Explanation of Grading System
Beginning September 2015 to date
| HONORS | Performance in the course demonstrates superior mastery of the subject. |
| PASS | Successful performance in the course. |
| LOW PASS | Performance in the course is below the level that on average is required for the award of a degree. |
| CREDIT | The course has been completed satisfactorily without further specification of level of performance. All first-term required courses are offered only on a credit-fail basis. Certain advanced courses are offered only on a credit-fail basis. |
| FAILURE | No credit is given for the course. |
| CRG | Credit for work completed at another school as part of an approved joint-degree program; counts toward the graded unit requirement. |
| RC | Requirement completed; indicates J.D. participation in Moot Court or Barrister’s Union. |
| T | Ungraded transfer credit for work done at another law school. |
| TG | Transfer credit for work completed at another law school; counts toward graded unit requirement. |
| EXT | In-progress work for which an extension has been approved. |
| INC | Late work for which no extension has been approved. |
| NCR | No credit given because of late withdrawal from course or other reason noted in term comments. |
Our current grading system does not allow the computation of grade point averages. Individual class rank is not computed. There is no required curve for grades in Yale Law School classes.
Classes matriculating September 2005 to date must have successfully completed 83 credits for the J.D. degree. A student must have completed 24 semester hours for the LL.M. (Master of Laws) degree and 27 semester hours for the M.S.L. (Master of Studies in Law) degree. The J.S.D. (Doctor of the Science of Law) degree is awarded upon approval of a thesis that is a substantial contribution to legal scholarship.
Explanation of Yale Law School Grading System Prior to 2015
Beginning Fall 2024
Classes in which 25 or more law students take an examination are subject to a faculty-endorsed grading norm concerning the share of Honors grades. Honors grades are to be given to approximately one third of students who took the examination. Classes designated below were subject to this grading norm and conformed.