Go back to NCAA Eligibility Center Tasks Homepage > 

Below you will find further clarification to the task assigned in your NCAA Eligibility account, with additional clarification on what is being requested and helpful examples of responses. Please note: The examples shown for this task are meant to provide guidance on submitting letters of explanation. Any information submitted on your behalf will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and may require further clarification.

As a reminder, most clarification needs to come directly from an administrator at your high school/secondary school. Please share this information with them, along with the specific task language from your account so that they can provide a complete response to the request.

International students: Please review the NCAA Guide to International Academic Standards for Athletics Eligibility for your country-specific information.

What the Task Says

Please ask the issuing body of your transcript or credential for [ACADEMIC TERM] to submit a letter providing a detailed explanation of what each grade category on your transcript or credential represents. For example, if the transcript shows three grades per course per term, explain what type of assessment/evaluation was done to earn that particular grade and how each grade factors in to the overall grade for that course within that term.

The issuing body should email this letter in the native language to ec-processing@ncaa.org. A certified line-by-line English translation is also required if English is not the native language. This letter should be on the issuing body’s letterhead with their stamp, and include the name, title and original signature of an issuing body administrator. Each document, as well as the email subject line, should include your name and NCAA ID number.

Why We Sent the Task

The “Grade clarification needed” task is assigned if your final grade category is not obvious based on the title of the grade category (final grade, result, final average, etc.). This task may also be assigned if your transcript does not contain final grades.

This task is requesting detailed information describing how the transcript functions.

What We Need

Our policies require us to rely on information in columns on a transcript based on that column’s heading. Because your transcript lists multiple columns of grades per course, we need to know which column or columns of grades to use to determine your final grade per course.

We need to know which column represents the final grade in the course and a description of the function of each column heading (i.e., what the information in that column represents.) We do not need specific information for each course or grade entry; we only need general information about the grade category on the transcript. We cannot award credit for a final grade category based solely on exam results.

The response must be on school letterhead, signed by an administrator and attached to an email sent to ec-processing@ncaa.org. Please ask your school to include your NCAA ID number in the subject line of the email to ensure the information is correctly matched to your NCAA Eligibility Center account.

Example Response 1

If a student presents transcripts with multiple grade categories, but no category clearly represents the final grade, this task will be assigned. In this example, the grade categories listed on the transcript are “Application,” “Homework,” Behaviour” and “Result from Learning.” The school could explain the following:

The “Result from Learning” category on our transcript represents the student’s final grade in a course. The Result from Learning grade is determined by averaging the student’s Application, Homework, and Behaviour grades.

The “Application” grade measures how well a student can apply what they have learned. The application grade is determined by a series of graded exams administered by the instructor over the course of the term.

The “Homework” grade measures the student’s homework in a course. Students are graded based on quality of their work along with the timeliness of their submissions.

The “Behaviour” grade measures the student’s participation, attendance and effort in a course.

Example Response 2

Assume the same facts as Example Response 1 above, but there is no “Result from Learning” category listed on the transcript. In this example, the student’s transcript would not list a final grade category, and we would need the secondary school to provide a new document listing the student’s final grades in each course.

Alternatively, the school could explain that the average of the grades from the three categories represents the final grade in each course. We would then calculate the final grade for each course by averaging the three grades listed for each course.