Many people are curious about why there is no letter E grade in the school grading system.
Although it wouldn’t be considered a great grade even if it existed, the common grading scale jumps from D to F, skipping E altogether. The reason behind this omission is actually quite logical.
The Washington Post reports that the concept of grading dates back to 1883 when a student at Harvard University received a B.
The idea of assigning letter grades to evaluate work quickly gained popularity, and by 1897, Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts adopted this system.
At Mount Holyoke, an A was awarded for scores between 95-100 percent, a B for 85-94 percent, a C for 76-84 percent, and a D for 75 percent. Anything below this was considered an E, signifying failure.
Over time, the grading system evolved, with different letters representing different percentages, and the letter F was introduced.
The reason some schools eliminated the E grade is straightforward.
Parents and students often confused E with ‘excellent,’ although it meant the opposite. Replacing E with F, which could signify ‘fail,’ made more sense.
This decision has puzzled some individuals.
They argue that letters could stand for various terms, such as B for ‘bad’ or A for ‘average.’
In a YouTube explanation by Zack D. Films, a commenter observed: “So they can’t use E because they thought it meant ‘Excellent’? What about F for ‘Fantastic’?”
Another added: “‘Mom, I got an F on my test! It means ‘fantastic,’ right?”
A third shared: “In my elementary school, we had A, B, I, D, and F, with ‘I’ indicating ‘improvement needed’ instead of using C.”
Another commenter wrote: “Always thought it meant ‘you failed so badly that we’re skipping over E and giving you an F. That’s how badly you did.’ lol.”
Yet another mentioned: “Lmao, my school always used E as the lowest grade but never F. This is amusing to watch.”