Nigeria University Grading System – CGPA Calculation Guide for Universities, Polytechnics

How To Calculate CGPA in Nigerian Universities, Polytechnics.

Education stakeholders worldwide have always sought to know the current Nigeria university grading system. Nigerian students had also searched for information on how to calculate cgpa in unilag uniben unilorin and indeed other universities and polytechnics in Nigeria. But there had been dearth of online resources on the latest trend in the Nigerian education sector.

However, we are here to bridge that gap.

New Nigeria University Grading System Approved by NUC.

Starting with the Nigerian university grading system, the National Universities Commission NUC had recently introduced and enforced a new grading system in Nigerian higher institutions.

The NUC had ditched the former grading system based on a scale of 5 and introduced a new scale of 4 grading system.

Under the new 4 Point Grading Scale, grades to be used for students who have satisfactorily completed the course of study are as follows:

Letter Grade          | Grade Letter Point.

• A (70 and above) | 5
• B (60-69%)          | 4
• C (50-59%)           | 3
• D (45-49%)          | 2
• F (40-44%)          | 0

 

How To Calculate CGPA in Nigerian Universities.

First of all, what is a GPA? GPA (popularly referred to, in Nigeria, by the short-form as GP) simply means Grade Point Average. It is a measure of a student’s academic performance at a university or other institutions of higher learning.

In addition, CGPA simply means Cummulative Grade Point Average which is a more comprehensive measure of student’s academic performance by referencing all the courses registered and offered by the student (both department approved courses and outside Faculty borrowed courses) and for both semesters in an academic year.

So how do I calculate G.P. in my University? 

Most Nigerian universities follow the same formular as shown below while calculating Grade Point Average.

Prior to the new NUC Approved Nigeria university grading system shown at the beginning of this post, the below table shows the value of each letter grade in Nigerian Universities.

The Old Nigerian Grading System Table.

Percentage Score	Letter Grade	Points	Rating/Remark
70 – 100	A	5	Excellent
60 – 69	B	4	Very Good
50 – 59	C	3	Good
45 – 49	D	2	Fair
*40 – 44	E	1	Pass
0 – 30	F	0	Fail

However, following the new NUC grading system, the letter grade E has been abolished producing the new grade table shown below.

The New Grading System Table.

Percentage Scores	Letter Grades	Points	Rating/Remark
70 – 100	A	5	Excellent
60 – 69	B	4	Very Good
50 – 59	C	3	Good
*45 – 49	D	2	Pass
0 – 44	F	0	Fail

 

This means that 45% is now the new minimum pass score in Nigerian universities.

The Grade Point Average.
At the end of each semester, a student’s grade point average is worked out using the above grading system.

• The Grade Point Average (GPA)is calculated by dividing the Total Grade Points (TGP) with the Total Credit Units (TCU).
  Mathematically, the following formular applies; CGPA = TGP/TCU.
• Total Grade Points (TGP) [also referred to as  Total Quality Point TQP] : Is obtained by adding all the grade points of the courses you offered for that semester.
• Grade Points [also referred to as Point Grades or Quality Points] : Is obtained by multiplying the student’s Exam result Grade Letter Point obtained in a particular course (with reference to the new grading system table above) by the Course’s Credit Unit. I.e. For a student who at the end of semester exam obtained a grade letter of B from a course with credit unit 3, his/her Grade point for that course is 4 x 3 = 12. The 4 is obtained from the new grading system table shown above, while the 3 is constant for that particular course.
• Credit Unit: This is a constant unit attached to each individual courses offered by students in a school. The credit unit is fixed by the academic planning section of the university in conjunction with the department examiners. The credit units are sometimes fixed according to the level of the course’s difficulty or according to it’s relevance to a students course of study. So while Mth 101 could have a credit unit of 3, GSP 1o1 could have a credit unit of 2. A detailed credit units of all the courses to be offered by a student in a university could be found in the University’s handbook given to students on admission or purchased from the school’s bookshop.
• Total Credit Unit (TCU) : Is obtained by adding all the Credit units of the courses you offered for that semester.

 

See a more practical example of how to calculate CGPA in Nigerian university below.

