Italian Grade to GPA
Convert an Italian exam grade out of 30 — including 30 e lode — to a US 4.0 GPA.
28 is Ottimo (27–30), read as A — 4.0 on the US 4.0 scale.
This converts a single exam grade out of 30. The final degree mark (voto di laurea) is a separate figure out of 110 and is not a GPA — see the page below for how the two relate.
Italian university exams are marked out of 30, with 18 the pass mark. Credential evaluators read 27–30 as an A, 21–26 as a B, and 18–20 as a C — so a 28 converts to 4.0 on the US scale. A 30 e lode is an A+ but still a 30.
Two numbers that are often confused
An Italian transcript carries two different marks and they measure different things. Individual exams — esami — are graded out of 30, where 18 passes and 30 is full marks. The degree itself is awarded a final mark out of 110, computed from the weighted average of those exam grades plus points for the thesis and the final examination.
Only the first of these is grade-like enough to convert to a GPA. The 110 mark is a composite that includes discretionary points from the graduation committee, so it does not correspond to any grade point average — a 110 is not a 4.0 in the way a 30 is an A.
What lode means
30 e lode — thirty with honours — is awarded when an examiner considers the work beyond full marks. It is a distinction attached to a 30, not a 31: the numeric grade stays 30, and in an average it is normally counted as 30, though some universities count it as 30.5 or 31 for internal purposes. On a US transcript it reads as an A+, which on an unweighted 4.0 scale is still 4.0.
Worked example
Converting an exam grade of 28 out of 30.
- 1 Take the exam grade. The libretto records 28/30 for the course.
- 2 Find the band. 28 falls in the 27–30 range, described as Ottimo.
- 3 Read the US equivalent. That band maps to an A, which is 4.0 on the US 4.0 scale.
- 4 Note any lode separately. A 30 e lode is recorded as an A+ but keeps the numeric value of 30 in the average.
Italian exam grade → US GPA
The 18–30 university exam scale as read in credential evaluation. The 110-point degree mark is a separate figure and is not converted here.
| Voto | Description | US letter | US 4.0 GPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 e lode | Ottimo with honours | A+ | 4.0 |
| 27–30 | Ottimo | A | 4.0 |
| 21–26 | Buono | B | 3.0 |
| 18–20 | Soddisfacente | C | 2.0 |
| Below 18 | Respinto — fail | F | 0.0 |
The degree mark out of 110
The final voto di laurea starts from the credit-weighted average of your exam grades, rescaled to 110, and the committee then adds points for the thesis, the defence, and sometimes for graduating on time or for periods of study abroad. The maximum is 110 e lode, and 66 is the minimum pass.
Because the added points are discretionary and vary by university and faculty, the 110 mark cannot be reversed into a GPA. When an application asks for a GPA, convert the exam grades; when it asks for your degree result, report the 110 mark as it stands and say what the maximum is.