CGPA Vs GPA: Top Difference Between Cumulative And Overall GPA
Both CGPA and GPA are important terms in academia. Colleges and universities use them to describe your academic performance in numerical form. CGPA is an abbreviation for cumulative grade points average. It shows your overall performance in your complete academic degree. GPA mean is an abbreviation for grade points average. GPA indicates your academic performance in a single semester or a year. CGPA and GPA show you how you are performing academically. And how much do you need to work on yourself?
But they are different from each other as well. Don’t you know what the differences are between CGPA Vs GPA? You need not to worry. In this simple article, I will be telling you all of the differences between the CGPA and GPA. Then what are you waiting for? Let’s start the article!
What is CGPA?
The term CGPA is an abbreviation of “cumulative grade point average”. CGPA is the average of your all semester at the end of your academic degree. So CGPA shows your overall academic performance in a degree program. CGPA actually shows your performance in your academic journey in numerical form. It means that CGPA reflects your cumulative performance over a longer period. Different types of CGPA scales are in use in different countries and institutions. The most common one is 4 or 10 CGPA scale. A 4 point scale is in use in the USA. And a 10 point scale is in use in India.
What is GPA?
The term GPA is an abbreviation of grade points average. GPA is a popular method for student’ evaluation. In GPA, your academic performance is portrayed in numerical form. So your GPA shows your performance in a single semester or a year. It enables you to understand how you are performing academically. And how much you need to improve.
Different types of scales are used for GPA calculations. Usually it is calculated on the scale of 4 points or 10 points.
Differences Between CGPA Vs GPA:
Both CGPA and GPA are very important terms. You must have come across them in your academic life. They both are scales for showing your academic progress. But they have some differences as well. These differences include;
Meaning:
In simple terms, CGPA is the cumulative grading of all of the semester. When you complete your degree. Then your college or university gives you a transcript. Your CGPA is written on it. And it is the average of all of the semesters you have gone through.
While GPA is the grading of a single semester, you get a mark sheet each semester. And you have your GPA in it. Your GPA is calculated in each semester. At the same time, CGPA is calculated at the end of your degree program.
Acronym:
The acronym GPA stands for Grade Point Average. And the acronym of CGPA stands for Cumulative Grade Point Average. It means that the full form of GPA is grade point average. While the full form of CGPA is cumulative grade points average.
Calculation Method:
Both CGPA and GPA are calculated differently. If you want to find out your CGPA. Then, you can calculate it by dividing the sum of GPA of all semesters by the total number of semesters. Let’s suppose that there are eight semesters in your degree. You have completed your degree with the following grades:
| Semester 1 | 8 |
| Semester 2 | 7.5 |
| Semester 3 | 7 |
| Semester 4 | 7.5 |
| Semester 5 | 7 |
| Semester 6 | 7.5 |
| Semester 7 | 8 |
| Semester 8 | 8.5 |
Then your CGPA will be;
CGPA = Sum of GPAs of all semesters / the No of all semesters
CGPA = 8+7.5+7+7.5+7+7.5+8+8.5 / 8
CGPA = 61 / 8
CGPA = 7.625.
So your CGPA will be 7.625 on a scale of 10 after the completion of your degree.
While you can find out your GPA by dividing the total credits you get by the total No of subjects.
Let’s consider that you have completed your first semester. And you took six courses this semester. These courses were
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Biology
- Maths
- English
- History
You took these 6 subjects. And then you received the following credits for each course;
| Subject | Credits Earned |
| Physics | 4 |
| Chemistry | 4 |
| Biology | 3.5 |
| Maths | 3.5 |
| English | 4 |
| History | 3 |
Now you can easily calculate your GPA by following the above formula;
GPA = Total Credits / Total subjects
GPA = 4+4+ 3.5+3.5+4+3 / 6
GPA = 22 / 6 = 3.66
So your GPA will be 3.66 out of 4 in this specific semester.
Here you can calculate your CGPA to Percentage.
Duration:
Duration is the most important difference between CGPA and GPA. CGPA is calculated for your whole degree. It means that the duration period of CGPA is longer. While GPA is calculated for a specific semester or a year. It means that the duration period of GPA is short. So the duration of CGPA is longer. Because it is calculated for a period of 2 or 4 years. While the duration of GPA is shorter. Because it is calculated for 6 or 12 months.
Inter-relatedness:
Despite all of the differences. The GPA and CGPA are dependent on each other. To calculate your CGPA, you will be in need of your GPA. You will have to sum up all of your GPAs. And then divide them on the total numbers of semesters. Now if you have higher GPAs in your semesters. It means that you will have a brilliant CGPA. It is because CGPA is calculated from the GPAs. It is the cumulative average of the GPA of all semesters. So you cannot completely separate these two from each other. We can convert them into each other though.
