# The 'E', or lack thereof in school grading... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-or-lack-thereof-in-school-grading/166709 "2003-04-05T18:53:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-or-lack-thereof-in-school-grading/166709/1 "2003-04-05T18:53:29Z")
I understand that ‘F’ is for ‘Fail’, but why wasn’t it decided to make ‘E’ the failing grade? ---
**Author:** ![zia\_nova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/bc79bd/32.png) [@zia\_nova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zia_nova)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-or-lack-thereof-in-school-grading/166709/2 "2003-04-05T18:58:53Z")
'e flunked! ---
**Author:** ![Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesar_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-or-lack-thereof-in-school-grading/166709/3 "2003-04-05T19:48:27Z")
Just a WAG–wouldn’t some parents/children perhaps misconstrue an E as Excellent? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-or-lack-thereof-in-school-grading/166709/4 "2003-04-05T19:49:49Z")
It depends on the school district. When I was going to (elementary) parochial school, the bottom grade was U, Unsatisfactory, while the public schools in my neighborhood _did_ use E for the worst grade. I would guess that schools used F, Failure, in the way that my school used U: it set the complete flunking of a class outside normal “range” of letters/grades. ---
**Author:** ![mcbiggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@mcbiggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcbiggins)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-or-lack-thereof-in-school-grading/166709/5 "2003-04-05T19:50:20Z")
WAG, but it is super easy to forge an F into an E, but turning an F into a D is not so easy. That, or the grading scale was A-D with anything else being a “fail”, with that evetually eing shortened to F to fit in a one-character column. WAG is in the hizouse. ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-or-lack-thereof-in-school-grading/166709/6 "2003-04-05T19:59:03Z")
When I was in public grade school in the 1970’s, there was a period where one could “earn” an E for flunking. There was also a period when I was in elementary school when an A-B-C-D-F scale was in place for most of the academic-type classes, but an E-S-U scale–for Excellent, Satisfactory, and Unsatisfactory–existed for certain other classes that were evidently deemed less important–music, IIRC, was one of those classes. Probably art was, too, though I can’t remember. In high school, I learned that one can also earn I’s. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-or-lack-thereof-in-school-grading/166709/7 "2003-04-05T20:02:28Z")
There has been a thread on this before, but I’m having a heck of a time finding it. So if you don’t mind, I’m going to say something that may seem a little nonsensical. SEARCHFORE SEARCHFORF Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-or-lack-thereof-in-school-grading/166709/8 "2003-04-05T20:30:01Z")
[Why is thete no ‘E’ in the grading scale?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=159558) ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-or-lack-thereof-in-school-grading/166709/9 "2003-04-05T20:32:24Z")
Ah, well done. Your search skills are far beyond mine. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-or-lack-thereof-in-school-grading/166709/10 "2003-04-05T20:33:11Z")
Oh, and also [School grading system.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=110372) ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-or-lack-thereof-in-school-grading/166709/11 "2003-04-05T20:40:47Z")
Thanks, **Achernar**. I just looked for ‘grades’ in GQ over the last year. Found 6 pages, did a quick flick through. Heh. Pity my typin’ ain’t up to speed at the moment, tho. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-or-lack-thereof-in-school-grading/166709/12 "2003-04-05T20:53:30Z")
Dang! Thanks Ice Wolf…(and to the others who contributed). Much obliged. The fact that I’ve been away for quite some time probably didn’t help. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![typhoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@typhoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typhoon)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-e-or-lack-thereof-in-school-grading/166709/13 "2003-04-05T21:46:00Z")
I got an H in eighth grade once. I found out that it stood for, bafflingly, “incomplete,” and I had forgotten to make up a test or something. Confused the hell out of my parents.