South Korea Grading System Explained
GPA (4.5 or 4.0 scale) · pass mark 2.00
How do grades from South Korea 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.
⚠️ South Korean universities use 4.5 OR 4.0 scales. Check your transcript carefully.
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 South Korea grading system work?
South Korean universities use either a 4.5 or 4.0 GPA scale — 4.5 is most common. Always check your transcript to confirm which applies.
Korean universities grade on a GPA — a grade point average — but usually out of 4.5 rather than 4.0, with A+ at 4.5 and A0 at 4.0. Seoul National and Yonsei use a 4.3 scale, and some institutions use 4.0, so the maximum has to be stated for the number to mean anything.
Letter grades map to percentage bands roughly as A+ 95–100, A0 90–94, B+ 85–89, B0 80–84, and so on down to D0 at 60–64, with F below.
Because the top of the scale is 4.5 rather than 4.0, a Korean 4.0 is an A — a strong result, not a perfect one — and that distinction is routinely lost abroad.
⚠️ South Korean universities use 4.5 OR 4.0 scales. Check your transcript carefully.
What does each grade mean in South Korea?
| Range | Classification | ≈ US GPA |
|---|---|---|
| 4.00 – 4.50 | Excellent | 4.0 |
| 3.50 – 3.99 | Very Good | 3.3 |
| 3.00 – 3.49 | Good | 2.7 |
| 2.00 – 2.99 | Pass | 2.2 |
| 0.00 – 1.99 | Fail | — |
What does a good grade actually look like in South Korea?
Korean grading is competitive rather than lenient: many universities operate relative grading, capping the share of a class that can receive an A regardless of absolute performance. That makes a high GPA harder to earn than the numbers suggest and means small differences between students can reflect cohort competition rather than ability. A 3.5 on the 4.5 scale is a respectable result; treating it as "3.5 out of 4.0" both overstates it arithmetically and understates the effort behind it.
How do WES and other evaluators read grades from South Korea?
For the 4.5 scale, WES normalises to a 4.0 equivalent. A 4.0/4.5 maps to approximately 3.6 US GPA.
Korean universities issue English transcripts directly and are generally quick about it. The transcript states the scale in use — check it says 4.5, 4.3 or 4.0 explicitly, because a transcript that omits the maximum is the single most common cause of a Korean GPA being misread abroad.
Credential-evaluator source: Scholaro — South Korea grading system (credential-evaluation database) · cross-checked against Ministry of Education, Republic of Korea · grading data verified 2026-07-24 · how we convert · report an error
Is a degree from South Korea accepted abroad?
Korean bachelor's degrees run four years, which satisfies the 16-year expectation of US graduate schools. Male graduates commonly have around two years of compulsory military service on their record; it is not academic, but it explains a gap and is worth stating plainly on an application.
What do people get wrong about grades from South Korea?
- Quoting a Korean GPA without its maximum. "3.8" means different things on the 4.5, 4.3 and 4.0 scales, and the 4.5 scale is the most common.
- Assuming a 4.0 is a perfect score. On the standard Korean scale that is an A0, one step below the A+ ceiling of 4.5.
- Converting by simple proportion. Evaluators normalise Korean scales to a 4.0 equivalent rather than dividing, so a 4.0/4.5 lands near a US 3.6 rather than 3.56.
What grade do you need to study abroad from South Korea?
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 South Korea'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 South Korea'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 South Korea compare, side by side?
Each of these sets South Korea against one destination in detail — the two grading cultures, the traps specific to that direction, and the converter preset for the route:
- South Korea vs United States grading system
- South Korea vs United Kingdom grading system
- South Korea vs Canada grading system
- South Korea vs Germany grading system
- South Korea 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?
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 South Korea still good abroad?
Korean grading is competitive rather than lenient: many universities operate relative grading, capping the share of a class that can receive an A regardless of absolute performance. That makes a high GPA harder to earn than the numbers suggest and means small differences between students can reflect cohort competition rather than ability. A 3.5 on the 4.5 scale is a respectable result; treating it as "3.5 out of 4.0" both overstates it arithmetically and understates the effort behind it.
Is a degree from South Korea accepted for a master's abroad?
Korean bachelor's degrees run four years, which satisfies the 16-year expectation of US graduate schools. Male graduates commonly have around two years of compulsory military service on their record; it is not academic, but it explains a gap and is worth stating plainly on an application.
What grade do you need to study abroad from South Korea?
It depends on the destination, and the spread is wide. Stated on South Korea's own scale, the typical taught-master's bar works out at roughly: Australia 2.59–3.16 / 4.5, Netherlands 2.59–3.16 / 4.5, New Zealand 2.59–3.16 / 4.5. Across the 12 destinations whose entry requirements we have read and cited, the lowest bar is Australia at about 2.59–3.16 / 4.5. 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 South Korea?
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 2.59–3.16 / 4.5 on South Korea'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 documents do universities abroad ask students from South Korea for?
Korean universities issue English transcripts directly and are generally quick about it. The transcript states the scale in use — check it says 4.5, 4.3 or 4.0 explicitly, because a transcript that omits the maximum is the single most common cause of a Korean GPA being misread abroad.