Australian Grades, Assessment and Study Loads |
Bron Ives
International Admissions Officer
University of Tasmania
Prepared while on secondment to the
Australian Education Office Washington DC
26 August - 11 October 1996
The uniformity of the grading and credit systems used in over 3,600 higher education institutions in the United States compares starkly with the variety of systems employed by Australia's thirty eight universities.
This report was prepared with the intention of assisting college administrators and students in the US to more fully understand the various grading, study load and assessment procedures that exist in Australia's universities.
It is also hoped that the information provided in this report will help study abroad students to transfer their academic experience in Australia back to the US. By understanding the way grades are distributed in Australian universities students should be able to view their final results within a broader context.
Most Australian universities use a grading system with four clear grades of pass. The terminology may differ between institutions however the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee (AV-CC) provides a table of comparable grades across institutions. This table has been amended to include an Australian Education Office (AEO) recommended transfer of Australian grades to the United States grading system (see Appendix - Grades of Pass for Undergraduate Degree Subjects).
The most commonly used terms are High Distinction, Distinction, Credit and Pass - as suggested by the AV-CC. It is important to note that although institutions may use the same terms the notational percentages at which these awards are made may differ. The AV-CC model recommends that a High Distinction be awarded for an overall grade of between 80 - 100%. Seven out of the thirty eight universities use this method. A further nineteen universities also use the term High Distinction but award it a grade of between 85 - 100%. Some universities use a numerical system while others a simple letter grade. At one university a "3" indicates a fail while at another it is a clear pass.
The US grade of "D" which indicates unsatisfactory work but allows a pass can most closely be related to the Australian grade of "Conceding/Terminating Pass".
In Australia the US tradition of transferring from one institution to another to pursue undergraduate studies has not been common. As student mobility increases in Australia the need for a reasonably uniform system like the US system will become more pressing .
Although English is the common language of most Australians and North Americans there are some differences in the way we use familiar words.
| Australia | United States |
|---|---|
| Unit or subject | Course (In Australia a 'course' usually denotes an entire degree program) |
| Weighting | Credits |
| First year | Sophomore year (sometimes the freshman year) |
| Second year | Junior year |
| Third/ fourth year | Senior year. |
In Australia the word "colleges" usually refers to university dormitories, senior secondary schools or private secondary schools.
It should be noted that because the typical high school program in the US is much broader than the Australian system most Australian universities require US students to have completed one year of study at a US college or university before being granted entry to the first year of an Australian degree program. Students who have taken the Advanced Placement Test or who have outstanding final year High School Diploma results are also considered for entry to some study abroad programs in Australia.
The distribution of grades in Australian universities contrasts markedly to that of the United States. Many study abroad students are used to receiving grades of B and above at their home institutions and they may be unaware that it is far more difficult to receive the equivalent grade at an Australian university. Some study abroad students do perform exceptionally well but as a general rule far fewer A+ and A grade equivalents are awarded at Australian institutions.
It is difficult to convert Australian grades to US grades but it is recognised that college administrators are often required to do so. In order to facilitate the transfer of grades to the US system the Australian Education Office (AEO) recommends a comparison of grades between the Australian and US systems as listed in the Appendix.
The table below indicates the general distribution of Australian grades (1995 undergraduate local and international students) from three popular disciplines of study selected by US study abroad students - Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Technology and the Visual and Performing Arts. Twelve out of the twenty nine AEO member institutions provided the following statistics.
| AV-CC Recommendation | Humanities & Social Sciences | Science & Technology | Visual & Performing Arts |
|---|---|---|---|
| High Distinction | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| Distinction | 21 | 19 | 27 |
| Credit | 30 | 27 | 19 |
| Pass | 25 | 28 | 28 |
| Fail | 11 | 14 | 10 |
The figures above represent the percentage of students who
received the grades listed.
* Totals may not equal 100% due to additional grades and unresolved data.
The statistics for the US come from two main sources, the National Centre for Education Statistics which conducted a survey of 10,080 students from 648 institutions in 1994 (Table 2) and from figures taken from a paper written by Barbara Farley of Princeton University (Table 3).
| Overall grades in undergraduate major | |
|---|---|
| Mostly A's | 23.4% |
| A's and B's | 28.0% |
| Mostly B's | 40.0% |
| B's and C's | 7.1% |
| Mostly C's | 1.2% |
| C's and D's or below | .4% |
| Humanities & Social Sciences* | Science & Technology* | Visual & Performing Arts* | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 22 | 28 | 38 |
| B | 28 | 32 | 25 |
| C | 22 | 20 | 11 |
| D | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| F | 23 | 25 | 22 |
The above figures have been grouped together in the three
discipline areas listed above so as to compare with the figures presented
in Table 1. In Farley's paper the subjects were listed individually.
