NEB Grading System in Nepal: Grade Table, GPA and NG
Updated 8 min read
Nepal's National Examinations Board (NEB) reports SEE (Class 10), Class 11 and Class 12 results as letter grades and grade points, not raw marks. The table runs from A+ (90% and above, 4.0) to D (35% to under 40%, 1.6), and anything under 35% is NG, Not Graded. Here is the full table, how a GPA is worked out, and what happens after an NG.
NEB grade table for SEE, Class 11 and Class 12
Marks on a paper are turned into a percentage, and the percentage falls into one of eight bands. Every band has a letter grade, a grade point and a description, and the description is printed on the marksheet too.
The table comes from the Letter Grading Directive 2083, issued by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology for every class from 1 to 12. It replaced the 2078 directive. NEB applies it when it runs exams, publishes results and issues certificates.
| Marks | Letter grade | Grade point | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90% and above | A+ | 4.0 | Outstanding |
| 80% to under 90% | A | 3.6 | Excellent |
| 70% to under 80% | B+ | 3.2 | Very Good |
| 60% to under 70% | B | 2.8 | Good |
| 50% to under 60% | C+ | 2.4 | Satisfactory |
| 40% to under 50% | C | 2.0 | Acceptable |
| 35% to under 40% | D | 1.6 | Basic |
| Under 35% | NG | None | Not Graded |
Source: Letter Grading Directive 2083, Schedule 1. Students who were regular SEE candidates in academic session 2079 and are now sitting the grade improvement exam are graded on an older nine-band scale instead, in Schedule 2 of the same directive.
How GPA is calculated
Each subject carries credit hours, and in Class 11 and Class 12 the theory paper and the internal or practical part are separate rows on the grade sheet, each with its own. One credit hour stands for 32 hours of teaching, under the directive. The GPA is a weighted average: multiply each grade point by its credit hours, add those up, and divide by the total credit hours.
GPA = Σ (grade point × credit hours) ÷ Σ credit hours, shown to two decimal places.
| Subject | Credit hours | Marks | Grade | Grade point | Points × credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | 4 | 78% | B+ | 3.2 | 12.8 |
| Nepali | 4 | 85% | A | 3.6 | 14.4 |
| Mathematics | 4 | 92% | A+ | 4.0 | 16.0 |
| Science | 4 | 66% | B | 2.8 | 11.2 |
| Social Studies | 4 | 58% | C+ | 2.4 | 9.6 |
| Computer Science | 2 | 95% | A+ | 4.0 | 8.0 |
Illustrative credit hours, not an official subject list. Total: 72.0 points over 22 credit hours, so GPA = 72.0 ÷ 22 = 3.27. The free NEB GPA calculator on this site does this for SEE, Class 11 and Class 12.
Grading a paper out of 75, 50 or 25 marks
The bands are percentages, so a paper's full marks do not change the grade table: work out the percentage first, then read the band. NEB's assessment frameworks for SEE and Grade 12 put most subjects at 75 marks for the external paper and 25 for internal assessment, and each is graded on its own.
For example, 60 out of 75 is 80%, which is A. 26 out of 75 is 34.67%, which is NG. 27 out of 75 is 36%, which is D. On a smaller paper, 45 out of 50 is 90%, which is A+. 10 out of 25 is 40%, which is C.
| Grade | Out of 100 | Out of 75 | Out of 50 | Out of 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A+ | 90 or more | 67.5 or more | 45 or more | 22.5 or more |
| A | 80 or more | 60 or more | 40 or more | 20 or more |
| B+ | 70 or more | 52.5 or more | 35 or more | 17.5 or more |
| B | 60 or more | 45 or more | 30 or more | 15 or more |
| C+ | 50 or more | 37.5 or more | 25 or more | 12.5 or more |
| C | 40 or more | 30 or more | 20 or more | 10 or more |
| D | 35 or more | 26.25 or more | 17.5 or more | 8.75 or more |
| NG | Under 35 | Under 26.25 | Under 17.5 | Under 8.75 |
The directive sets the bands by percentage and gives no rounding rule, so these are the exact figures. Where marks are whole numbers, 26.25 out of 75 means 27 in practice.
What NG means and what happens next
NG stands for Not Graded: under 35%. It has no grade point. It is not a zero averaged into the GPA: the subject simply has no grade until the student clears it.
For Classes 8, 10 and 12, the original certificate is issued only once the student has the minimum grade in every subject: at least D (35%) in theory and C (40%) in internal, subject by subject. So 10 out of 25 is the lowest internal mark that earns the certificate, even though 9 out of 25 is already a D on the table. Further study needs the original certificate; without it, equivalence is not granted.
- A Class 10 student who was absent or got NG in a subject can sit the grade improvement exam in that subject
- A student who still misses the required grade can sit the annual exam in that subject alone, for up to three years
- A Class 10 student who took internal assessment but missed the external exam keeps those internal and practical marks for three years
- Sitting the external exam without the required internal grade can get that exam cancelled
- NEB runs grade improvement exams for Class 11 and Class 12 too; its notice each year says who can apply and for how many subjects
Using the NEB scale for your own exams
The directive applies the same table to every class from 1 to 12, so terminal and unit tests can read the same way from Class 1 up, and students and parents only have one scale to learn. It also gives early warning: a student hovering around 35% in a theory paper in the first term is a student to help before the board exam.
The directive also asks for 75% attendance of the days the school was open before a student sits a final (summative) exam, so keep the register with the same care as the marks.
- Set each subject's full marks and pass marks before marks are entered
- Grade theory and internal marks separately, as the grade sheet does
- Print the grade descriptions on every report card
Doing it with software
The free NEB GPA calculator on this site turns marks into grades and a credit-weighted GPA for SEE, Class 11 and Class 12. In SchoolEasy, your school sets its own grade scale in Settings, letters, minimum percentages and grade points, so you can enter the NEB bands above; report cards then show each subject's grade and grade point, the percentage, GPA and overall grade, with the legend printed from the same scale.