How to Calculate GPA in Nigerian Universities & Polytechnics

The New Pass Mark in the Nigerian Universities
The New National Universities Commission (NUC) Benchmarks:

1. The new pass mark for all courses in all the Universities in Nigeria is 45% according to the new NUC benchmark on minimum academic standards in Nigerian Universities.

2. The new pass grade now in view of the above becomes “D” or 45% and above instead of the previous “E”. Therefore wherever the former pass mark of 40% or E is used herein should be read to mean 45% or D.

3. With effect from the 2013/2014 Academic session, Pass degree will be abolished in the University of Nigeria in accordance with the decision of the NUC. This means that students that was admitted from the year 2012 backward (i.e. 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, …, to when the world began) will not be affected by this new change.

4. Also further new changes in line with the NUC benchmarks are in the process of being passed into law by the Senate of the University of Nigeria and other Nigerian Universities. These changes will be reflected in the subsequent editions of the academic regulations once they are passed into law by the Senate.

The above benchmark/decree due confused students especially item 2 because some students will say that school are no longer making use of E grade while other will say that it is the D grade they remove. Below is the explanation of what it means.

1. Universities Grading System

Prior to the benchmark here is the value/range of each letter grade in Nigerian Universities.

The Old Grading System Table

Percentage Score	Letter Grade	Points	Rating/Remark
70 – 100	A	5	Excellent
60 – 69	B	4	Very Good
50 – 59	C	3	Good
45 – 49	D	2	Fair
*40 – 44	E	1	Pass
0 – 30	F	0	Fail

* In line with the new NUC benchmark “E” is longer the pass score/mark

And now here is the change and a student’s work(s) in the University is presently graded in the following letters and each of the letters carries an equivalent number of points, thus:

The New Grading System Table

Percentage Scores	Letter Grades	Points	Rating/Remark
70 – 100	A	5	Excellent
60 – 69	B	4	Very Good
50 – 59	C	3	Good
*45 – 49	D	2	Pass
0 – 44	F	0	Fail

*45% is now the new minimum pass score. So therefore the minimum passing grade for all courses, including electives and General Studies shall be ‘D’. However all examples here will be based on the new change (benchmark).

The Grade Point Average
At the end of each semester, a student’s grade point average is worked out using the above grading system. Supposing the student offers the following courses in his/her first semester:

Course code	Title of Course	Credit Unit
GSP 101	The Use of English I	2
GSP 111	Use of Library	2
GSP 105	Natural Science I	2
GSP 201	Social Sciences I	2
COS 101	Introduction to Computer Science	2
STA 131	Inference I	2
MTH 221	Real Analysis I	3
	Total Credit Units	15

Assuming that the student obtains C, A, D, A, D, B and C respectively in the courses, corresponding to the following grade points respectively 3, 5, 2, 5, 2, 4, and . Use the new grading system, the total point of each of the courses will be worked out as follows:

The credit unit of each course is multiply with the grade point corresponding to the letter grade of the course in concerned i.e. Total Point of a course = credit unit of the course times Grade point of the course, and do the same for all other courses thus:

First Semester GPA Calculation Table

Course Code	Credit Unit	Letter Grade	Points Grade	Credit x Points	Total Points
GSP 101	2	C	3	2 x 3	6
GSP 111	2	A	5	2 x 5	10
GSP 105	2	D	2	2 x 2	4
GSP 201	2	A	5	2 x 5	10
COS 101	2	D	2	2 x 2	4
STA 131	2	B	4	2 x 4	8
MTH 221	3	C	3	3 x 3	9
				Total Points	51

To calculate the grade point average, the total number of points, 51, is divided by the total number of credit units 15. Noting that, there is no room for approximation in calculation of GPA thus;
First Semester GPA = Total points/Total Credit Units = 51/15 = 3.4

Second Semester GPA Calculation
Supposing the student offers the following courses in his/her second semester:

Course code	Title of Course	Credit Unit
CHM 112	Basic Principles of Physical Chemistry	2
GSP 208	Humanities II	2
GSP 106	Natural Science II	2
GSP 202	Social Sciences II	2
BIO 152	General Biology II	3
PHY 196	Practical Physical III	2
GLG 142	Earth’s History	3
	Total Credit Units	16

And the student obtains the following grades A, A, C, F, D, D and B on the courses respectively. Then the students second semester GPA will be shown on the table below.

Course Code	Credit Unit	Letter Grade	Points Grade	Credit x Points	Total Points
CHM 112	2	A	5	2 x 5	10
GSP 208	2	A	5	2 x 5	10
GSP 106	2	C	3	2 x 3	6
GSP 202	2	F	0	2 x 0	0
BIO 152	3	D	2	3 x 2	6
PHY 196	2	D	2	2 x 2	4
GLG 142	3	B	4	3 x 4	12
				Total Points	48

Second Semester GPA = Total points/Total Credit Units = 48/16 = 3.0 = 3.0.