* Totals may not equal 100% due to additional grades and unresolved data.
A comparison between the data in Tables 1, 2 and 3 illustrates how there are distinct differences in the distribution of individual grades between the US and Australian systems. An understanding of the distribution of grades in Australia may assist some study abroad students to be more satisfied with their academic performance abroad.
Of particular note is the small number of High Distinctions awarded to students in Australia. The number of students who received A's in the US was almost three times that of the comparable grade awarded to students in Australia.
The number of students who received Distinctions and Credits in Australia, and those students in the US who received the comparable grade of A - or B, were reasonably similar.
It may be useful for US staff and students to note that the award of a Credit is comparable to that of a B grade in the US and that in Australia a Credit is considered a good solid grade. Also important to note is that the award of a Pass grade in Australia is far more common than the comparable C grade in the US and seen in this light it may not be considered as poorly as perhaps it is in the US.
Universities in Australia vary widely as to how a full time load is calculated. Most Australian universities recommend that US study abroad students enrol in a course load of between 75% - 100% per year or between 37.5% - 50% per semester. Requests to overload generally require the permission of an Academic Dean, Study Abroad Officer, Departmental Head or similar authority.
The terminology and calculations that universities use to describe study loads varies considerably between institutions. Each subject (US: course) has a particular weighting that represents the proportion of the workload undertaken in a particular academic year. The different methods used are illustrated in Table 5.
A full time semester load at an Australian university is considered comparable to a full time load at a North American university. Based on this knowledge college administrators are able to calculate the credit point value for subjects taken in Australia by considering the number of subjects taken and the weighting for individual subjects.
Most Australian institutions require study abroad students to enrol in either three or four subjects (US: courses) per semester. If the average load at a US college is 15 - 16 credits per semester then the following generalisation could be made:
| UNIVERSITIES | SEMESTER LOAD |
|---|---|
| Australian Catholic University | 40 credit points |
| Australian National University | 3 - 4 points |
| Bond University | 3 - 4 credit points |
| Charles Sturt University | 32 credit points |
| Central Queensland University | 30 - 40 credit points |
| Curtin University of Technology | 75 - 100 credits |
| Deakin University | 3 - 4 credit points |
| Edith Cowan University | 3 - 4 units |
| Flinders University | 13.5 - 21 units |
| Griffith University | 30 - 40 credit points |
| James Cook University | 9 - 12 units |
| La Trobe University | 60 credit points |
| Macquarie University | 10 - 14 credit points |
| Monash University | 18 - 24 credit points |
| Murdoch University | 10 - 12 points |
| Northern Territory University | 30 - 50 credit points |
| Queensland University of Technology | 36 - 48 credit points |
| Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology | 18 - 24 credit points |
| Southern Cross University | 4 units |
| Swinburne University of Technology | 50 credit points (varies acc. to faculty) |
| University of Adelaide | 9 - 12 credit points |
| University of Ballarat | 60 credit points |
| University of Canberra | 12 credit points |
| University of Melbourne | 50 points |
| University of Notre Dame | 9 - 12 credits |
| University of Newcastle | 40 credit points |
| University of New England | 24 credit points |
| University of New South Wales | 60 credit points |
| University of Queensland | 40 credit points |
| University of South Australia | 13.5 - 18 points |
| University of Southern Queensland | 3 - 4 credit points |
| University of Tasmania | 37.5 - 50% units/18 points |
| University of Sydney | 22 - 24 units |
| University of Technology, Sydney | 18 - 24 credit points |
| University of Western Australia | 12 points |
| University of Western Sydney: | |
| (Hawkesbury) | 18 - 24 credit points |
| (MacArthur) | .375 - .5 Student Load Factors |
| (Nepean) | 40 Student Load Factors |
| University of Wollongong | 18 - 24 credit points |
| Victoria University Technology | 16 credits |
The most common form of assessment in Australian institutions is by participation in tutorials, practical work and the completion of written assignments and examinations. There is a variety of courses that offer other modes of assessment. Some of these are:
The following examples illustrate a small sample of the variety of course structures and assessments available at Australian universities:
I would like to thank staff of the University of Tasmania and the Australian Education Office for their valuable support during my secondment.
My considerable appreciation goes to Professor Robert Smith, Nick Hanson, John Wells and David Lloyd for their advice, encouragement and co-operation during the preparation of this report.
The assistance of international office staff at Australian universities in providing statistics is also gratefully acknowledged.