Scales:
Different types of scales are in use for the calculation of CGPA and GPA. The most common among them are the 4 points CGPA scale and the 10 points CGPA scale. For CGPA, we use a scale of 10 points in most countries. While for GPA, we use a scale of 4 points. Different scales used in different countries are listed below;
Scale of CGPA used in India:
| Percentage (%) | CGPA |
| 90-100 | 10.0 |
| 80-89 | 9.0-9.9 |
| 70-79 | 8.0-8.9 |
| 60-69 | 7.0-7.9 |
| 50-59 | 6.0-6.9 |
| 40-49 | 5.0-5.9 |
| 33-39 | 4.0-4.9 |
| Below 33 | Below 4.0 |
Scale of CGPA used in USA:
| Letter Grade | Percentage (%) | GPA |
| A+ | 97-100 | 4.0 |
| A | 93-96 | 4.0 |
| A- | 90-92 | 3.7 |
| B | 87-89 | 3.3 |
| B- | 83-86 | 3.0 |
| C | 80-82 | 2.7 |
| C- | 77-79 | 2.3 |
| D | 73-76 | 2.0 |
| D- | 70-72 | 1.7 |
CGPA Scale Used In Germany:
| Percentage (%) | Grade | Description | CGPA |
| 90-100 | 1.0 – 1.5 | Sehr gut (Very good) | 1.0 |
| 80-89 | 1.6 – 2.5 | Gut (Good) | 2.0 |
| 65-79 | 2.6 – 3.5 | Befriedigend (Satisfactory) | 3.0 |
| 50-64 | 3.6 – 4.0 | Ausreichend (Sufficient) | 4.0 |
| Below 50 | 4.1 – 5.0 | Nicht ausreichend (Insufficient) | 5.0 |
CGPA Scale in UK:
| Percentage (%) | Grade | Description | CGPA Equivalent |
| 70-100 | First | First Class Honors | 4.0 |
| 60-69 | 2:1 | Upper Second Class | 3.0 |
| 50-59 | 2:2 | Lower Second Class | 2.0 |
| 40-49 | Third | Third Class | 1.0 |
| Below 40 | Fail | Fail | 0.0 |
CGPA Scale in Australia:
| Percentage (%) | Grade | Description | CGPA Equivalent |
| 85-100 | HD | High Distinction | 7.0 |
| 75-84 | D | Distinction | 6.0 |
| 65-74 | CR | Credit | 5.0 |
| 50-64 | P | Pass | 4.0 |
| Below 50 | F | Fail | 0.0 |
CGPA Scale in France:
| Percentage (%) | Grade | Description | CGPA Equivalent |
| 16-20 | A | Très Bien (Very Good) | 4.0 |
| 14-15.9 | B | Bien (Good) | 3.0 |
| 12-13.9 | C | Assez Bien (Quite Good) | 2.0 |
| 10-11.9 | D | Passable (Satisfactory) | 1.0 |
| Below 10 | F | Insuffisant (Fail) | 0.0 |
CGPA Scale In Russia:
| Percentage (%) | Grade | Description | CGPA Equivalent |
| 85-100 | 5 | Отлично (Excellent) | 4.0 |
| 70-84 | 4 | Хорошо (Good) | 3.0 |
| 50-69 | 3 | Удовлетворительно (Satisfactory) | 2.0 |
| Below 50 | 2 | Неудовлетворительно (Unsatisfactory) | 0.0 |
Grading:
Both CGPA and GPA grading systems assign points to grades on different scales. CGPA scale often ranges from 0 to 10. While GPA scale ranges from 0 to 4.
A table of 10-point CGPA grading scale is given below;
| Grade | Points | Description |
| A1 | 10 | Outstanding |
| A2 | 9 | Excellent |
| B1 | 8 | Very Good |
| B2 | 7 | Good |
| C1 | 6 | Above Average |
| C2 | 5 | Average |
| D1 | 4 | Below Average |
| D2 | 3 | Pass |
| E1 | 2 | Needs Improvement |
| E2 | 1 | Fail |
A table of 4-points GPA scale is given below;
| Grade | Points | Percentage Range | Description |
| A | 4.0 | 90-100% | Excellent |
| A- | 3.7 | 87-89% | Very Good |
| B+ | 3.3 | 83-86% | Good |
| B | 3.0 | 80-82% | Good |
| B- | 2.7 | 77-79% | Above Average |
| C+ | 2.3 | 73-76% | Average |
| C | 2.0 | 70-72% | Average |
| C- | 1.7 | 67-69% | Below Average |
| D+ | 1.3 | 63-66% | Poor |
| D | 1.0 | 60-62% | Poor |
| F | 0.0 | Below 60% | Fail |
Conclusion:
CGPA and GPA are very important terms. And it is important for students to have a clear understanding of GPA vs CGPA. It is important for you in order to achieve your academic goals. And to make effective academic planning about your performance and career. It is also important for those students who are planning to take their studies to the next level. Or who are planning to study abroad. And they want to secure a scholarship for this purpose. So it is very crucial to learn how to calculate and convert your grades. You should also know how to convert GPA to CGPA and vice versa. To ease the conversion, you can use the online digital tools. If you want the best one, you can use our CGPA to GPA Converter. Use it. And it will convert your CGPA into GPA in seconds. You are gonna love it. Best of luck for your future endeavors.
