NHHGrades

Grade Insights

Data-driven analysis across all NHH courses

Overall grade distribution

All letter-graded exams across all NHH courses — every semester combined

23.1%

Grade A

42,462

39.8%

Grade B

73,057

24.5%

Grade C

44,912

7.8%

Grade D

14,333

2.8%

Grade E

5,084

2%

Grade F

3,623

Letter-graded courses only — pass/fail not included.

Is NHH getting easier or harder?

Average A rate, A+B rate and GPA per semester

Which major gives the best grades?

Weighted average A+B rate per master specialisation — last 5 years, letter-graded courses, min. 20 students

MajorA rateA+B rate
#1ENE
30.7%81.4%
#2MBM
29.6%78.1%
#3NBDminor
30.0%74.8%
#4ECN
26.1%69.4%
#5STR
16.7%68.4%
#6BAN
28.0%67.5%
#7ECO
29.6%66.9%
#8FIE
29.6%66.6%
#9ACC
23.2%59.3%
#10BUS
16.6%57.8%

GPA Optimizer

Top 30 courses by A rate, then A+B rate — min. 30 students

AllBachelorMaster
#1
FOR197.5 ECTSbachelor

Green Digitalization and App Development

100.0%

A+B

100.0%

A

#2
FIE4637.5 ECTSmaster

Numerical methods in Macroeconomics and Finance using Python

100.0%

A+B

78.8%

A

#3
ECOTHE30 ECTS

Independent work/thesis

100.0%

A+B

78.2%

A

#4
ECN4357.5 ECTSmaster

Data-Driven Public Policy

94.1%

A+B

76.5%

A

#5
FIE4467.5 ECTSmaster

Financial Engineering

100.0%

A+B

75.9%

A

Highest & lowest average GPA

All-time average GPA per course (A=5 … F=0), min. 30 students

Highest GPA

#1FOR19Green Digitalization and App Development
5.00
#2FIE463Numerical methods in Macroeconomics and Finance using Python
4.79
#3ECOTHEIndependent work/thesis
4.78
#4FIE446Financial Engineering
4.76
#5ECN435Data-Driven Public Policy
4.71
#6CEMSBPCEMS Business Project
4.68
#7SAM23Climate Policies and Green Investments Opportunities
4.67
#8FRA21French for business (A0-A2)
4.65
#9FIE457Entrepreneurial Finance
4.61
#10ECNTHEIndependent Work Major in Economics
4.60
#11SPA20The Spanish speaking world today: Economy, society and culture (B2)
4.59
#12FOR20Introduction to Blockchain
4.58
#13SOC1Technology, Society and the Firm
4.56
#14MET501AResearch Designs and Methodological Choices
4.56
#15BANTHEIndependent work/thesis in Business Analytics
4.52

Lowest GPA

#1BUS422ECapital Budgeting
2.85
#2BED3Capital Budgeting and Finance
2.91
#3BED4Decision Modelling and Analysis
2.96
#4BED2Financial Accounting
2.97
#5SAM15Firm Strategy and Competition
3.00
#6EBO1Micro 1 – Economic Behaviour
3.08
#7FIE425Derivatives and Risk Management
3.10
#8MET1Mathematics for Economists
3.13
#9FIE402Corporate Finance
3.15
#10BUS446DSustainable Business Models
3.15
#11BAN405Python Programming for Data Science
3.21
#12ACC402EInternal Control and Audit
3.21
#13SAM14Historical Development of Modern Business (not offered)
3.22
#14ETI450Corporate Social Responsibility
3.22
#15TECH4Mathematics for Decisions
3.23

Does language or level affect grades?

Weighted average — letter-graded courses, min. 20 students

Teaching language

Spanish

100.0%

A+B rate

80.8% A rate

1 courses

English

65.9%

A+B rate

25.0% A rate

183 courses

Norwegian

56.6%

A+B rate

18.4% A rate

31 courses

Semester

Fall

61.3%

A+B rate

22.1% A rate

188 courses · 100,790 students

Spring

65.0%

A+B rate

24.5% A rate

195 courses · 82,681 students

Study level

master

64.2%

A+B rate

23.8% A rate

127 courses · 70,978 students

bachelor

58.7%

A+B rate

19.7% A rate

85 courses · 100,892 students

Does more credits mean worse grades?

Average A+B rate by ECTS credit weight

5 ECTS

76.1%

A+B rate

11 courses

7.5 ECTS

60.9%

A+B rate

193 courses

30 ECTS

93.3%

A+B rate

9 courses

Department difficulty over time

A rate per specialisation per year — master courses only

ACC
BUS
BAN
ECO
ECN
ENE
FIE
MBM
NBD
STR
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
24%
23%
26%
19%
15%
16%
18%
18%
19%
19%
14%
19%
20%
15%
27%
28%
28%
25%
30%
27%
26%
29%
27%
25%
30%
24%
43%
27%
26%
36%
31%
27%
15%
20%
24%
15%
32%
28%
24%
29%
29%
25%
20%
24%
26%
26%
26%
29%
29%
31%
29%
33%
20%
32%
32%
26%
29%
28%
27%
32%
29%
32%
18%
30%
32%
41%
36%
43%
23%
36%
26%
38%
30%
20%
13%
27%
22%
40%
33%
24%
14%
17%
17%
17%
14%
15%
16%
16%
13%
23%
A rate:
<15%
15–22%
22–28%
28–35%
35–45%
45%+

