WAM stands for Weighted Average Mark. It is the primary measure of academic performance at many Australian universities, calculated as the average of your percentage marks across all completed subjects, weighted by each subject's credit points. A WAM of 85 or above is a High Distinction average. Most universities use WAM for honours eligibility, scholarships, and postgraduate entry.¹
| Subject | Mark | Credit points | Mark x CP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject A | 72 | 6 | 432 |
| Subject B | 85 | 6 | 510 |
| Subject C | 61 | 12 | 732 |
| Total | 24 | 1674 | |
WAM = 1674 ÷ 24 = 69.75
A WAM above 70 is generally considered strong at Australian universities, and 80 or above puts you in First Class Honours territory. Context matters: a 75 WAM is competitive for most honours programs but may fall short for selective Go8 research degrees.
| WAM | Grade band | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 85+ | HD average | Competitive for top scholarships and University Medal |
| 80-84 | D average | First Class Honours at most universities |
| 75-79 | D average | H2A Honours; strong postgraduate entry |
| 70-74 | CR+ | H2B Honours; minimum postgrad at most Go8 universities |
| 65-69 | CR average | Minimum postgraduate entry at many universities |
| 50-64 | P average | No honours eligibility |
| Below 50 | Fail | Academic standing at risk |
What counts as a good WAM depends on your goal. For honours, check your specific faculty's threshold: they vary between 70 and 85 depending on the institution and discipline.
WAM uses your raw percentage marks weighted by credit points and produces a score on a 0-100 scale. GPA converts marks into grade bands and averages grade points on a scale of 0-7 in Australia.
The practical consequence: two students with marks of 75% and 84% will have different WAMs (75.0 vs 84.0) but the same GPA, since both fall in the Distinction band (grade point 6).
WAM universities include USyd, UNSW, UniMelb, and Monash. GPA universities (7-point scale) include UQ and QUT.¹²³
If asked for a GPA by an overseas institution and you only have a WAM, contact the requesting institution for their conversion method. There is no single official conversion formula.
Some universities publish both. Always check your official transcript.
Yes, at most Australian universities failed subjects count towards your WAM using the actual fail mark, not zero. This is one of the key differences between WAM and GPA: GPA typically assigns zero grade points to a fail, while WAM uses the raw percentage (e.g. 43%), which has a smaller negative impact.²
Exceptions exist. UNSW excludes results on a Satisfied/Fail grading basis from WAM. UniMelb excludes subjects flagged with '^' on your transcript. Always check your university's specific WAM rules.
Sources
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