It is the overall performance in a school system. In many USA schools grades range from 0 points (F) to 4 points (A). These are weighted in many systems based on credits (units of of time/effort) to then arrive at an overall summary. The summary is the Grade Point Average or GPA.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grade%20point%20average

http://www.education.com/definition/grade-point-average-gpa/

However there are different scaling systems in use. This is a very common, probably the most common one in the USA.

thank you Dale

and yeah i am looking for the system in US

how can the credits from Indian system can be converted to GPA?

In many countries I guess it will be in percentages and how come percentages can be told in GPA when applying for universities?

GPA means Grade Point Average. is a measure of how well you are doing in your academic studies. Usually the academic grading scale goes from “A+” to “F”, with corresponding grade points ranging from the highest “4.33” to the lowest “0.00” or it depends on institution grading system. A student’s Grade Point Average, or GPA, is a mathematical calculation that indicates where an average of the grades falls on the scale.

What is the appropriate method of converting percentages (given in many countries) to GPA (to apply for universities abroad esp US)?

It is good to ask your university if they have a conversion. Many universities provide a suggested conversion table to help US institutions make sense of the %-values of foreign institutions. There should be someone in your university who has aided students in applying to foreign institutions that should be able to advise on how to do this for your school.

GPA is a complicated system that assigns a number value to a letter value. There are differences in systems. Some systems range from 1.0 to 4.5, some are 1.0 to 4.0. For example,

A 4.00

A- 3.67

B+ 3.33

B 3.00

B- 2.67

C+ 2.33

C 2.00

C- 1.67

D 1.00

F 0.00

If, you are applying abroad, the best method is to have your degree credits evaluated by a recognized evaluator like WES.

http://www.wes.org/

Put simply GPA is the grade point average. It is usually measured on a 7 point scale with fail = 1 and high distinction = 7. A GPA of 5.3 is a high credit average; for example.