Final grades are awarded to each student in all scheduled courses at the end of the semester, mini-semester or summer session within 72 hours of the last day of classes. All students taking a course at Bristol Community College must be assigned grades. If a student believes that a mistake was made in the original grade recorded for the course, the student may appeal the grade through the Student Grievance Procedure.
Grading policies are included in each course syllabus and are at the discretion of the faculty member. In the absence of a stated policy on grading in the course syllabus, the following guidelines will be used to determine the final course grade.
| A+=97-100 | A=93-96 | A-=90-92 |
| B+=87-89 | B=83-86 | B-=80-82 |
| C+=77-79 | C=73-76 | C-=70-72 |
| D+=67-69 | D=63-66 | D-=60-62 |
| F=0-59 | WF=0-59 |
Note: Individual faculty, departments, and/or programs may enact more strenuous policies as specified in the course syllabus and program pages in this catalog.
Grade Related Definitions
Audit – (L) A student may audit a single course for no credit with the consent of the instructor. A student may register for audit one week prior to the start of class through the Drop/Add period. No grade is given, but the notation of “L” is made on the permanent record.
Incomplete – An (I) grade An Incomplete “I” grade is given to a student if work in a class is unfinished because of illness, accident, or other unavoidable absence, unless otherwise noted. An incomplete grade may be assigned to a student who has attended at least 75% of the semester.
An Incomplete “I” grade may be given to a student if work in a class is unfinished because of illness, accident, or other unavoidable absence, unless otherwise noted. An incomplete grade may be assigned to a student who has attended at least 75% of the semester.
An Instructor must submit a “Report of Incomplete Grade” Form for each “I” grade assigned. The student must arrange with the Instructor or Academic Area Dean in the Instructor’s absence to make up the deficiency.
Bristol policy require incomplete work to be made up by the end of the following term. A student’s grade will be changed to the grade indicated by the faculty member on the incomplete grade form unless a change of grade is submitted prior to the end of the following term. For students who receive incomplete grades for the spring semester, they will have until the end of the fall semester to complete the course work.
The decision to give an incomplete grade is at the discretion of the faculty member and earlier deadlines can be established by the faculty member.
Withdrawal (W and WF) - Whether a student withdraws officially or unofficially they will be assigned a grade of W or WF respectively. A WF grade will count towards G.P.A. and the student’s pace as it relates to Satisfactory Academic Progress. A W grade will not count towards the G.P.A. but will count towards pace.
The "WF" grade will be used by faculty to distinguish between an earned and unearned F grade. Below are definitions of an earned vs. an unearned F grade.
- Unearned F (WF) - A grade given to a student who does not complete the coursework in any given course and is ineligible for an incomplete grade.
- Example: Student is reported yes during enrollment verification but then stops attending class and is unresponsive to outreach or is out of compliance with the faculty attendance policy.
- Earned F (F) - A grade given to a student who completes required coursework but earns less than the required score to earn a passing grade.
- Example: Student attends all classes or most (within the scope of the faculty's attendance policy) and earns a score that is considered not passing according to the faculty grading policy.
Developmental Grades – Grades given in developmental courses do not satisfy requirements in any degree, program, or major. Developmental coursework will not be computed into the student’s cumulative G.P.A. The credits are also not included in pace. A student should meet with an advisor each semester, but especially before attempting to take the same developmental course more than twice.
Repeat Course – Students may repeat a course once without permission of the Registrar or designee. Students will then be required to complete a “Repeat Course” form found in their MyBristol account under “Student Services”. The higher of the two grades will be applied to the student's grade point average calculation and graduation requirements.
See Bristol's complete Grading Policy on our website for more detailed information.