How To Calculate GPA And CGPA in Nigerian Universities

For every student, it’s essential to know how to calculate their GPA and CGPA. As soon as each semester’s grades are released, you’ll have to know exactly how to do it.

In this article, we’ll explain what CGPA stands for and how it’s calculated in Nigeria. GPA and CGPA calculations will be much easier after reading this post. So stick around as I walk you through this post.

What Are GPA And CGPA?

GPA – Grade Point Average

CGPA – Cumulative Grade Point Average 

Let us start with the basics before going into some calculations. A lot of students do not know what GPA and CGPA mean and how they could ensure their success or doom.

If you want to stay on top of carryover or backlogs; I mean you want to excel in your studies and graduate with a good grade, then knowing how to calculate GPA and CGPA in school is a must. GPA simply means Grade Point Average.

That is a measure of a student’s academic achievement at a college or university; calculated by dividing the total number of acquired Grade Points by the total number of Course Units received.

The CGPA or the Cumulative Grade Point Average is the average (didn’t see that coming?) of Grade Points that you’ve obtained in all of your subjects except the 6th additional subject.

The meaning of CGPA is easy enough, right? It has been around since 2011 and students have gotten pretty used to it.

However, there is one important fact that you need to remember – CGPA and percentages are different things.

Don’t confuse them! There is a different method to calculate your percentage. To calculate your percentage, you will have to follow the steps below.

While reading how to calculate GPA and CGPA, kindly check out the list of Top Best Universities in Nigeria 2022 – Current Edition

How to Calculate GPA and CGPA in Nigerian Universities

Since now you know what CGPA stands for, we can tell you how to calculate CGPA from your marks. To calculate your CGPA, you need the Credit Units of each course.

You also need your grade points for each of the five subjects. To make life easier, we will remind you about the scaling in Nigerian Universities:

• The mark of 70% and above equals the letter grade of A or 5.00 Grade Points.
• The mark of 60-69% equals the letter grade of B or 54.00 Grade Points.
• The mark of 50-59% equals the letter grade of C or 3.00 Grade Points.
• The mark of 45-49% equals the letter grade of D or 2.00 Grade Points.
• The mark of 40-44% equals the letter grade of E or 1.00 Grade Points.
• The mark of 0-39% equals the letter grade of F or 0.00 Grade Points.

The next step is to calculate the Quality Point (QP). To do it, multiply the number of Credit Units by your Grade Points for the course.

How will a good GPA help you?

• A good GPA makes you eligible to sit for all top colleges throughout the world.
• It puts you on the top of your VC’s list of good students.
• It increases your chances of getting better Grants and Scholarships.
• You graduate with good honors.
• Getting a good GPA is not easy, you would have to learn a lot during the process.

Difference between GPA and CGPA

To understand the differences between GPA and overall CGPA, you must first know that they both refer to the average grades of a student. The difference is that the GPA covers shorter periods, like a term or a semester. While CGPA refers to the average grades obtained by a student throughout his entire academic experience. This means it includes grades from all terms and semesters. CGPA is used to determine your Class of Honor. Eg First Class, Second class lower, etc

Read Also JAMB 2022 Change Of Course, Institution, And Data Correction Process

GPA percentage and conversion scales

The percentage needed in any given course to achieve a certain grade and the assignment of GPA point values varies from school to school, and sometimes between instructors within a given school. 

In Nigeria, according to NUC, the standard grading scale in Nigeria is 5.00. I am also aware that some universities still make use of a 4.00 grading scale.

Due to popular requests, I am going to make use of a 5.00 GPA scale to teach you how to calculate GPA and CGPA because it is the most widely used grading scale in Nigerian universities. If your school uses 4.00, the calculation is the same. If you’re not sure of your school’s GPA scale, take a bold step toward your course advisor and ask for the school GPA grading scale.

Classification of degrees

For a 4-point grading scale;

• The cumulative GP for First Class Honours is 3.5 – 4.00
• The cumulative GP for Second Class Honours (Upper Division) is 3.0 – 3.49
• The cumulative GP for Second Class Honours (Lower Division) is 2.0 – 2.99
• The cumulative GP for Third Class Honours is 1.0 – 1.99

For a 5-point grading Scale;

• The cumulative GP for First Class Honours is 4.5 – 5.00
• The cumulative GP for Second Class Honours (Upper Division) is 3.5 – 4.49
• The cumulative GP for Second Class Honours (Lower Division) is 2.5 – 3.49
• The cumulative GP for Third Class Honours is 1.5 – 2.49
• The cumulative GP for Pass is 0.0 – 1.49

How to calculate CGPA at Nigeria University

Since now you know what CGPA stands for, we can tell you how to calculate CGPA from your marks. To calculate your CGPA, you need the Credit Units of each course. You also need your grade points for each of the five subjects.

