Polish, Romanian, Ukrainian Grades for Grad School

Polish, Romanian, Ukrainian Grades for Grad School

State your grade with the maximum your diploma prints, and for Poland, the word as well. UK universities publish lines for all three systems, and the scales behind them differ: Birmingham reads a Polish 4.5 out of 5 as a 2:1 and York reads 4.5 out of 6.0 as one. For Romania the line is 8 or 8.5 out of 10.

Our take: the denominator is the information. The same "3.5" for a Ukrainian degree is a 2:1 on a 4-point scale and a 2:2 on a 5-point scale, by one university's own page. A converted GPA throws that away. What you need is the number, its printed maximum, and the destination's own line, which you check before you apply and do not repeat in your statement.

Every university and agency page quoted below was checked on October 31, 2026. None states an admission year, so recheck your course page before you apply.

Same number, different maximum: three UK universities

Each cell is from that university's own country page.

Read the rows across, not down:

• Poland: same 4.5, two maximums. Birmingham writes "out of 5"; York writes "out of 6.0". Bristol uses only the words. Your diploma prints one scale. Give the reader that one.
• Romania: a half-point gap. An 8.2 meets Birmingham's and York's 2:1 line and misses Bristol's 8.5.
• Ukraine: four scales on one line. Birmingham lists a 5-point, a 4-point, a 12-point and a percentage figure, "depending on the awarding institution". Bristol's "3.5" names no maximum. On Birmingham's own page, 3.5/4 is a 2:1 and 3.5/5.0 is a 2:2.

Our view: type the grade with its printed maximum every time, and never write a converted figure. The basis is the table: the readers already publish lines in your units, and the units themselves differ. The countercase: a course page can set its own line above the country page. Bristol's Romania page, for example, asks for "above average grades" before it gives the 8.5. The course page wins.

Poland: words and numbers on the diploma

Polish grades come as a number and a word, and UK pages use both. Bristol's line is written in words ("bardzo dobry", "celujacy"); Birmingham's mixes them ("4.5/4+ out of 5, dobry plus ‘better than good’"). Report both as printed: "4.5 (dobry plus)".

Two documents carry this for you. NAWA's description of the Polish higher education system says: "Since 1 January 2005 the Diploma Supplement is issued obligatorily to graduates of first-, second-, and long-cycle studies. It is issued in Polish and a copy (ODPIS) in a foreign language." It also says graduates "obtain an original in Polish and copies (ODPIS) in Polish and in a foreign language". Upload the foreign-language copy and the supplement, so the reader sees the scale in the university's own words.

The dates on the UK pages matter too. Birmingham names a "post-2001 Licencjat / Inzynier" or "a pre-2001 Magister"; York accepts "Bachelors degrees awarded from 2001 onwards". If your degree predates 2001, read those lines closely.

Romania: licență, not absolvire

Bristol's Romania page is blunt: "Students who hold a Diploma de Absolvire are not eligible to apply for a postgraduate programme." It lists the Diploma de Licenta, Inginer and Architect for master's entry. Check which diploma you hold before you check the grade. Birmingham's page lists more diploma types, including the Diplomă de Urbanist Diplomat and the Diplomă de Farmacist.

The grade to report is the final result on your diploma, out of 10. Bristol's line is phrased as "a final result of 8.5"; Birmingham's and York's as an overall grade or score of 8.

Ukraine: report the scale your university used

Because Ukrainian institutions use more than one scale, the transcript legend matters more here than anywhere else on this page. Put your average and its maximum on the form ("91/100", or "4.6/5"), upload the legend, and do not convert one scale to another. York's lines also carry dates: "a Bachelors degree awarded after 2007, Specialist Diploma, Masters degree (awarded before 2005)".

If your studies were interrupted or moved online by the war, that is a separate question from the grade scale: see the SOP when studies were interrupted by war or crisis.

