France grades out of 20 with a pass at 10 and official mention thresholds above it: passable, assez bien, bien, tr猫s bien. Marks stay strict 鈥?the average student sits around 11鈥?3 鈥?so a 14 is a strong grade. This converter gives you three estimates: a mention-based map, a culture band read, and the naive 梅20 shortcut, because a French 14 is not a '70%'.
A French 14 is a bien 鈥?roughly a 3.3鈥?.7 US GPA.
That clears the common 3.0 floor and is competitive at many master's programmes. Selective programmes look for a 3.5+, which is roughly a French 14.5鈥?5. The exact figure depends on the evaluator's course-by-course read, so treat it as a band, not a verdict.
French universities grade out of 20, but 20 is a theoretical ceiling. Professors almost never award above 16鈥?8, honest course averages sit near 11鈥?3, and the mention system was built to say it out loud: 14 is assez bien 鈫?bien territory, not a mediocre mark. Treating a 14 as 70% is the standard applicant error.
10鈥?1.9 passable, 12鈥?3.9 assez bien, 14鈥?5.9 bien, 16+ tr猫s bien. Average students cluster 11鈥?3; a 14 already signals strong, consistent work.
On a typical US letter scale 70% is a C (2.0). But a French 14 was never 70% of the knowledge 鈥?it's 70% of a scale whose top marks are rarely reachable.
This is the crux: the US system rewards grade inflation, the French system deliberately withholds top marks. A French 14 means 'comfortably good' 鈥?not 'barely passed'. That is why mention-based and culture-band conversions beat a straight 梅20, and why evaluators read transcript, institution, and grading culture together.
If your transcript carries ECTS as well, grades aren't the only thing that needs translating 鈥?convert your European credits to US credits in the same pass.
Anchored to France's official mention thresholds, so each band is referenceable. This is the most defensible read for planning.
A finer-toned version of the same idea for people who need a single GPA number for a form that won't take a range.
(grade 梅 20) 脳 4. Simple and widely seen, but it treats the scales as proportional, which they are not. It consistently understates French grades 鈥?treat it as a floor, not an estimate.
Report what your transcript says first. Most US programmes either take it as-is or require a professional evaluation. If you convert anywhere, state the method alongside the number 鈥?a French 14 is not a US 2.8 just because 梅20脳4 says so.
| French grade | Mention | Meaning | Typical US GPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 鈥?20 | Tr猫s bien | Very good 鈥?top band, rare above 17 | 4.0 |
| 14 鈥?15.9 | Bien | Good 鈥?genuinely strong, above the average student | 3.7 |
| 12 鈥?13.9 | Assez bien | Fairly good 鈥?solidly competent | 3.0鈥?.3 |
| 10 鈥?11.9 | Passable | Pass 鈥?meet-the-standard | 2.3鈥?.7 |
| < 10 | 鈥?/td> | Fail 鈥?resit or compensation needed | < 2.3 |
'Typical' is doing real work here: evaluators vary by institution, subject mix and grading culture. Treat these as planning ranges, not guaranteed outputs.
Figures last verified August 2026 路 Band tables are reconstructions of common practice, not official WES output; WES results are course-by-course and institution-specific