The best four core subjects, the points that make an aggregate, and the bands that turn it into a division. With what happens when a learner has an F9.
Primary grading runs from D1 to F9, and each grade carries a number of points. Unlike most marking, a smaller number is a better result: D1 is one point, F9 is nine. This catches people out, because an aggregate of 8 is excellent and an aggregate of 30 is not.
| Grade | Points | Roughly |
|---|---|---|
| D1 | 1 | Distinction |
| D2 | 2 | Distinction |
| C3 | 3 | Credit |
| C4 | 4 | Credit |
| C5 | 5 | Credit |
| C6 | 6 | Credit |
| P7 | 7 | Pass |
| P8 | 8 | Pass |
| F9 | 9 | Fail |
The aggregate is the sum of the points from the four core subjects: English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. Where a learner sits more than four subjects, the four best results are the ones that count, and the rest do not enter the aggregate at all.
Because a lower number is better, "best four" means the four smallest point values. The lowest possible aggregate is 4, from four D1s.
This applies to upper primary only. A P3 report card should carry no aggregate and no division, and a kindergarten one should carry no marks at all. In School Lenzi the aggregate is off by default for every level except upper primary, and a school can turn it on elsewhere only deliberately.
The aggregate then falls into a band. The bands the software applies are these:
| Aggregate | Division |
|---|---|
| 4 to 12 | Division 1 |
| 13 to 24 | Division 2 |
| 25 to 29 | Division 3 |
| 30 to 33 | Division 4 |
| 34 and above | Division U |
A failed subject does more than add nine points, and this is the part most often got wrong when it is worked out by hand:
Note that the second and third of those count F9s across every subject sat, not only the four that made the aggregate. That is why a learner with a respectable aggregate can still come out in Division 4.
Each of these is calculated by the same code that prints the report cards, so what you see here is what the card would show.
| Eng | Maths | Sci | SST | Aggregate | Division | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | Division 1 | Straight from the aggregate |
| 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 18 | Division 2 | Straight from the aggregate |
| 2 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 18 | Division 3 | One F9 among the four, so one division down |
| 2 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 23 | Division 4 | Two F9s, so Division 4 whatever the aggregate |
| 9 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 31 | Division U | Three or more F9s |
Compare the second and third rows. Both have an aggregate of 18, and on the bands alone both would be Division 2. The third learner is placed in Division 3 because one of those four subjects was an F9. Two learners with identical aggregates do not necessarily get the same division, and that is the single thing most often missed when this is done on a calculator.
Most schools work this out with a calculator and a class list at the end of term, and it is exactly the kind of arithmetic that goes wrong when it is done four hundred times in an afternoon. The mistakes are rarely random either: the F9 rules are the ones people forget, so the errors tend to flatter.
School Lenzi works the aggregate and division out from the marks that were already entered, on every report card, the same way every time. See report cards for what else is on the card.
Check the current rules against UNEB. These are the rules this software applies and they reflect long-standing practice, but grading guidance is set nationally and can change. If your school has been told something different for this year, the grading scale is editable per level.