Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani) GPA Calculator

BITS Pilani does not fix university-wide percentage cut-offs for a letter grade the way many other universities do. Instead, each course's instructor-in-charge decides a student's grade from that student's "total performance in all the components of evaluation," and must announce the grading procedure — including the weighting of components, borderline-case review, and whether class average affects the result — at the start of the course. Two students who score the same marks in different courses can therefore land on different grades, because the conversion is set per course, not by a single university-wide table.

The scale runs across eight graded bands, from A (highest) down to A-, B, B-, C, C-, D, and E (lowest). Unusually, there is no "F" or fail grade in this table at all. A student who is inadequately evaluated in a course — through absence, a blank script, or similarly going through the motions — does not receive a scored letter grade; they instead receive NC (Not Cleared), a non-GPA-bearing administrative report that requires the course to be retaken rather than a grade that pulls the CGPA down.

These regulations, and the grading system they define, apply uniformly to all of BITS's on-campus locations (Pilani, Goa, Hyderabad, and Dubai) as well as its off-campus Work Integrated Learning Programmes, with the sole exception of BITSoM, the separately branded Mumbai management school.

BITS reports a single, running Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) rather than publishing a separate per-semester GPA figure. It is credit (unit) weighted across every course taken since entry:

CGPA = (u₁g₁ + u₂g₂ + … + uₙgₙ) ÷ (u₁ + u₂ + … + uₙ)

where each u is a course's credit units and each g is the grade point earned in it — so a heavier course moves the CGPA further than a lighter one.

A first-degree student pursuing an optional minor programme is awarded a separate, additional CGPA computed only from the minor's own courses; it does not affect the primary-programme CGPA.

BITS's own Academic Regulations do not publish any CGPA-to-percentage conversion formula anywhere in the document — not in the grading section, the graduation section, or elsewhere. Third-party sites that quote a fixed "CGPA × 10" rule for BITS Pilani are not citing anything in this source; treat that figure as unverified.

Repeating a course to improve a grade. Facilities permitting, a student may, at their own option, repeat a course they have already cleared, provided it's still part of their current prescribed programme. Whenever a new grade is obtained this way, it replaces the earlier grade in the CGPA calculation — only the latest attempt counts. This option automatically stops being available once a student has completed graduation requirements, or is just short of graduation by courses like Practice School or Thesis-Seminar that can't be taken alongside anything else. Practice School courses, Thesis, Seminar, Internship, and project courses of the M.E. (Collaborative)/M.Phil. (Applied) programmes cannot normally be repeated at all — unless the Academic Counselling Board (ACB) itself requires the student to register again.

NC and re-registration. Because BITS has no fail grade, a course result of NC (Not Cleared) cannot simply be ignored: the student must re-register in the same course if it's compulsory, or may substitute an elective instead, subject to the programme's elective-count limit.

The ACB and BITS's probation-equivalent. At the end of every semester, three minimum standards apply: (i) no more than one E grade in that semester for integrated first degree/first-level diploma students, or none at all for higher degree/higher-level diploma students; (ii) a running CGPA of at least 4.50 (first degree/first-level diploma) or 5.50 (higher degree/higher-level diploma); and (iii) course-clearance keeping pace with time spent at the Institute — a student must not fall more than roughly 50% behind the normal pace. Missing even one of these is called an "affliction" and automatically brings the student under the purview of the Academic Counselling Board. While under ACB, a student loses their normal registration freedoms — choice of electives, course naming, repeating courses, taking higher-level courses — and the ACB itself determines and can revise their entire semester course package. The ACB works to rehabilitate the student each semester toward specific goals; if the student remains unresponsive, the ACB may require them to leave the Institute, or, at its own discretion, offer a transfer to a less-exacting, less sought-after programme as an alternative. A first-degree student pursuing a minor must separately maintain a minimum CGPA of 4.5 in the minor's own courses to keep it active.

A student is deemed to have fulfilled graduation requirements for an integrated first degree (single or dual) or a higher degree once they have:

• cleared all courses prescribed for their programme (or composite programme);
• cleared the total unit requirements of Thesis, Seminar, and Dissertation wherever applicable;
• obtained a minimum CGPA of 4.50 for First Level Diploma / B.Sc. / Integrated First Degree programmes, or a minimum CGPA of 5.50 for Higher Level Diploma / Higher Degree programmes (unless a particular programme states otherwise);
• remained outside the purview of the Academic Counselling Board, or been formally declared outside it;
• resolved all consequential stipulations of any NC report received; and
• satisfied all other requirements of the regulations.

These same CGPA floors (4.50 / 5.50) apply identically to off-campus Work Integrated Learning Programme students. A first-degree student who opted into a minor programme is not required to complete it to graduate, but earns the minor certificate only by also completing its core courses and stipulated electives, and by obtaining a minimum CGPA of 4.50 in the minor's own courses.

BITS classifies every graduating integrated-first-degree student (including the B.Sc. for working professionals) by their final CGPA:

• Distinction — CGPA 9.00 or more
• I Division — CGPA 7.00 or more but less than 9.00
• II Division — CGPA 4.50 or more but less than 7.00

Because the II Division floor (4.50) is identical to the graduation CGPA floor itself, every student who graduates from a first-degree programme automatically qualifies for at least II Division. No Division classification is awarded for diploma, higher-degree, or Ph.D. programmes.

BITS doesn't publish a simple "accept up to X% of your other university's credits" rule. Instead, incoming credit is handled through two specific routes:

Admission with Advanced Standing. A meritorious candidate who arrives with preparation beyond the minimum entrance qualification for a programme can be admitted at an intermediate stage under "Admission with Advanced Standing." Their previous academic record is scrutinised against the BITS programme's requirements, and specially designed tests may be set where the record alone can't settle which courses to exempt. Exemptions are only granted for a programme's compulsory courses — the full elective package must still be completed at the Institute regardless of prior credit. Critically, exempted coursework does not feed into the CGPA: the CGPA and Division awarded at the end of the programme are based only on the grades of courses actually taken at BITS.

Collaborating universities. BITS may enter into collaboration agreements with other universities, letting BITS students register for courses at a collaborating university on a transfer-of-credit basis; reciprocally, students of those universities may register for BITS courses as "External Students."