GPA vs CGPA
3 min read · Updated 2026-10-18
Same idea, different scales
Both metrics average your grades weighted by credits. The difference is the scale and region: “GPA” commonly means the US 4.0 scale; “CGPA” commonly means the cumulative 10-point average.
The terms side by side
| Term | Covers | Typical scale | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPA | One term or all terms | 4.0 (4.3 at some schools) | US, Canada |
| Cumulative GPA | All terms | 4.0 | US, Canada |
| SGPA | One semester | 10 | India |
| CGPA | All semesters | 10 in India; 4.00 in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Malaysia; 5.00 in Nigeria | South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa |
So a CGPA is not always out of 10. Universities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Malaysia report CGPA out of 4.00, and Nigerian universities out of 5.00.
Converting a 10-point CGPA to a 4.0 GPA
The tempting shortcut is CGPA ÷ 10 × 4, which turns 8.0 into 3.2. Credential evaluators don’t do that: they convert each course grade to a US letter grade and average those, which usually lands an 8.0 CGPA near 3.3 and a 9.0+ CGPA at or near 4.0.
| CGPA | Percentage (× 9.5) | US 4.0 GPA (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| 9.5 | 90.3% | 4.0 |
| 9.0 | 85.5% | 4.0 |
| 8.0 | 76% | 3.3 |
The India conversion page uses this banded mapping and covers university-specific percentage formulas.
Converting a 4.00 CGPA
If your CGPA is already out of 4.00, as in Pakistan, Bangladesh or Malaysia, it sits on the same range as the US GPA and transfers almost unchanged. Percentage conversions still differ by country — Pakistan’s HEC-affiliated universities mostly use CGPA × 25, for example.
What to write on an application
Enter the number on your transcript and name its scale, for example “8.36 / 10”. Convert only when the form asks for a 4.0 figure, and if the program requires a WES or ECE evaluation, quote the evaluator’s GPA rather than your own conversion.