US applications: type the scale

The US pages we checked publish no lines for these systems; they read the record. Stanford's FAQ says: "Enter your GPA as it appears on your transcript. Do not convert your GPA to a 4.0 scale if it's reported on a different scale." Berkeley's requirements say translated grades "should be transcribed, not converted". The rest of the form method, including what to do when a portal forces a 4.0 value, is in converting foreign grades to GPA for US grad school.

The CV line and the SOP sentence

On the CV, one line per degree: the original degree name, the field, the year, and the grade with its maximum.

Constructed examples, written by us, not real applicant records:

Licencjat (first-cycle degree), Economics, University of [name], 2025. Final grade 4.5/5 (dobry plus).

Diplomă de licență, Computer Science, University of [name], 2025. Final result 8.9/10.

Dyplom bakalavra, Software Engineering, [name] National University, 2025. Average 91/100.

In the statement, say nothing about a grade that meets your course's line. The Romanian 8.9 and the Ukrainian 91/100 meet every line in the table above, so a sentence about them repeats the form. The Polish 4.5 (dobry plus) meets Birmingham's 2:1 line but not Bristol's "bardzo dobry" wording; that decides which courses to apply to, not what the statement says. The guide to mentioning CGPA, GRE or rank in an SOP gives the general rule for when a number earns a sentence.

Constructed example: the equivalence sentence cut

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Context (invented): Andrei Popescu holds a Diplomă de licență in computer science with a final result of 8.9/10 and applies to UK taught master's courses.

Before (34 words): "My final result of 8.9 out of 10 is equivalent to a First Class degree in the UK and places me among the best students, which proves my strong academic foundation in computer science."

After (25 words): "My licență thesis built a scheduler for a university's exam timetable, and its failure on room conflicts is why I want this course's optimization modules."

None of the three UK pages calls 8.9 a First, so the equivalence claim is unsupported. The revision deletes it and spends the words on the thesis, which no form can carry.

Questions about Polish, Romanian and Ukrainian grades

Is a Polish "dobry" enough for a UK master's?

At Birmingham, "4 out of 5, dobry 'good'" is its 2:2 line, so it meets courses that accept a 2:2. Bristol's taught-master's line asks for "bardzo dobry" or "celujacy".

Is Romania's 8.5 at Bristol a strict cut-off?

Bristol's page calls it "Our equivalent of a UK 2:1". Whether a course accepts less is set on the course page, not the country page.

What about Russian degrees?

Bristol's Russia page says: "Applicants with a bachelor's degree from an approved university with a minimum score of 4 will be considered for admission to a master's degree." It names no maximum.

My Ukrainian specialist diploma is five years. Is it a master's?

That is an eligibility question, not a grade one. The five-year European degree guide covers how Bristol and UCLA classify long degrees.

Get a free review of your statement of purpose

Get a free Quick Review of your statement of purpose against GradPilot's general MS statement of purpose rubric. It reads whether your statement explains your academic interests, preparation, goals and reasons for applying to the program, and whether your experiences support your plans. For a UK course, use the UK master's personal statement rubric, which reads the academic case for the degree and the link to the named course. Or start from the graduate SOP review page.

More guides on grades from other systems:

• Explain strict grading or an unknown university: one calibratable fact instead of a paragraph.
• Spanish grades and Matrícula de Honor: a scale where the top honor has a legal quota.
• Italian grades out of 30 and 110: two numbers, two jobs.
• Graduate school essays hub: every master's guide in one place.

Sources

Retrieved October 31, 2026, except where noted.

• University of Bristol, country pages for Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Russia (no year stated): master's entry lines.
• University of Birmingham, country pages for Poland, Romania and Ukraine (no year stated): 2:1 and 2:2 lines.
• University of York, country pages for Poland, Romania and Ukraine (no year stated): 2:1 and 2:2 lines.
• NAWA, Polish higher education system: description (no year stated): Diploma Supplement and foreign-language copies.
• Stanford Graduate Admissions, FAQ (no year stated): GPA as it appears on the transcript.
• UC Berkeley Graduate Division, Admissions Requirements (Fall 2027 admissions): grades transcribed, not converted.