Chinese University GPA for a UK 2:1: The Lists

Chinese University GPA for a UK 2:1: The Lists

There is no single Chinese GPA that equals a UK 2:1. Each UK university publishes its own line, and all six we checked tie it to which list your university is on. Cambridge asks 85% from a Group A university and 90% from other recognised institutions. Glasgow asks 70% to 85%, and only from universities on its table.

So the useful question is not what a 2:1 is in Chinese marks. It is which group your university is in at each UK university. A graduate with 82% from a Project 211 university meets Imperial's published minimum. A graduate with 86% from a recognised university that is on none of the lists does not reach the 90% line that Cambridge, Bristol and the University of Edinburgh Business School publish for universities outside their lists. Once you know where you stand, the UK master's personal statement has a different job, and we cover that below.

Every university page quoted below was checked on 31 October 2026. Lines change between cycles, and none of the six China lines carries an entry year, so recheck each page before you apply. For the statement itself, start with the UK master's personal statement length directory.

Our view: find your university on each target's list before you pick your targets. The list decides more than your average does. The countercase: if you studied at a Sino-foreign university with its own legal status, the lists may not apply to you in the same way. Glasgow, for one, reads those degrees on the foreign partner's grading system (see the questions below).

Contents:

• What six UK universities publish
• Group A, Project 211 and Priority Lists are not the same list
• Your personal statement is not an agent template
• Between Imperial's 80% and 85%: what the statement can do
• Questions about Chinese degree equivalence

What six UK universities publish

Three things in this table change what you do:

• Cambridge's line is a floor. Its page says "many courses require a higher standard, such as a High 2:1, a First, or a UK Master's degree". Imperial says departments "may set admissions standards that are higher than the minimum requirements".
• Birmingham is stricter for business and economics. Its Group 1 line is 75% for MSc Economics, MSc Business Analytics and the other courses on its economics and non-quantitative list, and 73% for everything else. Group 4 graduates are rejected for that list but can be considered at 87% elsewhere.
• Bristol and Birmingham publish the percentages, not the lists. Neither country page names which universities sit in which band. Ask the university before you count on a line.

The two Cambridge cells for Group A and Group B include GPA equivalents. The other five pages give percentages only, so do not convert a 4.0-scale GPA yourself. Send the percentage your transcript shows.

Group A, Project 211 and Priority Lists are not the same list

Each university uses its own list, and the names do not match. Cambridge splits Chinese universities into Group A and Group B. By our count of its page, Group A has 37 universities and Group B has 81. Imperial uses Project 211. Glasgow uses its own table. Edinburgh uses a Priority List, and that list carries a subject condition that is easy to miss:

"Where a university which is not on the 985/211 list has one or more World Class Disciplines, designated by the China Ministry of Education, we may require your degree to be in a World Class Discipline."

For some universities on the Edinburgh Priority List, the entry reads: "For programmes in the College of Science and Engineering and in the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, the undergraduate degree must be in a World Class Discipline that is relevant to the chosen postgraduate programme." So a university can be on the list for one degree and off it for yours.

Run this check for each university on your shortlist:

1. Open that university's China page (the six above are linked in the table).
2. Find your university by its exact English name. "China University of Mining and Technology" and "China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing)" are separate entries on Cambridge's Group B list.
3. Write down the line for your group, not the headline line.
4. If the university publishes percentages but no list (Bristol, Birmingham), email its admissions or China team and ask which band your university is in.
5. Check the course page. Use the higher of the course line and the country line.

Your personal statement is not an agent template

UK master's statements are written for one course. Two published rules matter for anyone offered a ready-made statement by an agent. LSE's statement guidance asks you to ensure that your statement(s):

"Are all your own work. If we discover this is not the case, your application may be cancelled"

Cambridge's page on AI in applications says: "AI must not be used when writing personal statements and CVs. This prohibition covers the use of AI to help your use of English."

Those are the rules as published on 31 October 2026. If an agent has already written yours, the guide to an agent-written statement of purpose covers what to do next, and the UK master's personal statement AI rules compares more universities.

Between Imperial's 80% and 85%: what the statement can do

It cannot convert a grade. No page we checked lets a statement replace the percentage. The University of Edinburgh Business School is blunt: "If your degree is not of the required standard and you do not have highly relevant work or other experience, we will normally reject your application."

It can explain a mark that sits between a minimum and a preference. Imperial's minimum is 80% from a Project 211 university, and it gives preference at 85%. An 83% graduate meets the minimum but not the preference. Glasgow also says it values "academic performance on those relevant modules" for programmes with core module requirements. That is where your statement can work: give the marks in the modules the course depends on, and show the trend in your final year.