A cumulative grade point average (CGPA) is the sum of first semester and second semester GPA divide by two (2); that is the two semesters, which is the total number of semester in a particular year of study. Thus the student’s first year GPA is calculated as follows:

First Year:
CGPA = First semester GPA + Second semester GPA / 2 = (3.4 + 3.0)/2 = 6.4 / 2 = 3.2.
First Year CGPA = 3.2 (2nd Class Honours Lower (2/2)).

A student who runs a four years programme, his/her final year result will be calculated as follow:
FCGPA = Total sum of all the CGPA/Number of years of the programme.

If such the student got the following CGPA during her study:
First Year CGPA = 3.2
Second Year CPGA = 2.95,
Third Year CGPA = 4.40 and
Fourth Year = 3.84 then

FCGPA = (1st Year CGPA + 2nd Year CGPA + 3rd Year CGPA + 4th Year CGPA) / 4 Years.
So that

FCGPA = (3.2 + 2.95 + 4.40 + 3.84) / 4 = 14.39 / 4 = 3.5975 =  
3.59 (2nd Class Honours Upper (2/1)).
Remember, we don’t approximate in calculation of GPA.

2. Polytechnics Grading System

The calculation of GPA in Nigeria polytechnics follows the same method with that of Nigerian Universities. However Nigerian polytechnics make use of the following grading system in calculation of GPA and the awarding of Ordinary National Diploma (OND) and Higher National Diploma (HND):

Polytechnics Grading System Table

Mark (%)	Letter Grade	Grade Point	FINAL CGPA	Class of Degrees
100 - 80	A	4.00	3.50 – 4.00	Distinction
79 - 70	AB	3.50	3.00 – 3.49	Upper Credit
69 - 60	B	3.00	2.50 – 2.99	Lower Credit
59 - 50	BC	2.50	2.00 – 2.49	Pass
49 - 40	C	2.00	0.00 – 1.99	Fail
39 - 0	E	00.00

First Semester OND1 GPA Calculation:
In the polytechnic if a student offers the following courses and obtains a score that corresponds to the following letter grades that lead to the distribution on the tables below. Bearing in mind that we don’t approximate GPA then such student will calculate his/her GPA as follows:

Course Code	Credit Unit	Letter Grade	Points Grade	Credit x Points	Total Points
GSP 101	2	C	2.00	2 x 2.00	4.00
GSP 111	2	A	4.00	2 x 4.00	8.00
GSP 105	2	C	2.00	2 x 2.00	4.00
GSP 201	2	AB	3.50	2 x 3.50	6.50
COS 101	2	BC	2.50	2 x 2.50	4.50
STA 131	2	B	3.00	2 x 3.00	6.00
MTH 221	3	C	2.00	3 x 2.00	6.00
Total Credit Units	15			Total Points	39.00

First Semester OND1:
GPA = Total points/Total Credit Units = 39.00/15 = 2.6.
Therefore his/her first semester ND1 GPA = 2.6.

First Semester OND1 GPA Calculation/Computation Table:

Course Code	Credit Unit	Letter Grade	Points Grade	Credit x Points	Total Points
CHM 112	2	A	4.00	2 x 4.00	8.00
GSP 208	2	E	0.00	2 x 0.00	0.00
GSP 106	2	C	2.00	2 x 2.00	4.00
GSP 202	2	C	2.00	2 x 2.00	4.00
BIO 152	3	B	3.00	3 x 3.00	9.00
PHY 196	2	BC	2.50	2 x 2.50	4.50
GLG 142	3	C	2.00	3 x 2.00	6.00
Total Credit Units	16			Total Points	35.5

Second Semester GPA = Total points/Total Credit Units = 35.50/16 = 2.21875= 2.21.
Therefore his/her second semester ND1 GPA = 2.21.

To calculate here cumulative grade point average (CGPA) for ND1 (first year), such student add his/her ND1 first semester and second semester GPA and divide the result so obtain by two (2), i.e. the number of semester.

Here is the working:
The student’s OND1 CGPA = (First Semester ND1 GPA + Second semester ND1 GPA) / 2 = (2.6 + 2.21) / 2.

CGPA = 4.81 / 2 = 2.405 = 2.40 

The finale CGPA = (OND1 + OND2) / 2 = (2.40 + 3.45) / 2 = 5.85 / 2 = 2.925 = 2.92.
FCGPA = 2.92.

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