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- Alphabets as grades are believed to have been first used in 1883 by Harvard University.
- Gradually, other institutions started grading students with letters.
- The first institute to fully adopt this grading system is said to be Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, USA.
- Here, an A meant 95%-100%, B was 85%-94%, C 76%-84%, D 75%, and anything under 75% was an E, which meant Fail.
- By the 1930s, the grading system had grown quite popular as more and more institutions began using it.
- It was around this time that E was omitted from the grading system.
- This was done, so students or parents don’t misinterpret E as “Excellent”.
- Letter grades are much less preferred these days and are mostly used in elementary schools.
- This is so because of a lack of consistency with its use and, therefore, lack of transferability across institutions.
- E.g., 80% marks would remain 80% across schools, but an A- could be a B+ in another school.
- The fact that they represent ranges (A = 95% to 100%) also don’t go well with many experts.
Also Read:
Why do kids write letters backwards?
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