CBSE grade calculator, with percentage and best five.

The 8-point scale and where it applies

CBSE set this scale for school exams in Classes VI to IX in Circular Acad-14/2017. Each subject is graded on marks out of 100.

The bands are the same in every class that uses them. What changes is what the 100 marks are made of, and what E is called.

• Classes VI to VIII. Each term is graded on its own 100: 20 for periodic assessment and 80 for the half-yearly or yearly exam. E is "needs improvement". We haven't found a later CBSE circular that replaces this scale for these classes.
• Class IX. The 2026-27 curriculum keeps the same bands (Table 9), calls it absolute grading, and lists them from A1 down to D. For major subjects, the 100 is the school's annual exam (80) plus internal assessment (20). The 2017 circular's Class IX report card marks 32 and below as "E (Failed)".
• Class XI. The 2026-27 curriculum for Classes XI and XII suggests the same bands for Class XI, with 32 and below as "Essential Repeat".

Half marks and band edges

The bands are whole marks: 90 is A2 and 91 is A1. CBSE doesn't say where 90.5 goes. The calculator rounds each subject's percentage to the nearest whole number, halves going up, and then reads the band. So 90.5 becomes 91 (A1), 90.4 becomes 90 (A2), and 32.5 becomes 33 (D).

For a paper out of anything other than 100, it works out the percentage first, then rounds. So 72.5 out of 80 is 90.625%, which rounds to 91 and reads as A1.

A school may drop the fraction instead. Whenever rounding changes a grade, or lifts a subject to 33%, the calculator says so, so you can check it against your school's rule.

Class X and XII board grades

The Board doesn't use fixed bands for its Class X and XII exams. It puts every candidate who passed a subject in rank order, gives A1 to the top eighth, A2 to the next eighth, and so on down to D2. E is "Essential Repeat". Ties get the same grade, and in subjects where fewer than 500 candidates pass, grades follow the pattern of similar subjects.

So a grade depends on everyone else's marks that year, and the same mark can land in different grades in different years. No calculator can work it out from your marks alone, and this one doesn't try. Choose "X or XII" and it shows the percentages and the 33% check instead.

Overall percentage and best five

The Board doesn't calculate one. Its bye-laws say "No overall division/distinction/aggregate shall be awarded", and its notice of 30 November 2023 says the Board "does not calculate/declare/inform percentage of marks". When a candidate has more than five subjects, the admitting institution or employer decides which five count.

So the form in front of you sets the rule. The calculator shows two figures:

• All subjects: total marks ÷ total maximum × 100.
• Best five: the five subjects that give the highest percentage together. When every subject is out of 100, that's simply leaving out the lowest mark. With mixed maximums, it tries every set of five and keeps the best.

Read the form's wording before you use either. If it says which subjects must be in the five, such as a language, pick those yourself and add them up.

The 33% pass mark

33% in a subject is the Board's pass mark for Classes X and XII, and the bottom of grade D on the school scale. The calculator checks each subject's total against it. The full rules ask for more than the total:

• Class XII. In a subject with practical work, 33% in theory and 33% in practical separately, as well as 33% overall.
• Classes IX and X, 2026-27. 33% separately in the written exam (the Board exam for X, the school's annual exam for IX) and in internal assessment.

Enter totals here, and check the separate parts on the marksheet.

If your marksheet shows a CGPA

CGPA comes from the grading scheme CBSE brought in for Classes IX and X in 2009-10. Circular No. 24 of 2010 gave an "indicative" conversion: a subject's percentage is 9.5 × its grade point, and the overall percentage is 9.5 × CGPA. The CGPA left out an additional sixth subject.

So a CGPA of 8.6 is 8.6 × 9.5 = 81.7%. Use it only for those marksheets. Class X has had a Board exam again since 2017-18, and today's marksheets show the marks in each subject, so there's nothing to convert.

Sources

We read each of these on 21 October 2026. Rules change, so check the latest circular before you rely on a detail.

1. Circular Acad-14/2017: Uniform System of Assessment, Examination and Report Card for classes VI-IX from Academic Year 2017-18 onwards, CBSE, 21 March 2017.
2. Secondary School Curriculum Part-1 (Classes IX-X) 2026-27, section 3, Tables 8 and 9, CBSE, Circular Acad-14/2026, 1 April 2026.
3. Secondary School Curriculum Part-II (Classes XI-XII) 2026-27, scheme of studies and section 4.1, CBSE, Circular Acad-14/2026, 1 April 2026.
4. Examination Bye-Laws, Chapter 7: Scheme of Examinations and Pass Criteria (rules 38, 40.1 and 41.1), CBSE.
5. Notice CBSE/Coord/PS/(e-113153)/2023: Calculation of Percentage of Class X & XII, CBSE, 30 November 2023.
6. Circular No. 24/2010: Admission of CBSE students in Class XI for academic year 2010-11 after Introduction of Grading at Secondary School level by the Board, CBSE, 28 May 2010.