Supposing a student named Elizabeth offers the following courses in her first year first semester:

Course code	Title of Course	Credit Unit
GSP 101	The Use of English I	2
GSP 111	Use of Library	2
GSP 105	Natural Science I	2
ARC 121	Architectural Graphics I	2
COS 101	Introduction to Computer Science	2
GEOG 103	Fundamentals of Human Geography I	2
MTH 111	Elementary Mathematics I	3
	Total Credit Units	15

Assuming that the student obtains C, A, D, A, D, B and C respectively in the courses, corresponding to the following grade letter points respectively 3, 5, 2, 5, 2, 4, and 3 using the new grading system, the final grade point of each of the courses will be worked out as follows:

The credit unit of each course is multiplied with the grade letter point corresponding to the letter grade of the course in question.
I.e. Final Grade Point of a course = credit unit of the course multiplied by Grade letter point obtained in that course.

Do the same for all other courses to get;

First Semester GPA Calculation Table:

Using the formular earlier stated, the Grade Point Average (GPA) will be calculated by dividing the total number of points (51) with the total number of credit units (15).
Thus, First Semester GPA =Total Grade Points/Total Credit Units = 51/15 = 3.4

Second Semester GPA Calculation.
Supposing Elizabeth offers the following courses in her first year second semester:

Course code	Title of Course	Credit Unit
URP 112	Urban Development Planning	2
ECON 101	Principles of Economics I	2
GSP 106	Natural Science II	2
GSP 102	Use of English II	2
BIO 152	General Biology II	3
PHY 196	Practical Physical III	2
MAN 141	Elements of Business Economics I	3
	Total Credit Units	16

And the she obtains the following grades A, A, C, F, D, D and B on the courses respectively. Then then her final grade points will be worked out as shown in the table below.

Course Code	Credit Unit	Grade Letter	Grade Letter Point	Credit Unit x Grade Letter Point	Final Grade Points or Point Grade
URP 112	2	A	5	2 x 5	10
ECON 101	2	A	5	2 x 5	10
GSP 106	2	C	3	2 x 3	6
GSP 102	2	F	0	2 x 0	0
BIO 152	3	D	2	3 x 2	6
PHY 196	2	D	2	2 x 2	4
MAN 141	3	B	4	3 x 4	12
				Total Grade Points	48

Her Second Semester GPA will be 48/16 = 3.0.

While her Year 1 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA), which is the sum of first semester and second semester GPA divide by 2, will be worked out as follows:

First Year CGPA = (First semester GPA + Second semester GPA) / 2.
First Year CGPA = (3.4 + 3.0)/2 = 6.4 / 2 = 3.2.
First Year CGPA = 3.2.

Assuming Elizabeth studies a five year degree course, her final/graduation GPA will be calculated as follow:
FCGPA = Total sum of all the CGPA / Number of years of the programme.

If the she got the following CGPA during her five years of study:
– First Year CGPA = 3.2
– Second Year CPGA = 2.95,
– Third Year CGPA =3.84
– Fourth Year =  4.1
– Fifth Year = 3.16

Then her FCGPA = (1st Year CGPA + 2nd Year CGPA + 3rd Year CGPA + 4th Year CGPA + 5th Year CGPA) / 5 Years.

Such that;
FCGPA = (3.2 + 2.95 +3.84 + 4.1 +3.16) / 5.
FCGPA = 17.25 / 5 = 3.45 
Therefore, her graduation FCGPA will be 3.45 which is equal to 3.4.
Note that there is no mathematical approximation in the calculation of GPA in most schools.

Referencing the University Class of Degree which can be seen below, it means that Elizabeth will be graduating with a Second Class Lower or 2-2 degree.

FCGPA      |     CLASS OF DEGREE.
4.50-5.00  = 1st Class.
3.5-4.49     = 2nd Class Upper.
2.50-3.49   = 2nd Class Lower.
1.50-2.49   = 3rd Class.
1.00-1.49   = Pass.
0.-0.99       = Fail.

How To Calculate GPA in Nigerian Polytechnics.

If you are searching for information on how to calculate g.p in polytechnic in Nigeria, just know that the calculation of GPA in Nigeria polytechnics follows similar method with that of Nigerian Universities. However Nigerian polytechnics make use of the following grading system in calculation of GPA and the awarding of Ordinary National Diploma (OND) and Higher National Diploma (HND):

Nigeria Polytechnics Grading System Table.