To start with, on the table;

• CU — Represent Course Unit (also means credit hour)
• EXS — Represent Examination score
• GD — Represent Grading Letter (A, B, C, D, E, F)
• GP — Represent Grading Point (5, 4, 3, 2, 1,0)
• QP — Represent Quality Point/Total Point (GP multiplied by CU)

This is the official grading scale in Nigeria and that is what I will use to teach you how to calculate GPA and CGPA.

This means if your exam score for a particular course falls between 51 – 59, you will be assigned C in your result. And remember I said the grading may differ but the calculation is the same – so check with your coordinator or course advisor for the right grade… Shey, you get it?

Read Also China Visa Lottery Application Form 2022: How to Apply, Requirements and Eligibility

Example
Let’s start with First Semester 100-level GPA
Department: Library and Information Science

To calculate your GPA, you must sum two important columns in 100 level First Semester Table:

• Course Unit (CU)  for 100 level first Semester 2 + 3 + 2 + 2 = 9
• Quality Point (QP) for 100 level first Semester 10 + 9 + 10 + 6 = 35
• Remember we got the quality point by multiplying GP by CU
• To know your GPA, Divide Quality Points by Course Unit. That is, 35 / 9 = 3.888 (Your First Semester GPA)

Alert!!! You cannot get CGPA because we still have one more semester to go

EXAMPLE

Second Semester 100 level GPA
Department: Library and Information Science

• Course Unit  for 100 level Second Semester 3 + 3 + 2 + 3 = 11
• Quality Point for 100 level Second Semester 15 + 9 + 10 + 9 = 43
• To know your GPA, Divide Quality Point by Course Unit 43 / 11 = 3.909 (Your Second Semester GPA)

————- To Know your 100 level C.G.P.A ————

Remember, Cumulative means – Increasing by successive addition

• Your total Course Unit for 100 first semester and the second semester is 11 + 9 = 20
• Your total Quality Unit for 100 first semester and the second semester is 35 + 43 = 78
• Divide your Cumulative Quality point by the Cumulative Course Unit.
• That is,  78 / 20 = 3.9 (100 level CGPA)

Hope you understand.

Let’s move to 200 level First Semester
Department: Library and Information Science

• Course Unit  for 200 level first Semester 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 8
• Quality Point for 200 level first Semester 10 + 8 + 10 + 6 = 34
• To know your GPA, Divide Quality Points by Course Unit. That is, 34 / 8 = 4.25 (First Semester GPA)

200-level Second Semester
Department: Library and Information Science

• Course Unit  for 200 level Second Semester 3 + 3 + 2 + 3= 11
• Quality Point for 200 level Second Semester 15 + 9 + 10 + 9 = 46
• To know your GPA, Divide Quality Point by Course Unit 43 / 11 = 4.18 (Your Second Semester GPA)

————- To Know your 200 level C.G.P.A ————

Remember, Cumulative means – Increasing by successive addition

• Your total Course Unit for 200 first semester and the second semester is 11 + 8 = 19
• Your total Quality Unit for 200 first semester and the second semester is 34 + 46 = 80
• Divide your Cumulative Quality point by the Cumulative Course Unit.  That is,  80 / 19 = 4.21 (200 level CGPA)

Alert!!!

Now listen, when you get your CPGA for the 200 level, it is imperative you know your overall performance from the 100 to 200 level.

• To know your academic performance from 100 and 200 levels;
• Add up all the Course Units from 100 and 200 levels (20 +  19 = 39)
• Add up all the Quality Points from 100 and 200 levels (78 + 80 = 158)
• Your academic performance so far from 100 to 200 level is 4.05

Recommended Covenant University Post UTME Form for 2022/2023 Academic Session Is Out

How?

158 / 39 = 4.05 (C.P.G.A of 100 and 200 level)
Use this process for 300 to 400 or 500 levels in your final year.

Please note – Your carryover courses don’t have a special GPA or CGPA calculation. If you write your 100-level first-semester carryover in the 300-level first semester, you should include the score and grade among the 300-level scores and calculate as usual.

Don’t forget to drop a comment and share this post

FAQ