The German Grading System for Law Studies

The grading system at the Law Department at Freie Universität Berlin is based on an 18-points-scale with 18 points being the highest possible grade. An exam is considered passed, if 4 or more points have been attained. The points denote the following grades:

Points	Grade
18 – 16	sehr gut (very good)
15 – 13	gut (good)
12 – 10	vollbefriedigend (fully satisfactory)
9 - 7	befriedigend (satisfactory)
6 – 4	ausreichend (sufficient)
3 – 1	mangelhaft (defficient)
0	ungenügend (not sufficient)

 

Grades in the „sehr gut“ range (16-18 points) are almost never awarded. Grades from 13 to 15 (“gut”) already represent an outstanding result while a “vollbefriedigend” grade is above average. Most students receive “befriedigend” or “ausreichend” grades. A considerable amount of students regularly fail examinations. This has the following effect on the ECTS grade conversion table:

Points	Percentage of Successful Students	ECTS-grade	Description
18 – 11	10 %	A	Excellent
10 – 9	25 %	B	Very good
8 – 7	30 %	C	Good
6 - 5	25 %	D	Satisfactory
4	10 %	E	Sufficient
3	-	FX	Fail; some more work required
2 - 0	-	F	Fail; considerable further work required

 

ECTS Grading System for Other Disciplines

Law students who take courses at other Departments of Freie Universität Berlin (i.e. German language courses) are graded according to the following grading scale :

 

Local Grade	ECTS Grade	Description
1,0 - 1,5	A	Exzellent (excellent)
1,6 - 2,0	B	Sehr gut (very good)
2,1 - 3,0	C	Gut (good)
3,1 - 3,5	D	Befriedigend (satisfactory)
3,6 - 4,0	E	Ausreichend (sufficient)
4,1 - 5,0	F	Nicht bestanden (fail)
not graded	P	Regelmäßige und aktive Teilnahme (regular and active participation)