Academic grading in Mexico: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:01, 24 December 2006

Latest revision as of 01:56, 20 February 2022

(52 intermediate revisions by 35 users not shown)

Line 1:

{{Short description|System for academic results}}

This is an article on the grades used in the country of [[Mexico]].

{{grading}}

'''Academic grading in Mexico''' employs a '''decimal system''', from 0 to 10, to measure the students' scores. The grades are:<ref>Accord No. 17 from the Public Education Secretary; Official Newspaper of the Federation, the 28th of August, 1978</ref>

* 10010: Excellent. (''excelente'')

* 9: Very Good (''muy bien'')

* 8: Good (''bien'')

* 707: Average. (''regular'')

* 6: Sufficient (''suficiente'')

* 0–5.9: Insufficient/Failed (''deficiente/reprobado'')

Since [[decimal fractions]] are common, a scale from 0 to 100 is often used to remove the [[decimal point]]. Then, 100 becomes the highest score, and 60 the minimum passing score. Depending on the school, the official [[Academic certificate|certificate]] may use the range 0–100, or these may be converted back to the range 0–10, allowing for some [[rounding]] and [[truncation]].

Mexican schools use a scale from 0 to 10 to measure the students' scores. Since decimal scores are common, a scale from 0 to 100 is often used to remove the decimal point. The grades are:

* 100: Excellent.

* 90: Very good.

* 80: Good.

* 70: Average.

* 60: Passing threshold.

* 0-59: Failed.

Although the grades 0–59 are normally given in class or tests, they are not reported as such in certificates. When failed subjects are reported in written, they normally have a score of '''NA''' or '''N/A''', standing for ''No Acreditada'' (Not Accredited) or ''No Aprobada'' (Not Approved).

Students who fail a subject have the option of taking an extraordinary test (''examen extraordinario'', often shortened to ''extra'') that evaluates the contents of the entire period. Once the test is finished and the score is assessed, this score becomes the entire subject's score, thus giving slacking students a chance to pass their subjects. Those who fail the extraordinary test have 2 more chances to take it; if the last test is failed, the subject is marked as failed and pending, and depending on the school, the student might fail the entire year. As a result, the extraordinary tests often cause a lot of stress among students, because they have to study for the entire period often in a couple of weeks.

Major works, such as a written [[thesis]] or doctoral [[dissertation]], may not have a grade, but appear in certificates simply as '''AC''', standing for ''Acreditada'' (Accredited).

Some private schools (particularly in higher levels of education) require a 70 to pass instead of the regular 60.

Occasionally, institutions, specially [[private school]]s, may use their own grading system, but there must exist conversion rules to convert those grades to their equivalent in the [[Decimal|decimal system]].

Grades are often absolute and not class-specific. It may be the case that the top of the class gets a final grade of 89. Curve-adjustment is rare. Grad-level students are usually expected to have grades of 80 or above to graduate. Students in honor roll are usually those with an overall GPA of 90 or more upon graduation, and some private universities will award them a "With Honors" diploma.

== General education ==

[[Category:Student assessment and evaluation]]

Given that the scale of grading ranges from 0 to 100, it is common that the grade indicates the [[percentage]] of correct answers in a given [[exam]].

Grades are most often absolute and not class-specific. Thus, it may be that the top student of the class gets a low grade of 70, while the passing threshold is still 60. That is, [[curve-adjustment]] of scores is rare.

Students in [[Honors student|honor roll]] are usually those with an overall [[grade point average]] of 90 (very good) or more upon graduation. In that case, depending on the school or university, the student may be awarded a "With Honors" [[diploma]].

== Higher education ==

Higher-level educational institutions, such as [[academic degree|degree]]-awarding [[universities]], require a minimum score of 70 (average) to pass a subject, instead of the regular 60.

In many universities, such as federal institutes of technology, an overall grade point average of 90 (very good) or better entitles the student to graduate with honors, other requirements such as a final work or thesis being waived, and automatically awards him or her the professional [[license]] (''cédula profesional'').

=== Postgraduate education ===

Students holding a [[Bachelor's degree]] require at least an overall grade point average of 80 (good) to be allowed to enrol for a [[master's degree|master's]] or a [[doctoral degree]].

At this level, the minimum passing grade is still 70, but students are required to obtain a minimum grade of 80 to be awarded their postgraduate degree.<ref name="Posgrado DGEST">{{cite book |title= Disposiciones para la Operación de Estudios de Posgrado en el Sistema Nacional de Educación Superior Tecnológica |first1=Reyes |last1=Tamez Guerra |first2=Julio |last2=Rubio Oca |first3=Bulmaro |last3=Fuentes Lemus |first4=Mario |last4=Valdés Garza |date=May 2005 |publisher=Dirección General de Educación Superior Tecnológica |___location=Mexico |language=es }}</ref> Also, a score of 80 may be required to maintain other benefits such as a federal [[scholarship]].<ref>CONACYT Scholarships for Postgraduate studies [http://www.conacyt.gob.mx/Becas/Paginas/Default.aspx ¿Cuáles son los principales requisitos para obtener una beca?] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100905054423/http://www.conacyt.gob.mx/Becas/Paginas/Default.aspx |date=September 5, 2010 }} (What are the principal requirements to obtain a scholarship?)</ref>

== Equivalence with other grading systems ==

Compared to the US and Canada, Mexico uses a grading system that can be converted into the US's letter grade equivalency. For example, a Mexican numeral grade of 90 can be equivalent to the US's letter grade of an A. An 80 can be converted to a B, and so on. The following chart shows the following GPA range and their equivalencies.

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Mexican system !! US system || GPA scale

|-

| 90–100 || A || 3.5 – 4.0

|-

| 80–89 || B || 3.0 – 3.49

|-

| 60–79 || C, D || 2.0 – 2.99

|-

| 0–59 || E, F || Below 2.0

|}

For example, "a straight-A student" may be translated as ''un estudiante de puro 10'', or "a straight-10 student".

Other grading systems, such as those used in [[Grading systems by country#Europe|European countries]], or the [[Academic grading in the United States|United States GPA]] values 0.0–4.0, are less common, but can be converted.

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

{{North America topic|Academic grading in}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Academic Grading In Mexico}}

[[Category:Academic grading by country|Mexico]]

[[Category:Education in Mexico]]

[[Category:Academia in Mexico|Grading]]