IITM BS Grading System: How Your Course Score Is Calculated

Every IITM BS course ends with one number: your Total Course Score, called T, out of 100. T is built from weekly online assignments, two in-person quizzes and an in-person end term exam. Some courses also have programming exams (OPPE). You pass with a T of 40 or more, and T decides your letter grade, from S (10 points) down to E (4 points).

These rules are the same in the Data Science (DS) and Electronic Systems (ES) handbooks.

What goes into your course score

Each course has three kinds of assessment. Some courses also have programming exams called OPPE.

A few rules sit behind this table:

• Assignments: take your best 5 scores out of the first 7 weekly assignments. Their average must be at least 40 out of 100. If it is lower, you cannot write the end term and you get no hall ticket. A skipped assignment counts as 0.
• Quizzes: you must attend at least one of the two quizzes. A skipped quiz counts as 0. There is no make-up quiz.
• End term: 1.5 hours for each course. Its score is called E.

The handbook also says the assignment rules may change from course to course. The grading document for your term has the final word.

More detail is in our posts on Quiz 1 and Quiz 2 and the end term exam.

How the total score T is worked out

The handbook does not print one fixed formula. It says T is the sum of all the assessment parts, and each term's grading document sets the weights for each course.

In plain words, a course score looks like this:

T = assignment part + quiz part + OPPE part (only if the course has one) + E

• T is your Total Course Score out of 100.
• Assignment part comes from your weekly graded assignments.
• Quiz part comes from Quiz 1 and Quiz 2.
• OPPE part applies only to courses with a programming exam. See how OPPE works.
• E is your end term score. The handbook says it is 50% of T.

So the end term alone is half your course score. The grading document shows how the other half is split. Note the weights for every course at the start of the term.

One special case: in the term right after your qualifier exam, your qualifier score is used as your Quiz 1 score in foundation courses. If you write Quiz 1 anyway, the better of the two scores is used.

Grade letters and grade points

IITM BS uses absolute grading. The cut-offs are fixed, and the same rule applies to every student in a course. Your grade depends on your own T, not on a class curve.

Look at the jump at the bottom. D gives 6 points but E gives only 4. So a T of 49 instead of 50 costs you 2 grade points, not 1.

Two quick examples:

• A T of 72 gives you a B and 8 grade points.
• A T of 39 gives you a U. You have to repeat the course.

Grades that mean "not finished yet"

Some grades are not final. They show that you missed part of the course and can finish it in the next term.

The handbook shows no grade points for these three. The fees and limits are in our guide to repeating a course.

How this links to passing

A pass needs two things: meeting the assignment and quiz conditions so you can write the end term, and a final T of 40 or more. Courses with OPPE also have an OPPE cut-off. Our post on pass criteria walks through examples.

Common questions

Does one missed weekly assignment ruin my eligibility?

Not by itself. Only your best 5 of the first 7 assignments are used for the eligibility average. You can miss one or two and still be fine, as long as the other five average 40 or more. A missed assignment is still scored 0, and your grading document decides how assignment scores feed into T.

Is IITM BS grading relative to other students?

No. The handbook calls it an absolute grading system. The score bands are fixed, so every student who reaches 80 gets at least an A, no matter how the rest of the class does.

What is the lowest passing grade?

E. You get it for a T of 40 up to just below 50. It carries 4 grade points, which is 2 less than a D.

Where do I find the exact weights for my course?

In the grading document for that term. The handbook points to it for the weights, the end term eligibility rules and any course-level changes. Weights can differ between courses, so check each one.