WAM calculator
Add each subject’s mark and credit points to work out your Weighted Average Mark, the number Australian universities use to summarise your academic record for postgraduate and honours admission. Your WAM updates as you add subjects.
Add a mark and credit points for at least one subject to see your WAM.
WAM = the sum of each subject’s mark multiplied by its credit points, divided by total credit points. Most undergraduate subjects at most universities are 6 credit points; check your enrolment if unsure. This is the standard calculation used for admission purposes; some universities weight later years more heavily when calculating WAM for honours entry, so check your specific university’s policy for that use case. The grade bands and GPA mapping above are the common Australian convention, not every university's exact published cut-offs.
Worked example
Say a semester looks like this (click Try an example above to load these numbers into the calculator):
| Subject | Mark | Credit points |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Data Science | 85 | 6 |
| Applied Statistics | 68 | 6 |
| Research Methods | 72 | 12 |
Multiply each mark by its credit points: (85 × 6) + (68 × 6) + (72 × 12) = 510 + 408 + 864 = 1,782. Divide by the total credit points (6 + 6 + 12 = 24): 1,782 ÷ 24 = 74.25. That’s a Credit average, about 5.0 on the 7-point GPA scale, even though two of the three marks were in Distinction territory. The 12-credit-point subject at 72 carries twice the weight of either 6-credit-point subject, which is what pulls the overall WAM down to 74.25 instead of a simple average of 75.
WAM: common questions
What is a WAM?
WAM stands for Weighted Average Mark, the standard way Australian universities summarise your overall academic performance. It's the credit-point-weighted average of your marks across all subjects, expressed as a number out of 100 rather than a letter grade.
How is WAM calculated?
Multiply each subject's mark by its credit points, add those up, then divide by the total credit points. A subject worth more credit points (a bigger, more intensive subject) counts for more in the average than a smaller one, which is why it's a weighted average rather than a simple mean of your marks.
What WAM do I need for a master's or honours program?
Most Australian postgraduate coursework programs ask for a Credit average (a WAM around 65) as a baseline, with more competitive programs and honours-year entry usually wanting a Distinction average (around 75) or higher. Requirements vary by university and course, so check the specific program's entry requirements.
Is WAM the same as GPA?
They measure the same thing but on different scales: WAM is out of 100, GPA is usually out of 7 in Australia. The rough conversion is High Distinction (85+) to 7.0, Distinction (75-84) to 6.0, Credit (65-74) to 5.0, and Pass (50-64) to 4.0. This is a common convention, not every university's exact published scale, so use it as an estimate.
Does every university calculate WAM the same way?
The basic formula is standard, but some universities apply extra weighting by year of study when calculating WAM for honours entry, giving your final year more weight than your first. This calculator uses the standard, unweighted-by-year formula that covers general admission purposes. Check your university's official policy if you're calculating WAM specifically for honours entry.
Does a failed subject still count if I repeated and passed it?
Usually, yes. At most Australian universities, every attempt at a subject stays on your transcript and counts toward your WAM, including a fail you later repeated and passed. Add the failed attempt as its own row alongside the repeat so your WAM here reflects both, rather than only your best result.