French to US Grade Converter: 0–20 to A–F

Quick answer: how do French grades convert to US letters?

French schools usually report individual marks on a scale of 0 to 20. The comparison depends on the student's French school level. In the consulate's published chart, 14/20 corresponds to A− for 6ème–3ème but A for seconde–terminale. A mark of 16/20 corresponds to A+ in both bands. The different thresholds matter, so select the level before reading the result.

Use this page to understand one published comparison table. It does not produce an official US transcript, a universal admissions conversion, a percentage, or a 4.0 GPA. American schools, universities, scholarship programs, and credential evaluators can ask for original French marks or apply their own assessment. When an application gives instructions, those instructions govern the application.

French to US grade conversion chart

The French Consulate in Miami publishes separate integer-mark columns for 6ème–3ème and seconde–terminale. The table below restates those thresholds as intervals so that a reader can see how the calculator handles decimals. For example, a lower-band mark from 14 up to but below 15 is displayed as A−. The interval notation is this site's computational interpretation; the source itself lists integer marks.

How to read “14–<15”: 14.0 is included and 15.0 is excluded. A score such as 14.8 therefore remains in the 14-point interval. The final F row includes every lower score down to zero. A+ includes the upper limit of 20. No mark above 20 or below zero is accepted.

The letters are comparison labels in a specific published table, not a statement that a French teacher assigns those letters or that every US school uses this scale. Some US schools use plus and minus signs differently, omit A+, or grade individual courses against local standards. The calculator reports the source's letter without inventing a numeric US GPA.

How this converter works

1. Select the French school band. The first band covers 6ème, 5ème, 4ème, and 3ème. The second covers seconde, première, and terminale. The labels are approximate grade-level guidance for US readers; year placement itself is decided by a school.
2. Enter an actual mark. Use the mark as printed, out of 20. Both 14.5 and 14,5 work. The calculator rejects text mixed with numbers, multiple decimal separators, and values outside 0–20, so a typo cannot silently become a valid score.
3. Match the threshold. The tool looks for the highest published integer threshold that the entered score reaches. For a whole number, that reproduces the letter in the consulate table. For a decimal, it extends the lower integer threshold until the next listed threshold.
4. Read the result with context. The result card repeats your original mark, the chosen school level, and the threshold it matched. It also explains the decimal method. Copying the result includes the advisory that it is indicative.

This method is intentionally simple and inspectable. It does not round a 14.9 up to 15; it does not average multiple courses; it does not infer a transcript GPA; and it does not apply a percentage by multiplying by five. Each of those would add an assumption absent from the published letter table. If your recipient gives a different mapping or instructs you not to convert, follow that direction.

Worked examples for both bands

• 10/20: C+ in 6ème–3ème; B− in seconde–terminale.
• 12/20: B in 6ème–3ème; B+ in seconde–terminale.
• 14/20: A− in 6ème–3ème; A in seconde–terminale.
• 15/20: A in 6ème–3ème; A+ in seconde–terminale.
• 16/20: A+ in either band.
• 14.5/20: A− in 6ème–3ème and A in seconde–terminale under this site's decimal rule. The consulate table does not separately publish a 14.5 row.

The different letters for the same number reflect the published band-specific comparison. They do not mean the student's mark changed. For an application, show the original “14.5/20” as well as any requested explanatory comparison.

Understanding the French 0–20 scale

In France, an assignment, exam, or course report may display a mark out of 20. The number is read within a grading culture, subject, level, and teacher's expectations. It is not the same thing as a US percentage. For instance, writing “14/20 = 70% = C” performs arithmetic but ignores the published French-to-US comparison, where 14/20 is A− or A depending on the band. A receiving school may still interpret the record in another way; the point is that raw percentage arithmetic is not a reliable cross-system policy.

Individual course marks should be kept separate from the final baccalauréat average. The French education ministry states that a final Bac average of at least 10/20 leads to admission, while an average from 8 to below 10 can lead to the second-group oral tests; below 8 is unsuccessful. Those are Bac examination rules, not a direct US letter conversion and not a claim that any single course grade of 10 means the student has passed the Bac.

For the general Bac, the ministry describes the final grade as 40% continuous assessment and 60% final and anticipated examinations. This matters if someone tries to treat one reported class mark as the whole credential. The official framework also changes by examination session, so use the current school and ministry guidance when interpreting a Bac record.