Most improved & declined courses

GPA change comparing last 3 years vs the 3 years before — min. 20 students per period

Most improved

#1BUS473Platform-based Business Models
+0.73
#2FIE403Business Cycle Analysis and Macroeconomic Policies (E/N)
+0.59
#3SAM2Microeconomics
+0.57
#4FIE441Taxes and Business Strategy
+0.57
#5SAM1Introduction to Economics
+0.56
#6SAM15Firm Strategy and Competition
+0.55
#7ECO433Empirical Strategies for Causal Analysis
+0.51
#8FOR16Sustainable investments
+0.50
#9ELE426Norwegian Language III: Norwegian Business and Society (N)
+0.48
#10SAM12International Economic History since 1750
+0.46

Most declined

#1IKE1Introduction to Ethics
-0.80
#2SAM17Economics, Behavior and Psychology
-0.68
#3FIE434Behavioural Finance and Wealth Management
-0.60
#4FIE447Trading, Liquidity, and Pricing in Securities Markets
-0.55
#5ECO400Decisions, Strategy and Information
-0.46
#6BUS452Corruption, Compliance and Sustainable Business
-0.45
#7BUS429Pricing Analytics and Revenue Management
-0.43
#8FIE421Macroeconomic Analysis and Sustainability
-0.41
#9BAN404Statistical Learning
-0.40
#10FIE443Mergers and Acquisitions
-0.39

Most volatile courses

Courses where the GPA swings wildly semester to semester — min. 3 semesters of data. The bar shows the full range, the line shows the trend.

1
FOR117.5 ECTSbachelor

Business Taxation

2.5
4.3·4 semesters
3.4
avg · C
±0.71
2
FIE4017.5 ECTSmaster

Financial Econometrics

2.0
4.7·20 semesters
3.8
avg · B
±0.65
3
CEMSBS3 ECTS

CEMS Block Seminar

3.0
5.0·18 semesters
4.2
avg · B
±0.57
4
FIE4257.5 ECTSmaster

Derivatives and Risk Management

2.1
4.0·21 semesters
3.1
avg · C
±0.57
5
FIE4417.5 ECTSmaster

Taxes and Business Strategy

2.9
4.7·12 semesters
3.8
avg · B
±0.56

Most popular courses

Highest student count in a single semester

#1BAN401Applied Programming and Data Analysis for Business
720
#2RET1Law for Economists
637
#3FIN16Financial Economics (not offered)
547
#4BED1Introduction to Business Economics and Management Accounting
545
#5IKE1Introduction to Ethics
535
#6SAM1Introduction to Economics
522
#7SOL1Psychology in Organisation and Leadership
515
#8SAM3Macroeconomics
500
#9SOL2Marketing
499
#10MET2Statistics for Economists
497
#11MET3Business Data Processing
484
#12BED2Financial Accounting
480
#13SAM2Microeconomics
476
#14MET1Mathematics for Economists
475
#15BED4Decision Modelling and Analysis
468

The COVID effect

Average GPA per year — did grades change during 2020–2021?

2018

3.59

avg GPA

20.9% A

2019

3.58

avg GPA

20.4% A

2020

3.68

avg GPA

22.0% A

2021

3.69

avg GPA

24.0% A

2022

3.63

avg GPA

21.9% A

2023

3.63

avg GPA

23.4% A

Hardest single semester ever recorded

Lowest average GPA in a single semester — min. 20 students

#1BED3Capital Budgeting and Finance
2023H1.77
#2FIE401Financial Econometrics
2005V2.00
#3ECO400Decisions, Strategy and Information
2024H2.02
#4BUS422ECapital Budgeting
2007V2.06
#5FIE425Derivatives and Risk Management
2012H2.08
#6FIE425Derivatives and Risk Management
2018H2.09
#7FIE425Derivatives and Risk Management
2017H2.14
#8BED3Capital Budgeting and Finance
2022H2.17
#9FIE402Corporate Finance
2020H2.19
#10BED3Capital Budgeting and Finance
2017H2.34
#11BED3Capital Budgeting and Finance
2019H2.39
#12FIE400EInvestments
2009V2.39
#13FOR11Business Taxation
2023V2.46
#14MET1Mathematics for Economists
2025V2.47
#15BED4Decision Modelling and Analysis
2020H2.52

Highest failure rates

Courses with the most F grades — all semesters combined, min. 30 students.

#1
BUD25 ECTSbachelor

Financial Accounting – the Language of Business

38 students

15.8%

fail rate

#2
TECH15 ECTSbachelor

Mathematics

96 students

13.5%

fail rate

#3
TECH410 ECTSbachelor

Mathematics for Decisions

30 students

13.3%

fail rate

#4
ACC402E7.5 ECTSmaster

Internal Control and Audit

33 students

12.1%

fail rate

#5
MAT127.5 ECTSbachelor

Probability and data science

75 students

12.0%

fail rate