For international students and applicants
What Norwegian grades actually mean
Norwegian universities grade A–F, where A–E pass. The scale is applied absolutely, not on a curve, and that changes what each letter is worth. Below is the real distribution of every grade awarded in Norway from 2004 to 2025: 17,802,509 results across 47 institutions.
The short answer
C
Most common grade (30.5%)
3.27
National average (A=5…E=1)
6.9%
Fail rate, all results
A Norwegian C is not a mediocre grade. It is the single most common outcome and the official definition calls it good. If you are converting a transcript for an application abroad, that context is worth stating alongside the number.
The national distribution
14,266,144 letter grades, 2004–2025. Pass/fail courses are counted separately and shown below the table.
| Grade | Official meaning | Share | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Excellent – an outstanding performance, clearly distinguished | 12.9% | 1,838,447 |
| B | Very good – above average, though with some shortcomings | 27.8% | 3,964,380 |
| C | Good – satisfactory in most areas; the expected result | 30.5% | 4,346,206 |
| D | Satisfactory – acceptable, with significant shortcomings | 14.5% | 2,069,630 |
| E | Sufficient – meets the minimum requirements | 6.9% | 985,557 |
| F | Fail – does not meet the minimum requirements | 7.4% | 1,061,924 |
Plus 3,374,144 passed and 162,221 not passed on pass/fail courses, which carry no letter.
What this does not tell you
The average hides enormous variation. 3.27 is the whole country across 90,776 courses. Individual courses range from almost every candidate passing with an A to more than half the cohort failing. A grade only means something next to the course it came from.
It is not a ranking of students. Because the scale is absolute, a C in a hard course and a C in an easy one are the same letter and different achievements. This is exactly the gap that credential evaluators try to close, and why they ask for course descriptions rather than just a transcript.
Failed courses are excluded from the average. An F gives no credits and does not enter a Norwegian transcript average, so the 3.27 above is computed over passing grades only. The fail rate is reported separately.
Look up any Norwegian course
Every one of the 90,776 courses behind these numbers has its own page with its grade distribution, average and fail rate, year by year. Useful if you want to show what a grade was worth in the course you actually took.
FAQ
Is a C a bad grade in Norway?
No. C is the most common grade at Norwegian universities: 30.5% of all letter grades awarded between 2004 and 2025. The official definition is “a good performance, satisfactory in most areas”. The scale is applied absolutely against learning outcomes, not on a curve, so C is the expected result for a solid piece of work.
What is the average university grade in Norway?
3.27 on the 5-point scale (A=5 … E=1), counting only passing grades, across 14,266,144 letter grades from 47 institutions. That sits between C and B, closer to C.
How common is an A in Norway?
12.9% of letter grades are A. B is far more common at 27.8%. An A is a genuine distinction rather than a default for good work.
How many students fail a course in Norway?
6.9% of all 17,802,509 exam results are a fail – either an F or a “not passed” on a pass/fail course. Fail rates vary enormously by subject; some first-year mathematics and law courses run above 40%.
Does Norway grade on a curve?
No. Norwegian universities grade against defined learning outcomes, so in principle every candidate on a course could get an A, or all could fail. In practice the national distribution is remarkably stable from year to year.
What is the Norwegian grading scale?
A to F for most university courses, where A is best and A–E all pass. F is a fail. Some courses use pass/fail (bestått/ikke bestått) instead, which is why the totals here separate the two.
Source and method
All figures are computed from HK-dir’s open course statistics (DBH), which publishes the grade distribution for every course at every Norwegian higher education institution. The totals here are the sum over 47 institutions and 90,776 courses, 2004–2025.
The average counts passing grades only (A=5, B=4, C=3, D=2, E=1), which is how a Norwegian transcript average is calculated. The fail rate counts both F and “not passed” against all results, since a candidate who did not pass, failed – whether the institution recorded it as a letter or not.
Resit exams are included. HK-dir does not label them, and excluding them would mean guessing which sittings were resits.