How to Calculate CGPA from Semester GPAs (With Worked Examples)
CGPA is your grade point average across every semester so far. Here is the formula, why it is not a simple average of your semester GPAs, and a full worked example.
Updated 10 October 2026 · 6 min read
GPA, SGPA and CGPA: what is the difference?
Your GPA for a single semester is often called the SGPA, short for semester grade point average. Your CGPA, the cumulative grade point average, covers every semester you have completed so far. Both work the same way: each course grade becomes grade points, and each course counts in proportion to its credit hours.
The CGPA formula
For each course, multiply the grade points by the credit hours. That product is called the quality points. Add up the quality points from every course in every semester, then divide by the total credit hours of those courses.
The semester GPA uses exactly the same formula, restricted to the courses of one semester.
Step 1: Calculate one semester
Here is a semester of five courses on a typical 4.0 scale. The grade points in this example are only for illustration; use the table your own university publishes.
| Course | Credit hours | Grade | Grade points | Quality points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Programming | 3 | A− | 3.67 | 11.01 |
| Calculus | 3 | B | 3.00 | 9.00 |
| Physics | 4 | B+ | 3.33 | 13.32 |
| English | 2 | A | 4.00 | 8.00 |
| Islamic Studies | 2 | B− | 2.67 | 5.34 |
| Total | 14 | 46.67 |
The semester GPA is 46.67 ÷ 14 = 3.33. Notice that Physics, with four credit hours, moves the result more than English, which has two.
Step 2: Combine semesters (do not average the GPAs)
To get the CGPA, you need each semester’s total quality points and credit hours, not just its GPA. Suppose you have finished three semesters:
| Semester | Credit hours | GPA | Quality points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semester 1 | 15 | 3.20 | 48.00 |
| Semester 2 | 12 | 3.60 | 43.20 |
| Semester 3 | 16 | 2.90 | 46.40 |
| Total | 43 | 137.60 |
CGPA = 137.60 ÷ 43 = 3.20.
If you had simply averaged the three GPAs, you would get (3.20 + 3.60 + 2.90) ÷ 3 = 3.23. That is slightly too high, because the 3.60 came from the lightest semester and the 2.90 from the heaviest one.
Things that can change your CGPA
- Repeated or improved courses. Some universities replace the old grade with the new one, others count both, and some cap the improved grade. Check your own policy before recalculating.
- Non-credit and pass/fail courses. These are normally left out of the calculation.
- Rounding. Grade points such as 3.67 are already rounded, and universities differ on whether they round the final figure or keep two decimals. A difference of 0.01 against your result card is usually rounding.
- Different grade-point tables. The same letter grade can be worth 3.67, 3.66 or 3.7 depending on the university, and some tables use steps of 0.5 instead.
- Transfer credits. Whether transferred courses count toward the CGPA depends on the receiving university.
Common mistakes
- Averaging semester GPAs instead of weighting by credit hours.
- Using one university’s grade-point table for another university’s results.
- Counting a course that your university treats as non-credit.
- Forgetting that a repeated course may be handled differently from a first attempt.
Calculating it with the tools on this site
Enter a semester’s courses, credit hours and marks into the GPA Calculator and you get that semester’s GPA. You can edit the grading scale in its settings so the cutoffs match your university. To plan ahead, the Target CGPA Calculator shows what you need to score next semester to reach a CGPA you are aiming for.
Is CGPA the same as percentage?
No. CGPA is on a point scale, usually out of 4.0, while percentage is a share of total marks. There is no single official formula that converts one to the other for every university in Pakistan, so use the conversion your university or the body you are applying to publishes. Be wary of any quick rule that claims to work everywhere.
Can my CGPA go down?
Yes. A semester GPA lower than your current CGPA pulls the CGPA down, and the pull is stronger the more credit hours that semester carries. The effect also shrinks over time: after many semesters, one weak semester moves the CGPA less than it would in your first year.