Dutch grading system
25 Aug 2011
When you come to Holland to study you will probably expect that many things are not the same as in your home country: climate, lifestyle, traffic, food, clothes and religion for example. But you may also find that the Dutch grading system is somewhat different from your own.
To help set your expectations of the Dutch system, we have provided a short explanation below.
Ten point grading system
There are many different grading systems in the world, such as (from lowest to highest grade) 1 to 5, 1 to 10, 1 to 20, 1 to 100, 5 to 1, F to A. In Holland a ten point system is used in both secondary and higher education. A grade of 10 is the highest and 6 is the minimum pass grade.
| 10 | Outstanding * |
| 9 | Very good * |
| 8 | Good |
| 7 | More than satisfactory |
| 6 | Satisfactory |
| 5 | Almost satisfactory |
| 4 | Unsatisfactory |
| 3 | Very unsatisfactory |
| 2 | Poor * |
| 1 | Very poor * |
* The grades 1-3 are hardly ever awarded and 9 and 10 are very rare.
Comparing your marks
Several countries use grading systems that look similar to the one used in Holland. One example is the 1-100 system. However, it would be inaccurate to compare a 90-100 grade in such a system with a 10 in the Dutch system, or a 80-90 with a 9, and so on.
An 80 in China, for example, is not considered a good grade since most grades in higher education in China are between 80 and 100. In Holland, however, an 8 is a very good grade, since most grades are between 6 and 8; only excellent students achieve a grade higher than 8.
Other aspects of the Dutch way of teaching
On our page about the Dutch way of teaching you can read more about the student-centred teaching style and the problem-based learning approach in Holland.
More information about grading systems
Download the factsheet ‘Grading systems in the Netherlands, the USA and the UK’ (199 kB)