I have been watching reruns of Degrassi Junior High / Degrassi High and the characters while taking finals always say “Hey you only need 51%”
Of course Joey doesn’t get it.
But anyway, what exactly does this mean? Or is it something made up? I mean they characters call each other “broomhead” which I don’t think I’ve ever heard somewhere else.
Is it 51% of each final? Or 51% of each class. Or is it just totally made up? Seems like 51% would be awful low to allow you to pass
The tests in their school(s) are graded out of one hundred percent. Fifty one percent is considered a passing grade.
That was the case for me in grade 12, the last year of high school here.
Really you can get (almost) HALF wrong ans still pass? Wow
Yep. Whay do yoo have a problum with that?
It all depends on how difficult the tests are, doesn’t it? 51% right on a very hard test can be more impressive than 80% right on a super-easy test.
It’s not that much different than the US. Here (in my experience and from talking to others about this), it’s usually 60% to pass, although at my school, the range for a D was 70-74, and anything below 70 was a “U” or “F”.
However, some of my high school classes (mostly the science courses) were curved, so not only would a nominal score of 50% pass, but it could very likely be an A.
I guess times have changed since I was in school in the 70s. In our school 69% and less was a failure.
I guess it depends on subject too. Like math builds on itself. It’s pretty hard to learn the next phase of math without a solid understanding of the previous. It would be hard to learn the next level when you missed half of the previous level
Oh well you learn something everyday
In England’s GCSE exams (exams sat when students are 16 years old - people can leave school at that age) you can pass with scores as low as 20% (or, at least you used to be able to - this is how the system worked when I took my GCSE’s in 2004).
The grades range from A* (pronounced A star) to G, all of which are passes. There were also two failing grades, U (which stood for Unclassified) if you failed to achieve the required score for a G grade, and X, which was awarded if you didn’t show up for the exam.
Here is how the grade breakdown worked:
A* = 90% or more
A = 80 - 90%
B = 70 - 80%
C = 60 - 70%
D = 50 - 60%
E = 40 - 50%
F = 30 - 40 %
G = 20 - 30%
U = Less than 20%
IIRC, these numbers were adjusted slightly to compensate for an exam that was more or less difficult than average, but these adjustments were no more than a few percentage points.
Also note that, while grades D to G are technically still passes, you need C’s or better in 5 subjects in order to be eligible to continue your studying for A levels (exams that are sat when students are 18; the last exams before University).
Yeah, but if you land a 50, chances are you won’t continue that course of study. For example, in my province (each province handles its own education system and universities decide how to weigh marks from each province for admittance) Grade 10 math is all you need to graduate. If you’re bad at math you won’t go any further, and if you’re really bad, you have Grades 11 and 12 to pass the class! I had a steady rate of decline in my math classes, from a 92 in Grade 11 down to a 64 in the hardest Grade 12 class.
Also, I find from seeing what Americans are learning at the same age as Canadians that in many situations, someone can get 55% in a course here and still know as much as an American getting a 70%.
May also depend on the school you went to. The percentage range for each grade isn’t fixed from one school to another, or anything (although I suppose some school districts may have district-wide policies). In my school, it was under 70 is failing, 70-74 was a D, 75-84 was a C, 85 - 92 was a B, and 93+ was an A. (I’m a little unsure about what the cutoff between C and B was.) Other people my age (I’m 36) who went to different schools had a different scale, most commonly the 90-100=A, 80-89=B, 70-70=C, 60-69=D, >60=F.
What I want to know about Degrassi High is are those fashions really what people wore? Really? It seems like every person on the show is wearing the most over-the-top stereotypical “bad eighties fashion.”
Agreed. A 50 (or really, anything in the range of, say, 50-65) is a warning that this subject might not be for you, and you should think about concentrating your efforts elsewhere.
I think it deserves mention also that Canadian universities tend to look only at grades for undergraduate admissions from high school–they don’t care about extracurricular activities, sports, or similar; and there are no SATs required. Such things won’t save you from low high school grades, so you take the warning that a 55% supplies seriously.
A lot of high school was super boring. Your grades were averaged out, so you could
coast for most of the year, then stir yourself to study for finals and end up with 51% or
better for the year.
Daughter was clued out when one teacher gave her some grief about pulling off a high 80%
grade in a history final. [Not her fault; she’d been studying with the current boyfriend]. She
had no idea why the teacher was gnashing his teeth over her being able to do better all year, and not bothering.
Now she’s a high school teacher herself. It’s karma, right? 
an seanchai
PS a 51% now will give you major pain later - for example, going on to the next grade without any foundation
to build on was a prime reason for attending summer school, if I remember correctly.
I recall the minimum passing grade in an Ontario high school being 50%, not 51%. I’m not certain because I never got either as a final grade.
The university I went to (also in Ontario) also had 50% as the minimum to pass a course.
EDIT: The full breakdown was 50-59= D, 60-69 = C, 70-79 = B, 80-100 = A.
I graduated with an Advanced High School diploma after busting a 49.5% in Chem 30 (grade 12 chemistry.) They rounded up.
FWIW my grades in my other classes were a lot better. I had no trouble getting into university when I applied.