Do not argue that your university is harder than its group suggests. Edinburgh already says "The ranking of the university at which you studied is considered". Ranking is the university's call, not something your statement can change.

Constructed example: an 84% graduate explaining the trend

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Context (invented): Liu Fang graduated from a Project 211 university with an overall 84%, applying to an Imperial MSc that publishes the College minimum of 80% and a preference for 85%.

My overall average is 84%, but my first-year marks in compulsory political theory and physical education pulled it down. My quantitative modules are stronger: Probability and Statistics 91%, Econometrics 89%, Linear Algebra 88%. In my final-year thesis I estimated how a 2022 provincial subsidy changed small-firm hiring, using 6,400 firm records and a difference-in-differences design. I cleaned the data in R and wrote the code myself. This course's core econometrics modules are the next step from that thesis, not a new direction.

That paragraph is 82 words. It names the modules the course needs, gives a mark for each, and shows one piece of finished work. It does not ask the reader to treat 84% as 85%.

If your mark is below every line on your shortlist, the problem is your list, not your statement. The 2:2 degree UK master's personal statement guide covers that case.

Questions about Chinese degree equivalence

Is it my overall average or my final-year average?

Your overall average. Imperial's wording is "a final overall mark of 80% or better", and Glasgow refers to "minimum weighted GPA requirements". None of the six pages we checked offers a final-year-only route. A strong final year belongs in your statement, as in the constructed example above.

Do the lines apply to Sino-foreign universities such as XJTLU?

Not always. Glasgow says that for "Sino-foreign cooperative universities with independent legal status (such as Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, New York University Shanghai, etc.), we recognize the grading system as equivalent to that of the foreign university". Check each university's page for its own wording.

I did a 3+1 or top-up degree. Which grade counts?

Birmingham says applicants on a 3+1 top-up degree "must normally have studied at an approved university in China and graduate from their UK university with a 2:1". Its page lists an exception for the SQA Advanced Diploma at four of its schools. Other universities set their own rule, so ask before you apply.

Does a Chinese master's degree help?

It has its own line. Cambridge publishes master's-level equivalents separately: Merit at "80% from a Group A university" and "85% from other universities". Those lines matter for courses that ask for a UK master's. For a taught master's, your bachelor's line still applies unless the course says otherwise.

Who should I ask about my university's band?

The university's admissions team for that course. Birmingham names its China Recruitment Team for questions on its entry requirements. Attach your transcript, the English name of your university, and the course you are applying to. Applying from Bangladesh? See Bangladesh CGPA for a UK master's.

Get a free review of your personal statement

Get a free Quick Review of your personal statement against GradPilot's UK master's personal statement rubric. It reads whether you make a specific academic case for the degree, prove you are ready for the course's actual demands, and tie the programme to where it leads. Applying to LSE? Use the LSE statement of academic purpose rubric.

More UK equivalence and statement guides:

• Is 7.5 CGPA a 2:1 for UK master's?: the same question for Indian degrees.
• Pakistan CGPA and the UK 2:1: published lines for Pakistani universities.
• UK master's personal statement examples: annotated statements by subject.
• UK master's application deadlines for 2027: rounds and rolling closures.
• SOP for MS in the USA from China: if you are also applying to US programmes.

All graduate guides are in the graduate school essays hub.

Sources

Retrieved 31 October 2026, except where noted. No China line states an entry year.

• University of Cambridge, International qualifications: Group A, Group B and other-institution lines; master's-level lines; the "higher standard" note; both lists.
• Imperial College London, Accepted qualifications: Project 211 minimum and preference; departments may set higher standards.
• University of Bristol, China country page: 78% to 87% accepted-university range; 90% for other recognised universities.
• University of Birmingham, China country page: four-group table; economics and non-quantitative list; 3+1 top-up rule.
• University of Glasgow, China country page: listed universities only; 70% to 85% for 2:1 programmes; Sino-foreign rule; module performance.
• University of Edinburgh Business School, MSc Business Analytics entry requirements (the same China line appears on its MSc Finance and Investment page): 85% Priority List or 90%; ranking; rejection rule.
• University of Edinburgh, Priority List of Chinese universities (published 6 October 2026): 985/211 note; World Class Discipline condition.
• LSE, Statement of academic purpose: own-work rule.
• University of Cambridge, Using AI in your application: personal statement AI rule.