Bac mentions are another measure

For the final Bac result, the ministry describes assez bien for averages from 12 to below 14, bien from 14 to below 16, très bien from 16 to below 18, and très bien avec les félicitations du jury from 18 upward. These are French award categories for the diploma result. They are not US “honors,” Latin honors, or US GPA bands. Do not infer a distinction from one assignment mark just because its numeric value falls in the same interval.

Class reports can also include the class average, teacher comments, rank or distribution, and course track. Those details can explain what the mark means more effectively than a single letter. If a counselor supplies a school profile, it may describe how marks are awarded and how frequently high marks occur at that particular school. This converter cannot see that context, which is why its output should accompany rather than replace the original record.

Which school-level band should you choose?

The consulate table groups French 6ème through 3ème in one column and seconde through terminale in the other. The labels here say “approximately US grades 6–9” and “approximately US grades 10–12” only to help a US reader recognize the stage. They do not make an enrollment or credit-placement decision. Select the French level shown on the record being converted, even if the student's age or US year label is different.

A middle-school record from 3ème belongs in the first band. A high-school record from seconde, première, or terminale belongs in the second. If a transcript mixes years from both stages, change the selection for each mark rather than using one band for every year. If the document does not identify the level, confirm it with the school before comparing letters.

For an applicant who changed schools or repeated a year, use the recorded French level for that course. The same principle applies when a US school asks for a year-by-year explanation: the source document and school context should drive the interpretation, not an assumed equivalence based solely on age. When a credential evaluator or admissions office has its own grade-band rule, its instructions take priority.

Using French grades in a US application

Before filling in an admissions form, read the institution's instructions for international transcripts. Some institutions want grades exactly as the school issued them and do their own evaluation. Stanford, for example, tells international applicants that they do not need to convert marks to an American GPA. This is a useful illustration, not a rule for all institutions. Other schools may request a credential evaluation, an English translation, or a school profile.

Keep a copy of the official transcript and any explanatory notes from the school. If the application has a field for the original grading scale, identify it as out of 20. If it asks for an overall average, use the average shown or certified by the school rather than an average invented from selected marks. If it explicitly asks for a US GPA conversion, consult its published method or the required evaluator; this page intentionally does not calculate one.

When there is an optional explanation box, a concise note can say: “My school reports marks on a 0–20 French scale. The attached transcript and school profile show the original marks.” Add the consulate comparison only if it is relevant and acceptable to the recipient. Label any output from this calculator as an indicative letter comparison. Never present the output as a replacement official transcript, a credential evaluation, or an admissions decision.

What about US GPA and course credit?

A US GPA usually combines grades across courses, often weighted by course credit and sometimes by school-specific policies. The National Center for Education Statistics describes how transcript studies calculate GPA from course grades and credits. A single French mark does not provide the information needed for that calculation. Plus/minus points, honors or advanced weighting, repeated courses, and pass/fail courses can also differ by institution. Converting one French score directly into “3.7 GPA” would suggest a precision this letter chart does not support.

If you need to estimate an overall academic picture for personal planning, gather your full transcript and the recipient's method first. For a separate US-grade calculation using actual US course letters and credits, see the GPA calculator. Do not feed its results back into an application unless the institution permits self-calculated GPAs.

Are admission tests required?

Testing rules vary by school, program, applicant type, and application year. A French grade conversion does not decide whether a student needs SAT, ACT, language testing, or any other exam. Check the current policy of each institution. If a school asks you to plan a US test score separately, the SAT score calculator and ACT score calculator cover those distinct tasks.

Common conversion mistakes to avoid

• Using the wrong band: A 14 has a different displayed letter in the two columns. Check whether the mark came from 3ème or seconde, for example.
• Multiplying the French mark by five: That calculates a percentage of the maximum points but does not reproduce the consulate's letter comparison or an individual US school's grading policy.
• Rounding a decimal without instructions: This calculator uses lower-bound thresholds. It treats 14.9 as being below 15. A school could round differently, so disclose the original decimal mark.
• Turning a letter into a GPA automatically: The published table does not define a 4.0 GPA, course credit, or weighting. A letter comparison is only one piece of a larger transcript evaluation.
• Confusing Bac mentions with US honors: French diploma distinctions describe the final Bac average under French rules. They are not synonyms for US Latin honors.
• Dropping school context: A mark can be read alongside teacher comments, subject, level, school profile, and the full transcript. Preserve those details where possible.
• Assuming every recipient uses this chart: This is one French consular reference. The receiving organization can set its own reporting rules.

