So, the most recent manga I caught up to was Yankee-kun to Megane-chan (good read btw) and some of the many scenes involve the main characters comparing the grades they got on their exams. Of course, the token smart characters always get 90+ sometimes 100 but the token stupid characters don't just 60- but 30 and less, sometimes as low as 8

Now, this isn't the first time I've seen these kind of low exam grades in a manga, I can't remember exactly which mangas had it as well but I thought it was a very common joke until this last example in Yankee became the last straw and actually drew this question in my mind.

Basically, do even the poorest students in Japan actually get these kind of low grades all the time? if so, how do any of them ever graduate, or how does the Japanese school system function differently to allow this? Speaking from personal experience as a United States student, basically as long as you turned in the assignment and it made sense you got a C (70-79) and for exams, as long as you were awake for the classes and paid some amount of attention, you could get a passing grade on them too. Even the poorest students very rarely got below 50 on assignments that they actually turned in. This seems especially glaring in a manga like Yankee where the main plot seems to be making sure that no one in the school is held back yet Shingawa and Adachi almost never get a passing (exam) grade in any of their classes (besides math). (Btw, passing as I know it, is defined as getting a 70 or above.)

Alternatively, this could actually be just an extremely common joke. Or maybe this style of grading is actually very common outside of the U.S.A. or even very common outside of the schools that I went to.

ive always wondered that too

in GTO the students always get 20+/-...also in School Rumble, Rookies...

now these are comedies, but i remember reading Yu Yu Hakusho a while back and one of the characters where happy to make like a 50% so thats when i started to wonder about this...

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why because i am the president of the student council of course

Great, so I'm not the only one. I felt like I was the only one who didn't get the joke or something.

I don't know about the japanese, but we have a grading system like that, and yes, grades so low are not that uncommon.
Actually, a week ago we got the results for a calculus exam and my circle of friends got a 103, a 34, a 86 and one clear 0 (and he did answer most of it). Most exams have a 100 base (some have rescue questions, for extra points, hence the 103) and 70 being the passing grade. One can usually recover and pass the subject if he/she makes and extra effort to bring all homework and study harder to get better than average notes on the tests left.

On the other hand, there are subjects so tough with tests so hard, I'm happy and satisfied if I get a 50-60. I can always try harder at the final exam, which usually has more value and is relatively easy. Emphasis on relatively.


PS. It's the USA grading system that has always baffled me. How can you promedy letters!?

I'm confused too. I've seen this is in many manga and glossed over it, figuring I just must not understand the grading system. Maybe tests in Japan are extremely difficult and so a low grade actually is pretty good?

My experience with tests from elementary to high school has been that they are tailored to the skill level the students should be able to attain and so most students, as long as they paid attention and studied some, should be able to pass. (This does not include calculus which I think would kill me--but was also what I considered the hardest subject available in my high school.)

I guess I'm wondering about the math. If someone gets scores like 30 per cent on their tests, wouldn't they have to do insanely well on all projects, papers, etc to pass? In Japan do tests make up a very small part of the grade perhaps?

Wow, I had no idea that this was actually a legit grading system, I learned something new today. But its still confusing, it would make sense if the passing grade was 50 but according to you its still 70 like it is in the U.S. which means that the average score should be around 75 right? But the scores that you and your friends got are all over the place and average near 60 which would mean that the average person is failing? That can't be right can it? I simply can't imagine getting a 0 or even a 30-something on an exam that I bothered to show up for, much less actually continuing in that course and passing. (In no way do I mean any offense towards your friends, the exam they took just must have been really hard compared to the ones I take.)

By the way, what country are you from? Also, I have no idea what a promedy letter is.

Well I'm saying this, since I'm studying from an asian country.

Apparently (according to my friends those who had to move to America to study) education system in America is more relaxed than here in Singapore. In Singapore, even if you paid attention in class, you'll need to study at home to attain a decent mark. In order for me to get a decent 80+, I had to study my ass off to get it. Which I mean 2 to 3 hours a day studying on that subject alone. It is virtually almost impossible to get by without studying at home no matter how much you pay attention in class.

