Academic grading in Finland
Encyclopedia
This is an article on the grading that is currently being used in the country of Finland
. Several systems are in use in different educational institutions in Finland
.
.
In individual exams, but not in the final grades, it is also possible to divide the scale further with '½', which represents a half grade, and '+' and '–', which represent one-fourth a grade better or inferior. For example, the order is "9 < 9+ < 9½ < 10– < 10". The grade '10+' can also be awarded for a perfect performance with extra effort by the student.
grades are in Latin.
The magna cum laude approbatur grade was introduced in 1970 and eximia cum laude approbatur in 1996. Laudatur grades achieved before 1996 are now counted as eximia cum laude approbaturs.
There is no standard of any kind for university grading, which makes comparing grades difficult between universities, between departments in universities and even between different professors in departments. In most non-polytechnic universities, however, grade inflation
is not an issue and GPA's of over 4.0 are rare.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. Several systems are in use in different educational institutions in Finland
Education in Finland
The Finnish education system is an egalitarian Nordic system, with no tuition fees and with free meals served to full-time students. The present Finnish education system consists of well-funded and carefully thought out daycare programs and a one-year "pre-school" ; a nine-year compulsory basic...
.
Comprehensive school
The "school grade" system has historically been a scale of 0 to 10, but all grades lower than 4 have been discarded. Thus, it is now divided between 4, the failing grade, and 5–10, the succeeding grades. This is similar to the grading scale used in RomaniaAcademic grading in Romania
In Romanian primary schools, a 4-point grading scale is used:*Foarte Bine *Bine *Sufficient/Satisfăcător *Insufficient/Nesatisfăcător...
.
- 10 (excellent), represents about 5% of the top
- 9 (very good)
- 8 (good)
- 7 (satisfactory), the modeMode (statistics)In statistics, the mode is the value that occurs most frequently in a data set or a probability distribution. In some fields, notably education, sample data are often called scores, and the sample mode is known as the modal score....
- 6 (fair)
- 5 (passable)
- 4 (fail)
In individual exams, but not in the final grades, it is also possible to divide the scale further with '½', which represents a half grade, and '+' and '–', which represent one-fourth a grade better or inferior. For example, the order is "9 < 9+ < 9½ < 10– < 10". The grade '10+' can also be awarded for a perfect performance with extra effort by the student.
Upper secondary school
Upper secondary school has same grades for courses and course exams as comprehensive school but matriculation examinationMatriculation examination
The term matriculation examination refers to educational qualifications in many countries. Usually this has to do with student's transfer from secondary to tertiary education. For more detailed information, see "Matriculation"....
grades are in Latin.
| Grade | Abbrv. | Gloss | Translation | Percentage of grades |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| laudatur | L | excellent | praised | Top 5% |
| eximia cum laude approbatur | E | excellent | accepted, with extraordinary commendations | 15% |
| magna cum laude approbatur | M | good | accepted, with many commendations | 20% |
| cum laude approbatur | C | satisfactory | accepted, with commendations | 24% |
| lubenter approbatur | B | satisfactory | readily accepted | 20% |
| approbatur | A | mediocre | accepted | 11% |
| improbatur | I | fail | disapproved | bottom 5% |
The magna cum laude approbatur grade was introduced in 1970 and eximia cum laude approbatur in 1996. Laudatur grades achieved before 1996 are now counted as eximia cum laude approbaturs.
Tertiary education and vocational school
Universities and vocational institutions use a scale of 0 (fail) and 1-5 (pass), or fail/pass. The professor selects which grading scheme is used; short, compulsory courses typically have pass/fail grades.There is no standard of any kind for university grading, which makes comparing grades difficult between universities, between departments in universities and even between different professors in departments. In most non-polytechnic universities, however, grade inflation
Grade inflation
Grade inflation is the tendency of academic grades for work of comparable quality to increase over time.It is frequently discussed in relation to U.S. education, and to GCSEs and A levels in England and Wales...
is not an issue and GPA's of over 4.0 are rare.