FBISE announces revised grades

The Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE), Islamabad, announced on Friday the revised grades for intermediate and secondary classes, which will be effective for annual examinations of classes 9th and 11th from 2023 and for 10th and 12th from 2024.

The education board has decreed that instead of marks, students will now be awarded grades in their examinations “in order to stop the culture of race of marks.”

This practice is already used in international examinations including the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) O’ and A’ Level examinations.

The notification, dated January 25, further outlined the timeline along which the new grading practice would be implemented. After the introduction of the new grading system in 2023 and 2024, “initially the results will be communicated mentioning absolute marks, grades, and GPA. Subsequently, the results of Annual Examination 2025 will be communicated only in Grades, GPA, and Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA).”

According to the new criteria, students who secure marks between 95 and 100% will be awarded a grade of A++ — an “exceptional” grade — and will have a GPA of 5 per subject.

Those who score between 90 and 94% will be “outstanding” with a GPA of 4.7 and an A+ grade.

Students whose marks with fall between 85 and 89% will be considered “excellent”, and will have a GPA of 4.3 with an A grade.

A B++ grade will be awarded to students whose marks are between 80 and 84%. They will have a GPA of 4 and will be described as “very good.”

To be considered “good” in a subject, a student must score a B+ grade, which will be awarded to those whose marks are between 75 and 79%. These students will be given a GPA of 3.7.

Those who score between 70 and 74% will be described as “fairly good” and will be given a B grade and a GPA of 3.3.

A C grade will be given to those considered “above average” with a GPA of 3 and with marks that fall between 60 and 69%.

An “average” student with marks that fall in the range of 50 and 59% will be awarded a D grade and a GPA of 2.

A GPA of 1 will be given to those whose performance is “below average” and whose marks are between 40 and 49%. Such students will be awarded an E grade.

A U grade will be ascribed to those who score less than 39% in a given subject. These grades will be considered “unsatisfactory” and will be given a GPA of 0.

Taking to Twitter, on Friday, the FBISE announced this new criterion, stating: “It is notified for information of all concerned that FBISE will communicate in phased manner results of SSC and HSSC levels in grading system instead of absolute marks in order to stop the culture of race of marks. In this regard, it has been decided that the grading system for classes 9th and 11th will be implemented from Annual Examinations 2023 and for classes 10th and 12th from Annual Examinations 2024. Initially, the results will be communicated by mentioning absolute marks, grades, and GPA. Subsequently, the results of Annual Examination 2025 will be communicated only in Grades, GPA, and Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA).”