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Grades out of 20?
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What is a good grade in France?
Anything from about 12 upward is respectable, 14 or 15 is strong, and 16 and above is excellent. If that sounds harsh, it is because the scale is not calibrated to be completed. Perfection is not withheld as a punishment; it is simply not the top of the ladder anyone is climbing.
What are the mentions at the baccalauréat?
The French school-leaving exam, the baccalauréat, is passed with an overall average of 10 out of 20. Above that, the result comes with an honour, called a mention:
12 and above: assez bien, fairly good.
14 and above: bien, good.
16 and above: très bien, very good.
18 and above: très bien with the congratulations of the jury.
A student who finishes between 8 and 10 is not failed outright. They are called back for a second round of oral exams, the rattrapage, and can still pass. The names of the honours tell you most of what you need to know about the scale: the word for 12 is “fairly good”.
Why does it feel so severe to Americans?
Because the American A is attainable and expected, and because grade inflation has moved the American ceiling down within reach. A French 12 and an American B look similar on paper and mean quite different things about the room.
How do you convert French grades to American ones?
There is no official conversion, and each American university does its own. The table further down shows the rough guide most people work from. The important thing is that the two scales are not proportional. A 14 out of 20 is 70 percent, which in an American classroom is a C. In France it is a strong mark that earns honours.
This matters for exchange students and for anyone reading a French transcript. A page of 12s and 13s is a good student, not a struggling one.
Is one better than the other?
They answer different questions. The French mark tells you how far you are from mastery. The American grade tells you how you did against the standard set. He finds the second one flattering. I find the first one bleak. We have not resolved this.
The tool
French Grade Converter
Convert a French mark out of 20 to an American letter grade, or the other way round. Includes what a 14 really means.
Convert a gradeHow does a French report card work?
Marks are averaged, subject by subject, into a moyenne, with some subjects weighted more heavily than others. The phrase avoir la moyenne, to have the average, simply means to have reached 10. The report card, the bulletin, arrives each term with the student’s average, often the class average beside it, and a written comment from every teacher.
The comments are a genre of their own. Peut mieux faire, could do better, is the classic. Younger children are often assessed on skills rather than marks out of 20, and the full scale takes over in middle school, where French adolescence gets serious.
Why is 20 out of 20 so rare?
Because outside subjects like maths, where an answer is right or wrong, a perfect mark is taken to mean a perfect piece of work, and teachers do not believe they have seen one. There is an old classroom saying that 20 is for God and 19 is for the teacher. It is a joke, and it is also roughly the policy.
In the most selective courses the marks drop further. In the preparatory classes for the top schools, single-figure marks are normal and are not treated as failure. The mark is not a verdict on the student. It is a measurement of the distance still to go.
Roughly, on paper
| French mark | Meaning | Rough US equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| 16–20 | Excellent — rare | A+ |
| 14–15 | Strong | A |
| 12–13 | Good, solid | B+ |
| 10–11 | Pass | B− to C |
| Below 10 | Not passing | F |
Questions, answered
What is a good grade in the French system?
French schools mark out of 20. Around 10 is a pass, 12 to 13 is good, 14 to 15 is strong, and 16 or above is excellent. Full marks are rare enough to be remarkable.
Why do French schools grade out of 20?
It is the long-standing national convention across school and university. The scale is designed to measure distance from mastery rather than to be routinely completed.
Is 12 out of 20 a good grade?
Yes. In the French system 12 is a solid, respectable mark, well above the pass threshold of 10. It reads lower to an American eye than it means.
What is 14 out of 20 in American grades?
Roughly an A. There is no official conversion, but 14 out of 20 is a strong mark in France and earns the honour “bien” at the baccalauréat. It should not be read as 70 percent.
What are the mentions at the French baccalauréat?
An average of 12 or more earns assez bien, 14 or more earns bien, and 16 or more earns très bien. From 18, the jury adds its congratulations. The pass mark is 10.
What does “avoir la moyenne” mean?
It means to reach 10 out of 20, the pass mark. Literally, to have the average.
Still wondering?
Ask my French husband.
A short ruling in a few seconds. Written by AI from our Journal, in his voice.
He judges America weekly on Instagram, and Le Bulletin collects the best of it.
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