What Is the Difference Between GPA and CGPA?
Short answer: GPA covers one semester. CGPA covers all semesters together, weighted by credit hours. CGPA is not a simple average of semester GPAs unless every semester has the same credit hours. CGPA is the number on your transcript, and it decides graduation, divisions, and most job and scholarship cutoffs.
Formula
GPA equals total quality points divided by total credit hours. CGPA equals total quality points across all semesters divided by total credit hours. Quality points for a course equal grade points times credit hours.
Worked example
| Course | Credit hours | Grade | Grade points | Quality points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 3 | A (4.00) | 4.00 | 12.00 |
| Physics | 3 | B+ (3.33) | 3.33 | 9.99 |
| English | 2 | A- (3.67) | 3.67 | 7.34 |
| Lab | 1 | B (3.00) | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Total | 9 | 32.33 |
GPA equals 32.33 divided by 9, which is 3.59.
Try it
Use the GPA calculator for one semester, the CGPA calculator for all semesters, or the target CGPA calculator to plan what you need next.
University pages
MUET GPA calculator | NUST GPA calculator | Bahria GPA calculator | Karachi University GPA calculator | All calculators
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