These errors often come from trying to reduce an entire academic record to one number. A clear comparison is useful, but the original scale, subject, year, and official documentation are what allow someone else to assess the record responsibly.

Decimal marks, rounding, and edge cases

The source table names integer French marks. Students' reports may show decimal marks, sometimes with a comma as the decimal separator. To make this tool useful for those reports without suggesting the source contains rows it does not, the calculator follows a stated rule: it takes the largest listed whole-number threshold that is less than or equal to the submitted score. Thus 13.0 and 13.9 fall in the same threshold row, while 14.0 moves to the next row. The result card shows the actual mark you typed, so this calculation does not erase the distinction between 13.0 and 13.9 on your record.

That is a choice for this comparison tool, not an official decimal policy. A school might round course marks before reporting them; another might keep one or two decimal places; a credential evaluator might interpret the entire transcript rather than single marks. If your original document already shows a rounded final value, enter the reported value. If it shows an unrounded value, keep that value when explaining it to an admissions office. Do not round a mark upward merely to reach the next letter threshold unless the recipient specifically tells you to do so.

At the extremes, 0 and 20 are valid entries. Scores under the lowest non-F threshold show F in the selected band: below 5 in 6ème–3ème, or below 4 in seconde–terminale. A mark exactly on a threshold gets the new letter. For example, 15.0 in the upper band reaches A+, whereas 14.99 remains A under this site's method. If your input is blank, contains words, has two separators, or exceeds 20, the calculator stops and asks for a valid mark instead of guessing what you intended.

Finally, the letter comparison does not measure how far a student is from a pass, an admission cutoff, or a merit award. Those questions involve different policies and often more than one mark. If you are evaluating a transcript, use each mark in its proper course and year context and verify any formal decision with the institution responsible for it.

A practical transcript checklist

When you are preparing a French record for a US school, start with the document the French school actually issued. Note the student name, academic years, French level, subject names, individual marks, any overall averages, and the scale printed on the record. Make sure a copied mark still says “out of 20.” If an English translation is requested, follow the destination's rules for who may prepare or certify it. A casual explanation of a grade is useful for planning but should not be substituted for a required official translation.

Next, read the receiving school's instructions for foreign records. Does it want a direct upload, a sealed transcript, a school counselor report, a credential evaluation, or all of these? Does it ask applicants to leave a GPA field empty when their school does not calculate one? The answer can differ even among programs at one institution. If the form gives only US letter options, look for its instructions or contact its admissions office before replacing every French mark with a letter from this page.

Where the application permits extra context, explain the grading scale briefly and attach a school profile if one exists. A profile may describe course difficulty, the school's typical grade distribution, and how the final average is calculated. Such information can help the reader understand why a French mark that looks modest as a raw percentage may be strong within its original system. This site cannot reconstruct those facts from a lone number, and an exact percentile should not be asserted without data from the student's own school or an authoritative report.

Keep a small audit trail for any comparison you make: the original mark, the original level, the reference used, the date reviewed, and whether the recipient approved self-conversion. If a counselor or evaluator later offers a different interpretation, the original data remains intact and can be reinterpreted. This is especially important for multi-year records that cross from 3ème to seconde, where the table changes columns.

For personal planning, you can test multiple marks one by one here. Reset between unrelated courses so the grade band is deliberate. If you need a single final GPA or a decision about course credit, this tool has reached its limit; gather the full transcript and ask the organization that will use the result. A transparent, incomplete comparison is more helpful than a precise-looking number produced from missing information.

Sources and review notes

Reviewed September 2026. The letter thresholds come from the French Consulate in Miami's published equivalence chart. The source gives integer marks in two school-level columns; decimal intervals shown on this page are an explicit implementation rule. Bac pass rules, mention ranges, and examination structure are drawn from the French Ministry of Education. Admissions and GPA examples are included to explain why this letter table should not replace an institution's requirements.

• French Consulate in Miami — French and American grade equivalence chart (PDF)
• French Ministry of Education — presentation of the general baccalauréat
• French Ministry of Education — general baccalauréat examination structure
• Stanford Undergraduate Admission — international applicants
• National Center for Education Statistics — how transcript GPA is calculated