NUS GPA Calculator & Grading System (5.0 Scale, Honours Classification)

NUS grading scale

NUS uses a 5-point grade point scale. The table below is the registrar's transcript legend for undergraduates admitted from AY2021/22 (earlier cohorts used the same points under the old "CAP" name).

Grade	Grade point	Notes
A+	5.0	Same 5.0 as A — no bonus for A+
A	5.0
A-	4.5
B+	4.0
B	3.5
B-	3.0
C+	2.5
C	2.0
D+	1.5
D	1.0
F	0.0	Counts as 0 in GPA unless converted to U

Non-letter notations — S (Satisfactory), U (Unsatisfactory), CS/CU, IC (Incomplete), IP (In Progress), AUD, EXE (Exempted), W and WU (Withdrawn) — carry no grade points and are excluded from the GPA.

How NUS calculates GPA

NUS weights every letter-graded course by its Units (one Unit is 2.5 study hours a week; most courses are 4 Units). The cumulative GPA covers every letter-graded course you have attempted, including F grades that were not converted to U.

GPA = Σ (Grade point × Units) ÷ Σ Units

Worked example

A first-semester Computing student takes four 4-Unit courses and one 2-Unit course:

Course	Units	Grade	Points	Quality Pts
CS1010S Programming Methodology	4	A-	4.5	18.0
MA1521 Calculus for Computing	4	B+	4.0	16.0
GEA1000 Quantitative Reasoning	4	A	5.0	20.0
ES2660 Communicating in the IT Age	4	B	3.5	14.0
CFG1002 Career Catalyst	2	A	5.0	10.0
Total	18			78.0

GPA = 78.0 ÷ 18 = 4.33

A semester GPA of 4.33 sits in the Honours (Distinction) band. Note how the 2-Unit course moves the result far less than the 4-Unit ones — Units are the weights.

NUS honours classification

For 160-Unit Honours programmes (students admitted from AY2012/13), the class of honours is read straight off the final cumulative GPA:

Class of honours	Cumulative GPA
Honours (Highest Distinction)	4.50 – 5.00
Honours (Distinction)	4.00 – 4.49
Honours (Merit)	3.50 – 3.99
Honours	3.00 – 3.49
Pass	2.00 – 2.99

120-Unit Bachelor's programmes (no honours) award Pass with Merit at GPA 3.00 and above and Pass at 2.00 – 2.99. Faculties such as Law and Medicine publish their own variants — check your faculty handbook.

NUS S/U option (Grade-Free Scheme)

Undergraduates admitted from AY2014/15 get 32 Units of Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory option, and from AY2016/17 the whole first year is grade-free. You declare S/U after seeing the letter grade: a grade of D or better becomes S, an F becomes U, and the course drops out of the GPA either way (credit is awarded only for S). That makes the S/U option the single most powerful GPA tool at NUS — it lets you remove your worst first-year grades entirely rather than average them in.

Tip: use the full calculator to compare your GPA with and without a borderline course before the S/U deadline.

Dean's List and academic standing

There is no university-wide Dean's List rule. Faculties typically require a semester GPA of at least 4.50, placement in the top 5% of the cohort and a minimum load of letter-graded Units (School of Computing asks for 16 Units including two SoC courses). First-year students on the grade-free scheme are not automatically considered.

On the other end, NUS places students whose semester GPA falls below 2.00 on academic warning or probation; check the current NUS Bulletin for the exact escalation steps, which we could not verify from a public page.

NUS GPA to percentage and to the US 4.0 scale

NUS publishes no official conversion to percentages or to the US 4.0 scale, and World Education Services evaluates Singapore transcripts case by case. Two unofficial approaches are common: a straight linear scale (divide by 5, so GPA 4.5 ≈ 90% ≈ 3.6/4.0), or mapping by honours band (Highest Distinction ≈ UK First / US "A"). When a form asks for your GPA, enter 4.32 / 5.0 with the scale stated rather than a converted number — see our GPA scale converter if you need an approximate 4.0 figure.

NUS GPA FAQ

What is a good GPA at NUS?

A cumulative GPA of 4.00 or above puts you in the Honours (Distinction) band, and 4.50 or above is Highest Distinction — the top classification. Dean's List in most faculties requires a semester GPA of at least 4.50 and a top-5% finish.

Is NUS CAP the same as GPA?

Yes. On 1 August 2023 NUS renamed Cumulative Average Point (CAP) to GPA, along with Module → Course and Modular Credit → Unit. The scale and the points are unchanged.

Do S/U courses count in the NUS GPA?

No. A course declared S/U shows S or U on the transcript and is excluded from the GPA. You receive credit only for an S (grade D or better).

What GPA do I need for First Class Honours at NUS?

NUS no longer uses "First Class"; the equivalent is Honours (Highest Distinction), awarded at a cumulative GPA of 4.50 and above. Honours (Distinction), the old Second Upper, starts at 4.00.

How is NUS GPA different from NTU?

The grade points and honours bands are identical (5.0 scale, 4.50 for Highest Distinction). The pass/fail mechanics differ: NUS uses the S/U option with a 32-Unit quota, while NTU uses the Flexible Grading Option. See the NTU GPA guide.

Other Singapore schools

See the Singapore GPA overview for how the 5.0 university scale, the 4.0 polytechnic scale and the ITE scale line up, or jump to a school:

Sources

Grade points and classification bands above are taken from these official NUS pages, checked 2026-09-24. Always confirm against your own faculty handbook, which may add programme-specific rules.