Academic grading in France is structured and rigorous, with a focus on assessment through written exams and a set of standardized scales for measuring student achievement.
Although the traditional scale stops at 20/20, French baccalauréat results can be higher than 20/20 due to supplementary "options".
[11] On the diplôme national du brevet, awarded for passing the 10th year exam (9th grade), and also on University of Paris, Sorbonne transcripts, scores above 12 on the scale of 20 confer the following mentions (honors):[12][13] In recent years, the French government began to explore possible conversion of the 0–20 grading scale to 0–4 or 0–5.
[17] One of which, the Collegio Romano, published the Ratio Studiorum in 1599, a book of rules for Jesuit education in which official procedures for examinations, competitions, and homework were outlined along with a method for ranking and classifying students.
[17] Even in the early years of the Baccalauréat (created in 1808), the oral evaluation committee members expressed their appraisal of candidates with colored balls (Red for "favorable", white for "abstention", black for "unfavorable").
[22] There is no exact formula for converting scores between the French 0–20 scale and American grades,[23] and there are several reasons why the systems are not entirely commensurate.