The full meaning of CGPA is Cumulative Grade Point Average. It can be defined as the system of measurement that is generally adopted by every tertiary institution worldwide.
Cumulative grade point average is the best way to analyze students’ academic performance in the university, Polytechnic, or College of Educations.
For you to know the academic healthiness of any student at every point in time, you would be required to use the student’s CGPA or GPA.
Application of CGPA approach to checking students’ should be according to the grading system of the institution in which the student is studying.
For example, the grading system of Nigerian Universities is quite different from that of the Nigerian Polytechnics and others.
The Difference Between CGPA and GPA
In Nigerian Universities and Polytechnics, cumulative grade point average is the measure of students’ performance academically which is usually obtained at the end of every session or the end of academic years, while grade point average only measures students’ academic performance at the period of every semester.
The actual difference is the period for which it is calculated. Whereas CGPA is calculated at the end of every session or year, GPA is calculated at the end of every semester. In the course of this article, you are going to see how the two are being calculated respectively so that you can clearly understand the actual difference between the two.
CGPA in Nigerian Universities
Most Nigerian Universities apply a grading system that is similar to one another. The grading system of Nigerian Universities is ABCDF. This is how every student’s score is graded.
Usually in every class, it is either that exams take 70% of the scores, while continuous assessment take 30% of the scores or vice versa depending on the course and the department.
After summing up these scores on a scale of 100%, the students’ total scores shall be graded in the following ways:
0 – 44 = F
45 – 49 = D
50 – 59 = C
60 – 69 = B
70 – 100 = A,
In terms of points, there are represented as follows:
A = 5 points
B = 4 points
C = 3 points
D = 2 points
F = 0 point
Note: Score between 40 to 44 used to be graded as E and 1point, but after the modification by the National University Commission (NUC), the grading system which is presented above was adopted for all the universities in Nigeria.
All universities in Nigeria use the CGPA on a scale of 5.00
Therefore, calculations of CGPA or GPA in universities are done based on this grading system stated above.
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CGPA in Nigerian Polytechnics
Polytechnics in Nigeria make use of the grading system; A,AB,B,BC,C,D,E and F. After taking the scores of students, their performance is ranked in the following ways.
0 – 39 = E
40 – 49 = C
50 – 59 = BC
60 – 69 = B
70 – 79 = AB
80 – 100 = A
In terms of Points, the scores are graded as follows:
E – 0 point
C – 2 points
BC – 2.5 Points
B – 3.00 points
AB – 3.50 points
A – 4.00 points
All the polytechnics in Nigeria maintain the CGPA on the scale of 4.00
How to Calculate GPA and CGPA
Calculation of Cumulative Points Average of students for every institution is done in other to be certain about the performance of each student.
To calculate the Cumulative Points Average of students, you have to follow these step by step approaches that I am going to show you in this article. It is a simple guide that will help you as a student to be calculating your GPA and CGPA at any point in time.
Calculate your Cumulative Point Average (GPA) as follows:
- Know all the courses that you registered for and their Credit Hours respectively (Example; as shown above)
- Calculate the sum of all the Credit Hour: 3 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 22
- Check your grades and scores for each of the courses that you offered (example shown above)
- Calculate your Qualitative Points by multiplying your points (Value for your grades) by the Credit Hours respectively as follows:
3 x 5 = 15
2 x 4 = 8
3 x 5 = 15
2 x 4 = 8
3 x 5 = 15
3 x 4 = 12
3 x 4 = 12
3 x 4 = 12
- Get the sum of your Qualitative Points: 15 + 8 + 15 + 8 + 15 + 12 + 12 + 12 = 97
- Divide the sum of Qualitative Point by the sum of the Credit Hours:
97 ÷ 22 = 4.41
Therefore, your GPA for the first semester is 4.41
To calculate the GPA for the second semester in the same academic session, you are expected to repeat every procedure that you used for the first semester using the values in the table above.
- Know all the courses that you registered for and their Credit Hours respectively (Example; as shown above)
- Calculate the sum of all the Credit Hour: 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 18
- Check your grades and scores for each of the courses that you offered (example shown above)
- Calculate your Qualitative Points by multiplying your points (Value for your grades) by the Credit Hours respectively as follows:
3 x 4 = 12
3 x 4 = 12
3 x 4 = 12
3 x 5 = 15
3 x 5 = 15
3 x 4 = 12
- Get the sum of your Qualitative Points: 12 + 12 + 12 + 15 + 15 + 12 = 78
- Divide the sum of Qualitative Point by the sum of the Credit Hours:
78 ÷ 18 = 4.33
Therefore, you GPA for the second semester is 4.33
Cumulative Grade Point Average: You can get your Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) from the two calculations that I did on GPA above. The CGPA is gotten by taking the average of the grade point average for the first semester and the second semester. That is, to divide the sum of the two GPAs by 2 as follows:
(4.41 + 4.33) ÷ 2 = 4.37
From the calculations, the CGPA of a student with the results shown above is gotten to be 4.37
In the same way, all Polytechnic students can calculate their GPA and CGPA respectively using the same procedure as I calculated the one for university ones. It should be noted that during the calculation of Polytechnic GPA and CGPA, their grading systems have to be taken into consideration to get the actual values.
Ranking of GPA/CGPA
CGPA is ranked in different ways. This ranking is dependent on the grading system of the institution, country and the type of program. In the sections below, you are going to see how different institutions grade their Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA).
University CGPA Classification System
After a successful study in school, certificates are awarded in Honours based on every student’s academic performance which is best determined by their Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). For universities, Bachelor’s Degrees are awarded based on the rankings below:
| Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) | Classifications |
| 4.50 – 5.00 | First Class Honours |
| 3.50 – 4.99 | Second Class (Upper Division) |
| 2.5 – 3.49 | Second Class (Lower Division) |
| 1.50 – 2.49 | Third Class |
| 1.0 – 1.49 | Pass |
Polytechnic Classification System
Polytechnics in Nigeria award Ordinary National Diploma (OND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) at the end of every student’s required study years. The classifications of the certificates to be obtained are solely based on the CGPA calculation at the end of the study. Polytechnics classification systems are shown below:
| Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) | Classifications |
| 3.50 – 4.00 | Distinction |
| 3.00 – 3.49 | Upper Credit |
| 2.50 – 2.99 | Lower Credit |
| 2.00 – 2.49 | Pass |
| 0.00 – 1.99 | Fail |
Note:
To get the final classification as shown in the tables above, you have to calculate the CGPA for each of your study years. After which, you take the average depending on the number of years allotted to the course that you studied in the school.
Approximation to a whole number is not permitted while calculating your GPA/CGPA.
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