When entering international course grades or external exams in STARS, choose the Course Length that best reflects how your school reports final grades.
Course Length Options
External Exam
- Use this option to record official exam scores such as IGCSE, HKDSE, CBSE, WAEC.
- You will be prompted to enter the month and year the exam was taken.
- If the month is unknown, enter the last month of the academic year. If both are unknown, enter your graduation month and year.
- This option does not require selecting a course length or academic term.
Full Year
- Select if your transcript shows one final official grade for a full-year course.
- Also use if a one-semester course is considered equivalent to a full-year course.
Semester
- Select if your transcript shows final grades for fall and spring semesters.
- For one-semester courses, enter the grade in the appropriate semester field and leave the other blank.
Trimester
- Use if your school divides the year into three terms: fall, winter, spring.
- Enter grades for one, two, or all three trimesters. If you did not receive final grades for one or two trimester(s) leave them blank.
- If two trimesters are equivalent to one semester, you may select Semester instead.
Quarterly / Quadmester
- Select if your school reports grades for four terms per year.
- Enter grades as shown. Leave any quarter fields blank if not applicable.
- If one grade covers two quarters, select Semester.
Quintile
- Choose this option if your school divides the year into five grading periods.
- Enter one or more quintile grades as shown on your transcript. Leave a term blank if you did not take the class for the term.
Both Term and Final Grades?
If your transcript shows term grades and a full-year grade, you may select Full Year and enter only the final grade.
Note: STARS does not collect mid-year or mid-term assessments.
How to Enter Course Credit
- For completed courses (grades 9–11), enter the credit value exactly as it appears on your transcript.
- If your transcript does not list credits, leave the default value in STARS as-is. Do not change the field to zero.
- For in-progress courses (usually 12th grade courses), enter the credit you expect to earn.
- Do not enter zero credit for in-progress courses.
Helpful Tips
Tip: Match the course length to how your school issues final grades — not how long the class lasted.
Tip: If you are entering an external exam score, use the External Exam option — not a term-based course length.