Singapore vs United Kingdom grading system
- Singapore vs Canada grading system
- Singapore vs Germany grading system
- Singapore 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?
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Frequently asked questions
Is a good grade in Singapore still good abroad?
Singaporean degrees are highly regarded internationally, and the grading is demanding: NUS and NTU run bell-curve moderation, so grades reflect standing within a strong cohort rather than an absolute mark. That makes a CAP of 4.0 a genuinely good result even though, mapped to US letters, it sits at a B+ rather than an A. The honours class is the signal to lead with abroad, because Highest Distinction and Distinction are understood in Commonwealth terms in a way a raw 5.0-scale number is not.
Is a degree from Singapore accepted for a master's abroad?
Singaporean bachelor's degrees run three to four years, with honours normally requiring the fourth. That honours year matters for master's and PhD entry both in Singapore and abroad, and a three-year degree without it is assessed differently.
What grade do you need to study abroad from Singapore?
It depends on the destination, and the spread is wide. Stated on Singapore's own scale, the typical taught-master's bar works out at roughly: Australia 2.71–3.33 / 5, Netherlands 2.71–3.33 / 5, New Zealand 2.71–3.33 / 5. Across the 11 destinations whose entry requirements we have read and cited, the lowest bar is Australia at about 2.71–3.33 / 5. 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 Singapore?
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 2.71–3.33 / 5 on Singapore'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 Singapore?
Typically 3.50 / 5. Singapore states this as an honours class rather than a CAP figure — Honours (Merit) / Second Class and above, which begins at 3.5 on the 5.0 CAP scale modelled here. NTU's published bar is looser still ("at least a good Bachelor degree"). Both universities stress that meeting the minimum does not imply admission, because selection is competitive against the rest of the applicant pool. Published by NUS Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences — graduate coursework admission requirements, checked 2026-07-25. This is an entry requirement, not a guarantee — programmes select competitively above their stated minimum.