Mark (%)	Letter Grade	Grade Point	FINAL CGPA	Class of Degrees
100 – 80	A	4.00	3.50 – 4.00	Distinction
79 – 70	AB	3.50	3.00 – 3.49	Upper Credit
69 – 60	B	3.00	2.50 – 2.99	Lower Credit
59 – 50	BC	2.50	2.00 – 2.49	Pass
49 – 40	C	2.00	0.00 – 1.99	Fail
39 – 0	E	00.00

First Semester OND1 GPA Calculation:
In the polytechnic if a student offers the following courses and obtains a score that corresponds to the following letter grades that lead to the distribution on the tables below. Such student will calculate his/her GPA as follows:

Course Code	Credit Unit	Grade Letter	Grade Letter Point	Credit Unit x Grade Letter Point	Final Grade Points or Point Grade
GSP 101	2	C	2.00	2 x 2.00	4.00
GSP 111	2	A	4.00	2 x 4.00	8.00
GSP 105	2	C	2.00	2 x 2.00	4.00
GSP 201	2	AB	3.50	2 x 3.50	6.50
COS 101	2	BC	2.50	2 x 2.50	4.50
STA 131	2	B	3.00	2 x 3.00	6.00
MTH 221	3	C	2.00	3 x 2.00	6.00
Total Credit Units	15			Total Points	39.00

First Semester OND1:
GPA = Total points/Total Credit Units = 39.00/15 = 2.6.
Therefore his/her first semester ND1 GPA = 2.6.

Second Semester OND1 GPA Calculation/Computation Table.

Course Code	Credit Unit	Grade Letter	Grade Letter Point	Credit Unit x Grade Letter Point	Final Grade Points or Point Grade
CHM 112	2	A	4.00	2 x 4.00	8.00
GSP 208	2	E	0.00	2 x 0.00	0.00
GSP 106	2	C	2.00	2 x 2.00	4.00
GSP 202	2	C	2.00	2 x 2.00	4.00
BIO 152	3	B	3.00	3 x 3.00	9.00
PHY 196	2	BC	2.50	2 x 2.50	4.50
GLG 142	3	C	2.00	3 x 2.00	6.00
Total Credit Units	16			Total Points	35.5

Second Semester GPA = Total points/Total Credit Units = 35.50/16 = 2.21875= 2.21.
Therefore his/her second semester ND1 GPA = 2.21.

To calculate his/her cumulative grade point average (CGPA) for ND1 (first year), such student will add his/her ND1 first semester and second semester GPA and divide the SUM by 2 (i.e. the number of semesters).

Therefore:
The student’s OND1 CGPA = (First Semester ND1 GPA + Second semester ND1 GPA) / 2.
OND1 CGPA = (2.6 + 2.21) / 2 = 4.81 / 2 = 2.405 = 2.40.

Other frequently asked questions by students trying to compute their grades include;

What happens when you have a Carryover or Missing Script?

If you have a missing script, it means your script was not found during the marking of the exam scripts. If you complain immediately to necessary authorities, you might be reconsidered to re-sit for the exam and it won’t be counted as a carry over.

If you do not complain, to necessary authorities to be pardoned, that course is automatically counted as carryover in most schools.

If you have a carry over, it means you failed the course and you have zero grade point for that course.

What is the effect of a carryover on GP?

Carry overs or failed course can have adverse effect on your GPA because your workloads will be increasing when you have to re-sit for the exam while your Grade points will be decreasing because of the 0 point attached to F grade.

The best way to graduate with good CGPA is to start having good grades in your exams from the very beginning of your study. That is your First Year. It will take more than extra hardwork to fail in your Year 1 and still graduate with a good CGPA.

In today’s labour market, good CGPA refers to at least a Second Class Upper also referred to as 2-1. This CGPA can only be guaranteed when you have only A’s and B’s or very few Cs in your courses.

All the best to the greatest Nigerian students surviving on campus against all odds. We at UnnInfo wishes you the very best in your studies.

We will soon publish a post on Nigerian secondary school grading system which will also show how to calculate gpa in Nigerian secondary school. So, be sure sure to bookmark this website and keep visiting for more interesting articles.

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