the grading system?

Question

the american grade system is confusing when compared to the irish school system. could someone explain about it with relation to ages and exams i.e american s.a.t.s and the irish leving cert?

also does a person have to take the sats to get into college?

also does a person have to take the sats to get into college?

Answer 1

Hmmm... well the American system is a little different. Students receive a letter grade for their work in each subject area.

A - Exceeded the requirements of the course
B - Met the requirements of the course, slightly above average performance
C - Average performance; met the requirements to pass
D - Below-average performance; student passes the class but has not fully met the requirements
F - Failure; student gets no credit for taking the class

So a high school student will have several letter grades for each year that he/she is in school. All those letter grades also have a number value (A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1), and they are averaged together to get the student's "grade point average."

An example. Let's say I am in my first year of high school. I have received these grades:
English - A
Math - B
Gym - B
Biology - C
Spanish - B

So that's 4 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 3 = 15
15 divided by 5 = 3
So my grade point average is 3, or a B average. Not bad.

In the US, we don't have exams that everybody has to take. The SAT is optional. When you apply to college, they consider your grade point average from high school, and your SAT score.

The SAT has two parts, the verbal section and the math section. Each is scored out of 800, and then the two scores are added together. 400 on either section (800 total) is supposed to be average, but that would be considered a pretty poor score.

A good score would be in the 1200 range. Anything above 1350 is rather impressive.

Example: Let's say I earned 640 points on the verbal section and 670 points on the math section. I scored a 1310. Combined with my 3.0 grade point average, I could get into many good colleges, but not the top tier American universities.

Hope that helps somewhat.

Answer 2

Just a couple of things to add: at most (but not all) colleges and universities, the students must take either the SAT or the ACT to be considered for admission. The ACT is the American College Test, which has multiple choice question in mathematics, science reasoning, English (grammar and such) with an optional writing section, and Reading Comprehension. It's grades from 0-36 in each section. I have no clue what the average grade is, as I took the SATs.

Also, the SATs now have three parts (writing, math, and critical reading), each graded between 200 and 800 points. And 500 is about an average score per section, not a 400 as the person above me said. It's offered 6 or 7 times per year, and most college-bound students would take it in the spring of their junior year (or the year before the last year of high school, at age 16 or 17). They might want to see if they can get a better score by taking it again in the fall of their senior year.

Also, we don't have any exit exams, although many American states have their own tests to see if their students are worthy of graduating from high school.

As to grades, it's basically what the person above me wrote. But your entire course grade is assigned by the teacher for your work in the class (tests, class participation, homework, quizzes, projects, science labs), not some state/national exam like it might be in the UK.

Answer 3

ask your local education authority for verification