Vietnam Grading System Explained
0–10 Scale (5 to pass)
How do grades from Vietnam 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 Vietnam grading system work?
Vietnamese universities use a 10-point scale where 5.0 is minimum pass.
Vietnamese universities mark on a 10-point scale where 5.0 is the pass mark, and most now also report a 4.0 GPA — a grade point average on the US scale — alongside it under the credit-based system introduced across the sector.
The classifications are Xuất sắc (excellent, 9.0–10), Giỏi (very good, 8.0–8.9), Khá (good, 7.0–7.9) and Trung bình (average, 5.0–6.9). Your degree certificate states the classification, and that word carries more weight with employers than the number does.
Which scale your transcript leads with depends on when and where you studied — older transcripts are 10-point only, newer ones usually show both.
What does each grade mean in Vietnam?
| Range | Classification | ≈ US GPA |
|---|---|---|
| 9.0 – 10.0 | Excellent (Xuất sắc) | 4.0 |
| 8.0 – 8.9 | Very Good (Giỏi) | 3.5 |
| 7.0 – 7.9 | Good (Khá) | 3.0 |
| 6.0 – 6.9 | Fair (Trung bình khá) | 2.5 |
| 5.0 – 5.9 | Average (Trung bình) | 2.0 |
| 0.0 – 4.9 | Fail (Kém) | — |
What does a good grade actually look like 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.
How do WES and other evaluators read grades from Vietnam?
Excellent (9–10) → approximately 4.0 GPA. Very Good (8–8.9) → approximately 3.5 GPA.
You will normally hold a transcript (bảng điểm) and a separate degree certificate (bằng tốt nghiệp) stating the classification, and applications abroad want both. Have the official English translation done through your university or a notary rather than translating it yourself — evaluators reject informal translations, and this is a routine cause of delay.
Credential-evaluator source: Nuffic — Vietnamese grading system · cross-checked against Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), Vietnam · grading data verified 2026-07-24 · how we convert · report an error
Is a degree from Vietnam accepted abroad?
Vietnamese bachelor's degrees run four years (five to six for medicine, pharmacy and some engineering), which meets the 16-year expectation of US graduate schools without the difficulty three-year degrees elsewhere face.
What do people get wrong about grades from Vietnam?
- Multiplying the 10-point score by ten to get a percentage. A Vietnamese 7.5 is a good result, not a mediocre 75% in the US or UK sense.
- Quoting the 4.0 GPA from your transcript without the 10-point score. Universities convert the 10-point figure; the printed GPA is derived and formulas vary.
- Leaving the classification off the application. Xuất sắc and Giỏi are the words a Vietnamese employer or university reads first, and they translate well.
What grade do you need to study abroad from Vietnam?
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 Vietnam'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 Vietnam'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 Vietnam compare, side by side?
Each of these sets Vietnam against one destination in detail — the two grading cultures, the traps specific to that direction, and the converter preset for the route:
- Vietnam vs United States grading system
- Vietnam vs United Kingdom grading system
- Vietnam vs Canada grading system
- Vietnam vs Germany grading system
- Vietnam 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.
- 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.
- 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 Vietnam still good abroad?
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.
Is a degree from Vietnam accepted for a master's abroad?
Vietnamese bachelor's degrees run four years (five to six for medicine, pharmacy and some engineering), which meets the 16-year expectation of US graduate schools without the difficulty three-year degrees elsewhere face.
What grade do you need to study abroad from Vietnam?
It depends on the destination, and the spread is wide. Stated on Vietnam's own scale, the typical taught-master's bar works out at roughly: Australia 6.0–6.7 / 10, Netherlands 6.0–6.7 / 10, New Zealand 6.0–6.7 / 10. Across the 12 destinations whose entry requirements we have read and cited, the lowest bar is Australia at about 6.0–6.7 / 10. 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 Vietnam?
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 6.0–6.7 / 10 on Vietnam'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 Vietnam for?
You will normally hold a transcript (bảng điểm) and a separate degree certificate (bằng tốt nghiệp) stating the classification, and applications abroad want both. Have the official English translation done through your university or a notary rather than translating it yourself — evaluators reject informal translations, and this is a routine cause of delay.