Moreover in Singapore we have 4 major exams a year. Class Test 1 (1st sem), Semester Test 1 (end of semester), Class Test 2 and Semester test 2. I believe (seeing how most of the manga shows it that way) that the japanese grading system is probably alot like that. All the 4 grades are added to the final mark at the end. So basically, if you bomb the class tests, then as long as you do well for the semester tests you'll be able to get through. If you bomb those.. Depending on how good/bad your other scores are, you might be asked to repeat the whole year.

The tests that the characters fail most of the time in that case, is most likely similar to class tests. They don't hold alot of weightage in the marks but they still can affect your overall.

Hoped this helped

The Japanese grading system is just like China's, and people can do really bad on them depending on the amount of questions per test/quiz. In elementary school, the best students can range from 80-100s, and those who are not the best from can range from 60-0. (this is based on my own knowledge, it may vary slightly between schools). Usually people who get below 40 remain that way or get worse, and it's because harder materials will be covered and the time given to understand them is the same.

No matter how bad a grade a person gets, usually it's the final exam that matters. Although I'm baffled at the test scores of a lot of manga characters, it's not uncommon in each class to have at least a few not-so-good grades.

Tough subjects like Calculus and advanced physics (harder than AP physics in the U.S.) for even the fairly good students usually is lower (in the 70-80s).

I'm not sure whether Japan averages the individual's quizzes and tests like in the U.S., but final exams and entrance exams determines most placements.

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Nulla in mundo pax sincera
"Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth." - Albert Camus

If the US is like Canada, then we receive both a letter grade and a percentage grade but we mostly go by the percentage when comparing and stuff.

As for the the grades like 8 in manga, I always figured it was to show how bad the characters were academically (like Tsuna from KHR).

I study in the Philippines (in uni now) and we have the same thing too. The passing grade is around 50% and basically if your general average (for all subjects) is around that you're not a very good student, or maybe something happened or your subjects are just so damn hard. The breakdown of grades is of course different for every subjects. Say in one subject (can't really recall but I'm just giving a rough estimate) the breakdown is this:

40% - final exam
20% - group activities
20% - unit tests
15% - quizzes, reports
5% - attendance

So it is possible that you could get whatever in your exam and assignments/papers. You totally get what grade you deserve. You get 30 correct answers from 100 questions, then you get 30. You wrote a fail paper, you fail that too.Usually unit tests do not count for most of your final grade, it's the final exam that counts. Or sometimes there isn't any final exam but unit tests are given much more weight. In any case if you get such low grades then it's really your fault and you have to work hard if you want to pass. If you're lucky your professor will help you and won't be so hard on you but if not then yeah, that sucks.



Yup, same here.

I'm speaking from experience and it's not all the same for all the schools here. I know when I was in high school I never really had to worry so much about my grades (as I do now) because you know the teacher won't outright fail you. They were very considerate... even though you have such low scores on your exams and you turned in such poorly researched papers/assignments. Just the fact that you submitted something is alright. I still studied though so I guess that makes all the difference. I know some people from my high school that were totally lazy and did not care at all about anything and they had to be kicked out from our program (we're in this other science curriculum that is different from the regular curriculum in our school).


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I also go by amatsu.

It is really interesting theme. In my country graduating system is whit 1-6 marks and 3 is about 50, if u go down than that on some of the exams repeat year, then how is it possible to pass whit 30 or 14?

