NEB Grades Explained: What A+, A, B+, B, C+, C, D and NG Mean

The National Examination Board (NEB) of Nepal grades school examinations using letters and grade points on a 4.0 scale rather than raw pass/fail percentages. The same eight-category scale is applied to the Secondary Education Examination (SEE, Class 10), Class 11 and Class 12, so a grade means the same thing whether it appears on an SEE grade-sheet or a plus-two transcript. Each subject is first marked out of 100 (typically a written external exam plus internal assessment), that percentage is placed in a marks band, and the band gives both a letter grade and a fixed grade point.

The full ladder runs A+, A, B+, B, C+, C, D and NG. The top seven letters (A+ down to D) are passing grades that carry a grade point from 4.0 down to 1.6. NG stands for 'Not Graded' and sits below the D band; it is not a low pass but an indication that the minimum requirement was not met in that subject. Because the intervals are fixed and public, you can convert any marks figure into its NEB grade by hand, which is exactly why students search exact-match questions such as 'what is A+ in NEB' or 'B grade means how many marks in Nepal'.

The grading rules are set out in NEB's Letter Grading Directive (Akshyarankan Nirdeshika) 2078 BS, which standardises the marks bands, grade points and official descriptors nationwide. The table below is the reference every section on this page builds on.

A+ is the highest NEB grade. It is awarded for marks from 90 to 100 percent and carries a grade point of 4.0, the maximum on the scale. NEB's official descriptor for A+ is 'Outstanding', reserved for exceptional understanding of the subject, strong problem-solving and creativity, and independent, well-organised work. Because 4.0 is the ceiling, a straight-A+ student earns a 4.0 GPA, which is the top result a Nepali secondary student can achieve.

An A grade covers 80 to below 90 percent and is worth 3.6 grade points, with the descriptor 'Excellent'. It signals strong, near-top performance and is one of the most common results among high achievers, since the 10-mark band is wide enough that many strong students land here rather than in the narrow A+ zone. In GPA terms an A pulls your average toward 3.6, so a mix of A and A+ grades typically produces a GPA in the high-3 range.

B+ spans 70 to below 80 percent and is worth 3.2 grade points, described officially as 'Very Good'. A B+ is a solidly above-average grade that keeps a student comfortably clear of any pass concern and still contributes strongly to the overall GPA. Together, A+, A and B+ are the three grades that define the 'first division equivalent' band that colleges and scholarship schemes usually look for.

A B grade is awarded for 60 to below 70 percent and carries 2.8 grade points, with the descriptor 'Good'. This is the answer to the frequently searched question 'B grade means how many marks in Nepal' - it corresponds to the 60s in any subject scored out of 100. A B is a comfortable pass that shows sound command of the subject without being in the distinction range.

C+ covers 50 to below 60 percent for 2.4 grade points, described as 'Above Average'. The C+ grade point of 2.4 is often looked up by students converting their marks or estimating a GPA, because the 50s are a common outcome in tougher subjects such as mathematics and science. A C+ still keeps the subject well above the pass line and adds a respectable amount to the GPA.

A C grade is given for 40 to below 50 percent and is worth 2.0 grade points, with the descriptor 'Average'. It is a clear pass but signals only a basic grasp of the material. Students who sit close to this band should note how much a single subject in the 40s can pull down an otherwise strong GPA, since 2.0 is well below the A/B range.

The D grade is the lowest passing grade in the NEB system. It is awarded for 35 to below 40 percent and carries 1.6 grade points, with the descriptor 'Below Average'. Under current rules a student must secure at least a D (35 percent, grade point 1.6) in every individual subject to be counted as passed in that subject - there is no separate aggregate pass mark, so each subject must independently clear the D line.

NG stands for 'Not Graded' and is the answer to the heavily searched query 'what is NG in SEE'. A subject is marked NG when the candidate scores below 35 percent in the external (theory) examination, or below 40 percent in the internal assessment. For a subject marked out of a 75-mark theory paper plus 25 internal marks, that means below 26.25 in theory or below 10 out of 25 in internal work triggers NG. NG carries no positive grade point and, unlike D, is effectively a fail: the subject has not been cleared.

Getting an NG does not automatically end a student's academic year. Candidates with up to two NG subjects are allowed to sit the grade increment (grade improvement) examination to clear those subjects, after which the grade-sheet is updated and the GPA is recomputed. Until the NG is cleared, the overall result is treated as incomplete rather than a finished GPA. This is a crucial distinction: A, B, C and D are grades you keep, whereas NG is a temporary status you must remove through the improvement exam.

Your Grade Point Average (GPA) is the average of the grade points you earned across all subjects. In the standard NEB grade-sheet method it is a simple average: add up the grade point of every subject and divide by the number of subjects. Some schools and transcripts instead weight each subject by its credit hours, in which case GPA = the sum of (grade point x credit hour) divided by the total credit hours; for subjects that all carry equal credit, the two methods give the same number.

A worked example makes it concrete. Suppose an SEE student scores A (3.6), B+ (3.2), A+ (4.0), B (2.8), C+ (2.4), B+ (3.2), C (2.0) and A (3.6) across eight subjects. The grade points add up to 24.8, and dividing by 8 gives a GPA of 3.10 - a strong 'very good' overall result. Converting individual marks is just as direct: 82 marks falls in the 80-89 band, so it is an A (3.6); 47 marks falls in 40-49, so it is a C (2.0); and 33 marks is below 35, so it is NG.

For pass/fail, the GPA number is secondary to the per-subject rule. Because every subject must reach at least a D, a student who scores C (2.0) in each of six subjects has a GPA of 2.0 and has passed all subjects, whereas a student with a higher GPA but one NG has not fully passed until that NG is cleared. To compute your own figure without arithmetic errors, use the amarnepal SEE GPA calculator at /tools/see-gpa-calculator or, for plus-two, the Class 12 GPA calculator at /tools/class-12-gpa-calculator; to turn a finished GPA back into an indicative percentage, see /tools/gpa-to-percentage-converter.

Nepal replaced the old numerical, division-based School Leaving Certificate (SLC) marking with letter grading from the 2072 BS (2015/16) examination, rebranding the Class 10 test as the Secondary Education Examination (SEE). The switch was intended to reduce the intense pressure of a single first-division/second-division cut-off and to describe achievement in bands instead. In its earliest form, however, the scheme drew criticism because essentially every candidate received some grade, so students with very low grade points were still shown as having 'passed'.

From the SEE of 2080 BS (2023/24), NEB tightened the system by applying the Letter Grading Directive 2078 more strictly and restoring a genuine pass threshold. A candidate now needs a minimum of 35 percent in the theory exam and 40 percent in internal assessment of each subject; anyone below those thresholds receives NG instead of a low passing grade. This effectively reintroduced a pass/fail concept while keeping the letter-grade format, which is why the eight-category A+-to-NG scale you see today differs from the fuller ladder (which once included lower letters such as E) used in the first years after 2072 BS.

For students and parents, the practical takeaways are simple. First, the marks bands and grade points on this page are the current, standardised values used across SEE and Class 12. Second, an NG is a signal to prepare for the grade increment exam rather than a permanent failure. Third, because the thresholds and improvement-exam rules can be refined by NEB from year to year, always cross-check the latest notice on the official NEB portal before an examination cycle.