Academic Grading in Israel

Academic grading in Israel uses numerical scores, typically expressed on 100-point scales, but the rules differ sharply between secondary matriculation and higher education. Bagrut subject scores combine a school grade and an external examination grade, while universities and colleges set many of their own grading rules under institutional autonomy.[1][2]

At the secondary level, certification depends on required subjects, study-unit totals, and minimum results. In higher education, passing marks, honors thresholds, admission standards, and adjustment practices can differ among institutions, faculties, departments, and programs; national data collections therefore do not amount to a uniform grading code.[1][3]

Israeli secondary education culminates in the Te'udat Bagrut, the matriculation certificate awarded to students who pass the required minimum set of examinations.[1] Examinations are written and graded on a 100-point scale, and for each subject recorded on the certificate, the final score is the average of the grade assigned by the student's own high school and the grade on a final examination set and graded by the Ministry of Education.[4][1]

Earning the certificate requires examinations totaling at least 20 study units, with 15 units in required subjects and at least one elective studied and tested at the five-unit level.[1] Seven compulsory subjects must be covered, along with several elective subjects.[4] A unit of study generally represents 90 class hours.[1] Certification can be withheld even when a student meets the overall unit count: a score of 39 or lower in any required subject, or a failure to earn at least 45 in a five-unit elective, prevents the certificate from being issued.[1]

The minimum passing score listed for an individual matriculation examination is 56 out of 100, and students may repeat particular exams to improve their results.[5] The civics examination offers an example of how performance is assessed: it includes a "position question" on a civic issue or dilemma, in which students must state their view and present arguments both for and against it, drawing on concepts from their civics studies.[6]

The certificate is required for academic studies at a university or college; its receipt and the scores achieved can also influence employment prospects and acceptance into elite military units.[5][1] Bagrut scores are grouped into seven descriptive performance bands: Excellent (95–100), Very Good (85–94), Good (75–84), Almost Good (65–74), Satisfactory (55–64), Almost Satisfactory (45–54), and Not Satisfactory (44 and below).[1]

A 2014 report said Israel's Council for Higher Education did not set detailed rules for individual grades, failing averages, or required grade distributions at universities and colleges.[2] It cited Section 15 of the Council for Higher Education Law, under which academic institutions have autonomy in academic and administrative matters and may determine their own teaching, learning, and grading methods.[2] The Hebrew University and the University of Haifa also stated in the report that they maintained no comprehensive university-wide grading policy.[2]

Within this decentralized framework, individual institutions and faculties establish their own rules. At Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Social Sciences, 60 is the lowest passing grade for a course; a grade below that threshold means the course cannot be recognized toward a degree, though individual departments may set a higher passing mark.[7] For courses whose final assignment is an exam, passing the course ordinarily requires passing that exam as well, unless course requirements specify otherwise.[7]

The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics has collected first-degree grade data from universities since 2003 using a scale of 60 to 100, enabling comparisons across institutions, subjects, and years.[3] The dataset has limitations because institutions differ in their subject specializations and some provide only partial grade data.[3] A 2017 guide listed an undergraduate average of 75 or higher as a general requirement for admission to master's programs, while noting that certain fields require higher scores and individual programs set their own thresholds.[8] Programs may also require entrance examinations, language qualifications, interviews, recommendations, experience, or supplementary courses.[8]

For example, an English-language MA in Tourism and Hotel Management at Kinneret Academic College listed an undergraduate average of 80% or a GPA of at least 2.7 (B) as its admission threshold.[9] Students receiving Israel Student Authority assistance must present a cumulative average of at least 60 and approval to continue to the next academic year to remain eligible for continued support.[10]

A 2014 report described a grading adjustment known as a "factor" (פקטור), which could add or subtract points from raw scores.[2] An instructor might apply such an adjustment when a class's grades were unusually high or low, when no student was able to solve a particular question, or when an exam contained an error or did not match the material taught.[2] Methods described in the report included adding the same number of points to all students, canceling a problematic question, accepting multiple answers as correct, and a "root factor"—calculated by taking the square root of a student's score and multiplying it by 10—which compresses high scores while lifting lower ones.[2]

The same report stated that university law-faculty regulations required cohort averages to fall between 77 and 81, with the stated aim of making grades comparable for students seeking internships at law firms.[2] One University of Haifa law student reported experiencing reductions of 7 to 12 points under such normalization.[2] A Technion Students' Association representative said that a regulation adopted around 2012 required each course's average grade and grade distribution to be published on the institution's website. The Technion responded that there was no general policy mandating a particular distribution and that corrective action was rare and reserved for exceptional cases.[2]

Institutions set their own criteria for academic honors, and thresholds can vary considerably by department. At Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Social Sciences, bachelor's honors thresholds for the June 2024 graduation ceremony were set at 91 for honors and 95 for high honors in Economics, 96 and 97 in Psychology, and 93 and 96 in Communications.[7] These figures illustrate how substantially the bar can differ across disciplines within a single faculty.

For master's degrees, the Faculty of Social Sciences applies both a grade threshold and a percentile cap: no more than 15% of students in a department may receive honors at any level, and no more than one-third of those receiving honors may be awarded high honors.[7] Final bachelor's degree averages are calculated using weighted components; in a standard one-department degree with one extension unit, department coursework counts for 70% of the final average and the extension unit for 30%, with the result rounded to a whole number.[7]

A comparison published in October 2014, based on Central Bureau of Statistics data, showed that first-degree graduates from universities received somewhat higher final grades than graduates from colleges in most fields at the end of 2012, though the differences were described as not dramatic.[11] The comparison covered universities other than the Open University, state-subsidized colleges, and private colleges.[11]

Explanations for the gap varied. An admissions consultant attributed higher university grades partly to more selective admissions practices, while academics from colleges argued that their institutions brought students with weaker starting credentials to comparable outcomes and sought to award degrees of equivalent standing.[11] One psychology lecturer observed that there was no standardization even within the university system, with departments at different universities potentially grading by different methods.[11] Interviewees described grades as especially consequential for students in psychology, biology, and biotechnology seeking advanced study, and in law, accounting, computer science, and business for particular career paths, though the weight placed on grades varied by field and purpose.[11]

The use of curve-based or bell-distribution grading methods has generated controversy in Israeli higher education. In January 2004, students at the Wingate College of Physical Education went on strike to protest a shift to a bell-curve grading method.[12] Student representatives said the proposed system would limit grades above 80 to 30% of students, with no more than 12% receiving grades above 90, and argued that this would harm students competing for graduate admission or employment without reflecting any change in course difficulty.[12] The college's director defended the change as a response to grade inflation, arguing that the bell method could also raise grades at the lower end of the distribution.[12] The dispute illustrates the tension between institutional efforts to regulate grade distributions and students' concerns about the fairness and downstream consequences of such adjustments.[2][12]