How to Calculate CGPA in Engineering

You must have come across the term CGPA quite a few times in your life and must have wondered what it means. Most engineering colleges nowadays follow this credit system as it is a globally recognized evaluation system as it helps an individual to understand where they stand in comparison to their peers. Most colleges now engage in the credit system and demand that students produce their cumulative averages during the admission process. If you are someone who wants to enroll in one of the engineering branches but are curious about what CGPA is then here is a guide on how to calculate CGPA in engineering!

What is CGPA?

CGPA refers to the cumulative grade point average which literally translates to the sum total of all your credit points. This system helps in assessing the overall academic performance of a student. Although the evaluation criteria may vary from one country to another, the CGPA system is among the most common evaluation way. Hence it becomes important to understand how to calculate CGPA in engineering. To get an overview of Grade Point Average and Cumulative Grade Point Average, you can read our blog on the difference between GPA and CGPA.

Advantages of CGPA

There are numerous advantages of calculating CGPA and that is why you should be well versed with how to calculate CGPA in engineering. Here are a few of the advantages of having the CGPA system of grading and evaluating your results:

• Since grades are awarded to students, it will help them in analyzing their strengths and weaknesses.
• Having a certain marks bracket for grades also ensures that students are not discouraged and feel motivated when they fall in a good bracket. This will help them in putting in more effort.
• This system also ensures that students don’t feel the pressure to score certain marks, such a competition tends to shift the focus on marks rather than learning.
• It also helps the universities in accurately analyzing where one stands in comparison to the other applicants.

How is CGPA Calculated?

In the CGPA system, grades are allotted for a specific bracket of marks. For instance, 90-95 marks bracket is allotted to grade A. On the basis of the grade points, the total aggregate is calculated. This means that all your grades are combined together and then they are divided by the total subjects that you undertook in that semester. Engineering students can also convert CGPA to percentage, CPI to percentage and CGPA to marks to get clarity.

CGPA = Sum of total GPA in all Semesters/Total Number of Credit Hours

If you are wondering how much CGPA is good in Engineering, the CGPA of 8 or above is usually considered the best. If you are planning to apply for universities abroad, then aim for a slightly higher CGPA as competition can be extreme. You can take help from the CPI to percentage conversion method to convert cutoffs into percentages.

How is CGPA Calculated in India?

As per the Indian grading system, CGPA to percentage conversion is slightly different and also varies from one university to another. Here is the general way to calculate CGPA in Engineering or any other course in India:

Percentage/9.5 = CGPA

For example, the total marks you scored in a total of 6 subjects in a particular semester add up to 300.

1. First you need to calculate the total percentage, i.e.

300/600*100 = 50%

2. Then, to calculate CGPA from percentage, you need to divide your percentage by 9.5, i.e.

50/9.5= 5.26 CGPA approx.

How do you Calculate SGPA?

SGPA, which stands for Semester Grade Point Average is an evaluation method that highlights the semester wise performance of the student. It can be calculated by simply adding all the credit points awarded for the subjects and then dividing it by the total credits allotted to that semester.

For example, in a total of 3 subjects, you scored the following grade points:

Subject 1: 8
Subject 2: 6
Subject 3: 7

The total credit for each subject is 10.
1. Now, first we will multiply, the grade point with total credit point for each subject:
Subject 1: 8*10 = 80
Subject 2: 6*10 = 60
Subject 3: 7*10 = 70

2. To calculate SGPA here, you need to add all these grade points and then divide it by the total credits, i.e.

Total grade points: 210
Total credits: 30
To get SGPA, divide grade points by total credits,
=210/30
=7 SGPA

How to Find CGPA from SGPA?

To find CGPA from SGPA, you need to follow this formula:

CGPA= (SGPAs of All semesters in an academic year)/ Number of semesters

Thus, by adding up all the SGPAs you have got in an academic year by the total number of semesters, you will find CGPA from SGPA.

For example,
Suppose that you scored 7 SGPA and 9 SGPA in your two semesters.
1. First you need to add both these SGPAs.
2. Then, divide the total SGPA with the number of semesters, i.e. 2.

Your CGPA would be:
CGPA = SGPA of all semesters in an year/Number of semesters
= (7+9)/2
= 8 CGPA

You can also read our blog to get an overview of how to convert SGPA to CGPA!

How do the Engineering Colleges Abroad Calculate/Award GPA/CGPA? 

In general, to calculate the SGPA, candidates have to multiply the credits by 10. On the other hand, CGPA is evaluated with the help of credit points. Let us understand how to calculate CGPA in engineering with the help of an example.

Example

The following scorecard represents the grades and credits earned by a student in a semester. Let us understand the process of calculating CGPA in a particular semester.

For each subject, the candidates are awarded credit and a grade. We multiply the credits with he allocated scored points of the grades and divide the result by the total number of credits to get the Semester Grade Point Average or SGPA. In this case, SGPA is 

Now coming to the question of how to calculate CGPA in engineering then it is nothing but the average of all the SGPAs. One can add the SGPA earned in each semester and divide them by the total number of semesters. CGPA can either be calculated out of 10 or 4, depending upon the university. Suppose a person gets the following SGPAs in 8 Semesters: 

In the above case, the CGPA for Engineering would be: 

Note: CGPA or Cumulative Grade Point Average can be obtained out of 10 or by 4 depending upon the system followed by the educational institute. Out of 10 can be changed to out of 4 by simply dividing the total by 10 and further multiplying it by 4. To know more read our blog on convert percentage to GPA out of 10

[BONUS] CGPA to Percentage Calculator

How do the Indian Engineering Colleges Calculate CGPA?

When it comes to the evaluation system followed in India, there are two ways used namely, Absolute and Relative Grading System. While the former is the total percentage obtained irrespective of how many students scored the same marks, the latter highlights the student’s performance in comparison to others. Here is an example which will help you understand how to calculate CGPA in engineering through the relative grading system

Let us assume that the marks out of 100 are allocated to a specific bracket of grades and numeric values. These have been tabulated below:

As discussed in the earlier example, SGPA is first evaluated and then the final CGPA is calculated. Following this logic, say that physics and mathematics are awarded a total of 4 credit points each by your university. Thus, the marks range and the simultaneous grade point as per the table above will be:

90-10 is a 10 that translates to an A+
80-89 is a 9 that translates to an A
70-79 is an 8 that translates to a B
and so forth

So, if you score an 86 in your physics and a 96 in your mathematics this means that you will get a 9 and a 10 for physics and mathematics respectively. Your CGPA would thus be:

(The Credit awarded to the subject * The Point that you have received) / The total credit points

Which means that your CGPA would be a 9.5!

Now, the final step in how to calculate CGPA in Engineering can be done via a statistical method. Let us assume that there is X number of students in a given class. The average of students can be denoted by Y and Z can be referred to as the standard deviation. Then,

Note: This has been explained as per the procedures followed in IIT Roorkee. Kindly visit the official website of the university you wish to study or have enrolled in so as to understand their method of calculating CGPA.

Hence, to calculate CGPA in engineering we first find the SGPA by adding credit points of all subjects in a semester and then dividing it by total credit points. The average of SGPA’s of all semesters will thus give CGPA.

[Bonus] Percentage to CGPA – CALCULATOR

FAQs

Even though we have provided you with all the necessary information on how to calculate CGPA in engineering, we realize that the admission process can get tiring and confusing. You would not want to risk any aspect of the application process and hence the experts at Leverage Edu can help you in formulating the perfect applications for your dream college, this includes even your CGPA along with the essays and SOP. 

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