NaCCA grading system: HP, P, AP, D and E explained
The five levels, how to turn a test score into one, and the different scale for primary.
Francisca Akoto · November 3, 2026 · 4 min read
The JHS curriculum grades a learner on five levels of proficiency, from Highly Proficient (HP) at the top to Emerging (E) at the bottom. Each level has a percentage band, and the bands are the same in all twelve JHS subject curricula. Below are the bands, how to turn a test score into a level, and the different scale NaCCA gave primary schools.
The five levels
| Level | Score | The learner... |
|---|---|---|
| 1: Highly Proficient (HP) | 80% and above | “can transfer them automatically and flexibly” |
| 2: Proficient (P) | 68 to 79% | “can transfer them independently” |
| 3: Approaching Proficiency (AP) | 54 to 67% | “with little guidance” |
| 4: Developing (D) | 40 to 53% | “needs help throughout” |
| 5: Emerging (E) | 39% and below | “needs a lot of help” |
Level 1 is the top. The quotes in the last column are taken from the curriculum's description of each level. The full table sits near the front of every JHS curriculum, in the section on assessment, and you can download all twelve curricula to read it.
The curriculum is firm about who sets the scale. Its levels and descriptors "cannot be changed by individual schools and are, therefore, common to all learners as well as learning areas nationwide." It also says what the scale is for: "In assigning grades to learners' test results, or any form of evaluation, the above grade boundaries and the descriptors may be applied." A class test, a homework task and a project can each be given a level the same way.
What separates the levels
Read the last column from top to bottom. What changes from one level to the next is how much help the learner needs to use what they have learned. A Highly Proficient learner uses it "automatically and flexibly", a Proficient one "independently", and a learner Approaching Proficiency manages "with little guidance". A Developing learner needs help all the way through, and an Emerging learner "a lot of help".
That makes the level useful beyond the report card. It tells you who can work alone, who needs a nudge, and who needs you beside them.
The curriculum also says learners are graded "against criteria linked to performance standards and not against the work of other learners." So there is no quota for each level. If every learner in the class scores 80% or more, every learner is HP.
Turning a test score into a level
Work out the percentage first: the learner's marks, divided by the total, times 100. A learner with 17 out of 25 has 68%, which is Proficient.
Here are the marks for each level on tests out of 10 to 50, so you can skip the sum:
| Out of | HP | P | AP | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 8-10 | 7 | 6 | 4-5 | 0-3 |
| 20 | 16-20 | 14-15 | 11-13 | 8-10 | 0-7 |
| 25 | 20-25 | 17-19 | 14-16 | 10-13 | 0-9 |
| 30 | 24-30 | 21-23 | 17-20 | 12-16 | 0-11 |
| 40 | 32-40 | 28-31 | 22-27 | 16-21 | 0-15 |
| 50 | 40-50 | 34-39 | 27-33 | 20-26 | 0-19 |
Look at the first row. On a test out of 10, Proficient and Approaching Proficiency are one mark each: 7 is P and 6 is AP, so one wrong answer moves a learner down a level. A longer test spreads each level over more marks.
Some totals give a percentage between two bands. 27 out of 40 is 67.5%, above the 67 where AP ends and below the 68 where P starts, and the curriculum does not say which way it goes. The table above reads each band from its bottom number, so 67.5% is AP because it has not reached 68. Whichever rule you use, use the same one for the whole class.
Primary has a different scale
The primary curricula, published in September 2019, print no grading scale. Primary's is in the Teacher Resource Pack NaCCA published with them to introduce the new curriculum to P1 to P6 teachers. Its grading section says "it is recommended that schools adopt the following grade boundaries":
| Level | Score |
|---|---|
| 1: Advance (A) | 80% and above |
| 2: Proficient (P) | 75 to 79% |
| 3: Approaching Proficiency (AP) | 70 to 74% |
| 4: Developing (D) | 65 to 69% |
| 5: Beginning (B) | 64% and below |
It has five levels too, and three of the names match, but the top is called Advance and the bottom Beginning, and the bands are narrower and sit higher. The same score can land on a different level:
| Score | JHS curriculum | Primary pack |
|---|---|---|
| 85% | HP | A |
| 77% | P | P |
| 72% | P | AP |
| 66% | AP | D |
| 60% | AP | B |
| 45% | D | B |
A learner with 60% is Approaching Proficiency on the JHS scale and Beginning on the primary one. The JHS curriculum fixes its scale for every school, while the primary pack recommends its own. If you teach primary, ask your headteacher which scale your school uses before you fill the report cards.
Where the level goes
The JHS curriculum names three records a school can keep a learner's results in: the Student's Progress Record (the cumulative record), the Student's Report Card, and the School Based Assessment Termly Recording Register. A level written next to the score tells the next reader what the number means.
Every question on a practice test or class test from teache shows its marks, and the answer key comes with the paper, so marking it and finding the level is quick. See how to set one.