@McCasper:
I'm from Mexico
Well, I guess I can see how that makes little sense to you. Indeed, the failing average (continuing with the calculus example) for our group is about 30-40%, it's hard, and a lot of people fail, yes. Still, our university (and most, actually) has a system in wich up to six oportunities are given to the student to pass the subject. The first time you have the class, it's your first oportunity. Say you fail, you've got one week to study intensively to take one single exam, which will be your second oportunity. You get 70 on it, you pass the subject with 70. Third (tutoring+tests) and fourth (one test) opportunity are given in the next semester, a week apart if you fail the 3rd one, it gets in the way with your other classes and there are some subjects you can't course without approving others first. Fifth and sixth (both same as 3th), are pretty much the death of many students. Someone in those opportunities is unable to course any other class and failing the 6th gets you expelled from the university. Highschools and junior highs function pretty much like that, except if they fail second opportunity they have to repeat the whole semester, not just the failed class. So while a lot of students fail miserably the monthly tests, they can still pass the subject (however, it looks real bad in your final score paper and lowers your general average).

As to promedy letters, well, I guess I worded that badly, I meant, how do they give you your final score? A plus B plus C divided into three gets you what, a B? :/ I don't get that.


@Dezin19:
Well, percentages makes much more sense to me. I must be biased, though, having lived all my lived around number scores, but I don't like letters at all. They're confusing ._.

@kebi:
A lot of teachers are willing to give you hand with free points if you're in the 65-69 range so you can pass.
My calculus teacher fails you with a bright, warm smile. Even if you got a 69.9.

Well in my country, our passing marks is 40%, so even the student get 50% they will be still be happy.
Besides, the marks are solely from exam only, assigments/project/homeworks are not include. For those things(assigments & projects) we have other marking system which will be rated as pass or fail only.

So, its not weird for the student to get 30% or 20%. Even I got 45% in my calculus and I still pass.But thats only in the monthly test, so it doesn't matter much. The important test is the Final Exam and the National Exam.

But If them want to continue on study on field like engineering/doctor/law or if they want a scholarship, they will need a really high marks like 85%-100%.

So, my country system almost like Japan. So, thats why I can get the jokes.

Hmm, it seems it was the U.S.A. that had the strange grading system all along (even our neighbor Mexico has a different grading system). Something tells me I would need to actually experience these grading systems in order to understand them but what from what I learned so far, basically the U.S. is more lenient in grading tests. It could also be that other countries concentrate more on passing courses while the U.S. concentrates on your grade point average (GPA) but something tells me that's not the case. Tests also seem to be more important in other countries whereas, in the U.S. the importance of tests varies depending on the class with some classes focusing more on projects and essays even in college. The only test that really matters is the S.A.T. (Scholastic Aptitude Test) that determines which colleges and universities you can get into. I still can't wrap my head around a class where the majority of students are failing though. In the U.S. coming back from failing a course depends on how lenient the teacher is, sometimes they'll hand you an extra credit assignment or let you re-take a test but if you have below 70 as a course average after all is said and done, it doesn't matter how much they like you, they will fail you.

@ Karura Himura: Ah, you're referring to the GPA system I think. Basically, each letter grade corresponds to a number as follows:
A=4
B=3
C=2
D=1
E/F=0
Then, after you convert all your letter grades into numbers you average those numbers together and then you have your grade point average or G.P.A. So if you have an A(4), B(3), and C(2) then your GPA would be (4+3+2)/3 or 3.00 or B average. Honors and AP classes work differently though, the top GPA is 5.00 instead of 4.00. Your GPA, your SAT score and your extracurricular activities/sports determine what colleges or universities you can get into. Once I got into college this system became more complex and now a B- and a B+ count for different grade point values.

We have a strange everything! Our own system of measurement, our own grading system, etc. We just took being independent a little too far. XD

For people used to percents, it's easier to think of it as...
A = 90-100%
B = 80-89%
C = 70-79%
D = 60-69%
F = <60

Basically, if you get a D or less, you fail the course. Ds give you 1/2 credit for the class, but some colleges don't accept them (some do, but it all depends on where you're going)


We actually only receive a letter grade on our final report card/official transcripts, although we receive percents on our assignments and stuff, and you can check your grade throughout the year by either percents or a letter grade (My school has an online system where you can check your grades). It's always bugged me, though, because there is a big difference between a 98% A and a 90% A. I prefer the Canadian way of doing grades.

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