Do I need to provide percentages of my marks for my academics when applying abroad?

Universities generally want your actual academic record, not a number you have converted yourself, and the exact format they expect, percentage, CGPA, or both, depends on your specific application and target institution rather than a single global rule.

What Different Universities Actually Ask For

• Marks-focused requirement: the University of Illinois Chicago specifically asks Indian applicants for marksheets showing marks secured, maximum marks, and passing marks for every semester or year.
• Grading-scale approach: the University of Sheffield asks applicants with GPA-based transcripts to also provide the grading key, so the admissions team can interpret your CGPA correctly rather than guessing.
• Percentage-priority approach: the University of Warwick states that where an Indian transcript provides a percentage, that grading scale takes precedence over a converted GPA figure.
• Document-heavy approach: for Germany, uni-assist asks Indian applicants for the school-leaving certificate with subjects and grades, the school's grading system, and an official overview of subjects and grades from your university.

What This Means for How You Fill Out Forms

If an application form has a field labelled percentage or marks, enter your actual percentage exactly as it appears on your marksheet. If it asks for GPA or CGPA, enter your real CGPA rather than converting it yourself using the common India-specific multiplier method, since some universities want the raw figure and will apply their own conversion internally, while others explicitly ask you to convert and show your working.

This Information Is Also Available On

University of Illinois Chicago international requirements page, University of Sheffield entry requirements for India page, and University of Warwick India entry requirements page.

My Advice

In my experience, students who self-convert their CGPA to a percentage using a formula they found online sometimes submit a number that does not match what the university's own conversion produces, which can create confusion during verification. Submit your marks exactly as your Indian university issued them, attach the grading scale document if your university provides one, and only convert numbers yourself when an application form explicitly instructs you to do so.