What is the difference between GPA and CGPA?

They are different but related. GPA — grade point average — is the average of your subjects’ grade points in one particular examination or semester. CGPA — cumulative grade point average — is the running average across every semester you have completed so far.

That is why school and college talk about GPA: SSC or HSC is a single examination, with no series of stages to accumulate. University study is divided into semesters, so each semester has its own GPA and together they build a CGPA.

One practical difference is worth holding on to. A GPA, once set, is fixed; a CGPA moves every semester — a bad one pulls it down and good ones can pull it back up. A CGPA is a running figure; a GPA is a settled one.

Grading scales can differ between institutions, and which grade carries which point value is set out in the board’s or university’s published structure. So before comparing two institutions’ numbers directly, check that the scale is the same.