Grading System in Japanese Schools

[samihu]

Does anyone know how it works? I came to wonder about this because in a few tv shows I've seen 30 points seemed to be passing or something. Like "All of your students have to get at least 30 points or else...(something bad)" or a student(and his mother for that matter) being relieved that he got a 30. I know where I live 30 points is not just failing, but it's failing pretty miserably. Is this just one of those things I'll find in shows or does it have any reflection on how things actually work there?

[emccormick]

I had a math class once where every answer or designated sub part of an answer was worth one point. At the end of each semester, all your points were tallied, and your percentage was based off of possible points vs. this number.

Another class I had, history, the points were a reference to the number of questions on the sheet. There was no percentage noted on the sheet. Just the total number of questions, and how many you got right.

That was in California, USA. So points are pretty arbitrary anywhere.

I have heard of Japanese systems that use three symbols, two circles, one circle, and a triangle, and others that do a 1 to 5 system that is similar to a GPA system. I doubt they have much to do with points other than being the assigned result in the end.

If there were seven subjects in a 1-5 system, a 30 would be 5 in 2, and 4 in the rest. But that is only a guess. Again, points don't always mean percentage, so just where they fall would depend on the particular region and school, if it was private or not, etc.