While BITS Pilani offers various opportunities to support students’ all-round development, academic performance remains to be one of the most important quantifiers of one’s college days. A higher CGPA enhances the chances of securing admission to higher studies and unlocks a broader spectrum of job opportunities. Hence, it is critical to understand the grading system at BITS.
BITS follows a continuous evaluation system wherein each course may consist of multiple quizzes, tutorial tests, or assignments apart from the mid-semester and comprehensive examinations. The exact nature and weightage of these components are decided by the Instructor in Charge of the course. The course total for each student is calculated by summing up the marks obtained in each evaluative.
Relative grading is used to grade the students, which implies that the final grade one receives in the course is dependent on the relative performance of others taking the same course. The total marks obtained by all the students in the course are tabulated in the form of a histogram. The awarding of grades is guided by the average, highest, and lowest marks, as well as the variance of the distribution. The histogram is used to identify clusters of scores which determines the dividing lines between the grades. As a general trend, a C grade is expected at the average marks.
The grades are assigned on a ten-point scale: A, A-, B, B-, C, C-, D, and E. Each grade is associated with a grade point in a quantified hierarchy, from a maximum of 10 (for an A) to a minimum of 2 (for an E). In the case of dissatisfactory performance, a student may be awarded a “Not Cleared” (NC) report, possibly requiring the student to repeat the course in subsequent semesters.
The overall performance of the student is indicated by an index called the ‘Cumulative Grade Point Average’ (CGPA), popularly abbreviated as CG. The CGPA is expressed on a ten-point scale and is the weighted average of all the grades received by the student. The weight associated with each course is termed as ‘units’ or ‘credits’. For example, obtaining a B grade in a 3-unit course means that the student has received 24 points for the course out of the maximum possible 30 points. The formula used for the computation is
CGPA = [(U1G1) + (U2G2 ) + … + (UnGn)] / [U1 + U2 + … + Un]
where Ui and Gi represent the number of units of the ith course and the grade points received by the student in the ith course, respectively.
The ‘Semester Grade Point Average’ (SGPA) is calculated similarly, but it only takes courses completed in a particular semester into account.
The minimum academic requirement for the fulfilment of a First Degree programme is that the student obtains a minimum CGPA of 4.50 and not more than one E grade per semester. The student must also not have a ‘Required to Register Again’ (RRA) report in any course. On the other hand, successful completion of Higher Degree programmes requires that a student obtain a minimum CGPA of 5.50 and no E grade or RRA Report in any course.