What is a "1" in a German Gymnasium?

A "1" in Germany is VERY RARE--in my experience as a parent and as a teacher in Germany, zero to two students out of 30 end up getting 1's in a class. So for me, a "1" is the equivalent of an American A+.

How to Translate 1-6 into A-F

Because the German system has six number grades and the American system has only five, if you line up the grades beginning with 1=A+, 2=A, 3=B, 4=C, 5=D, 6=F, the translation of the achievement is more accurate than the way American high schools tend to translate the German 1=A, 2=B, and so forth. An "A+" and "1" denote exceptional performance. An "A" and "2" demonstrate work very well done, and so forth.

German students are discriminated against in terms of GPA translations because the schools do not take SIX number grades into account, nor the qualitative difference between a "1" and an "A." In effect, they assign German students the five lowest letter grades to the six number grades used in Germany.

But aren't both "5" and "6" failing grades in Germany?

Although one might argue that because a "5" is a failing grade in Germany it cannot be the equivalent of a "D," I would argue that qualitatively, a "5" is a "D."

"5's" are common even among studious students at the Gymnasium. German teachers give "5's" out freely, especially on tests, in a way that American teachers do not give "F's" out to hard-working students on the academic track. A "5" indicates serious deficiencies the way a "D" does.

"5" and "6" cannot be lumped together at the bottom when American counselors "translate" German grades. Only a "6" equals an "F" in terms of missing the boat.

German university's number to letter grade conversion scale

University of Augsburg sees the German number grade system as corresponding in the following way to the American letter grade system:

1-1.5 = A

1.51-2= A-

2.01-2.5=B+

2.51-3=B

3.01-3.50=B-

3.51-4.0=C

4.01-4.50= D

http://www.uni-augsburg.de/en/programs/explanation/

Professionals' difficulties arriving at appropriate translations of American and German grades

Professional translators Lucais Sewell and Christiane Focking write in The Translation Post about the difficulties in arriving at "appropriate and honest translations when mediating between the divergent conventions of the American and German grading systems."

They, too, note the "clear discrepancy at the top of the scale" and observe how due to grade inflation in the US, anything less than straight-As is "less than spectacular," whereas Germans tend to be "extremely reserved in their praise," which results in the greater difficulty in earning the top mark. Interestingly, Sewell and Focking notice this reserve on the linguistic level as well--the difficult-to-achieve German "1" is translated as sehr gut ("very good"), whereas the American "A" is designated as "excellent."

The authors correctly comment that the very respectable German report card with all 2s comes across as mediocre in the US. The World Education Services scale below correctly translates that German report card as a straight-A report card.

http://translationpost.com/index.php/tag/german-grades/

World Education Services Conversion Scale

Below is the scale suggested by the World Education Services. What is interesting is how they, too, translate the German "2" as an "A"; "3" as a "B"; "4" as a "C"; but because "5" is not a pass in the German system, despite the fact that the achievement required to pass is much higher, the scale skips from the equivalent of a "C" to "F"!

Suggested Scale for:

Germany

Scale	Grade Description	U.S. Grade Equivalents
1-1.5	Sehr Gut (Very Good)	A
1.6-2.5	Gut (Good)	A
2.6-3.5	Befriedigend (Quite Good)	B
3.6-4.0	Ausreichend (Satisfactory)	C
4.1-4.3		*
4.4-6	Nicht Ausreichend (Insufficient)	F

* Grades in the 4.1 to 4.3 range may be considered passing in individual subjects.

http://www.wes.org/gradeconversionguide/germany.htm