Quebec R Score Calculator (Cote R)

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Quick answer: Each CEGEP course gets an R score: R = ((Z × IDGZ) + ISGZ + 5) × 5, on a 0–50 scale, where Z compares your grade with your group’s average. Your overall R score is the average of your course R scores weighted by units, with failed courses counting for 0.25 of their units in your first term and 0.50 after. If you know each course’s R score, this calculator gives the exact average; from grades alone it can only estimate.

Applies to: Quebec CEGEP students applying to universityFormula: from the BCIChecked: 2026-10-02Source: BCI: La cote de rendement au collégial

Unofficial. The exact mode averages the course R scores you enter; the estimate mode cannot reproduce the BCI’s group statistics. Your official R score comes from your college.

How to use it

Exact: if your college shows an R score for each course, choose “my R score for each course” and enter each one with the course units (on your transcript, e.g. 2.33 or 2.66). Tick “Failed” for a failed course and “1st term” if it was in your first term of college. Estimate: if you only have your grades, choose “my grades and group averages” and enter your grade, the group average and the group’s standard deviation for each course.

The R score formula

From the BCI’s La cote de rendement au collégial : ce qu’elle est, ce qu’elle fait (21 January 2025): “CRC = ((Zcol x IDGZ) + IFGZ +5) x 5”, where Zcol is your college Z score, IDGZ is “basé sur l’écart-type des cotes Z au secondaire des étudiants qui composent le groupe” (based on the standard deviation of the secondary Z scores of the students in the group) and IFGZ (ISGZ in English) is based on their average. The constant 5 removes negative values and multiplying by 5 puts the result on a fixed scale: “la cote de rendement minimale est 0, et la cote maximale, 50. La plupart des cotes de rendement se situent entre 15 et 35.”

Z is your grade’s distance from the group average in standard deviations: Z = (your grade − group average) ÷ standard deviation.

Worked example (the BCI’s own)

Class B in the BCI document has an average of 75, IDGZ 0.60 and IFGZ 1.12. Camille scored 78, a Z of 1.16: (1.16 × 0.60) + 1.12 = 1.82, and (1.82 + 5) × 5 = 34.08. The calculator reproduces the BCI’s table:

Student	Grade	Z	× IDGZ 0.60 + ISGZ 1.12	R score
William	79	1.55	2.05	35.25
Camille	78	1.16	1.82	34.08
Francis	75	0.00	1.12	30.60
Audrey	71	−1.55	0.19	25.95

How the average R score is weighted

“Cette valeur est calculée en additionnant la cote de rendement au collégial, attribuée à chaque cours, pondérée par la valeur en unités de chacun des cours et divisée par le total des unités”: a course of 2.66 units counts 2.66 times, a course of 2 units twice. Failed courses count for less:

Course	Counts as
Passed course	its full units (e.g. 2.33)
Failed course, first term of college	0.25 × its units
Failed course, any later term	0.50 × its units

Courses with no R score

The BCI’s Q&A says a value of 99.999 means no R score was calculated, for

physical education courses taken before fall 2007;
remedial or upgrading courses (“mise à niveau ou d’appoint”);
a course where fewer than six grades were 50 or higher;
a course where every student received the same grade.

Leave those out. Its English Q&A adds: “To be able to calculate an R score, the group must contain at least six students who attended secondary school in the Quebec system and had grades higher than or equal to 50.”

Why an estimate from grades is only an estimate

“The group average calculated by a CEGEP for a course is not the same as the group average used to calculate the R score. The group average used for the R score may be higher because all the grades below 50 in the group are excluded from the R score calculation.” And your group’s ISGZ and IDGZ come from your classmates’ Secondary 4 and 5 ministry exam subjects. The estimate mode uses an average group (IDGZ 1.00, ISGZ 0.00) unless you enter the real values.

Frequently asked questions

What is the R score formula?

For each course, R = ((Z × IDGZ) + ISGZ + 5) × 5, where Z is how far your grade is from the group average in standard deviations, and IDGZ and ISGZ correct for the dispersion and strength of your group (in French, IDGZ and IFGZ). Your overall R score is the average of your course R scores weighted by each course’s units.

Where do I find my real R score?

From your college. The BCI says a student who wants their R score “doit s’adresser à son collège ou à l’université où il a déposé une demande officielle d’admission” (must contact their college or the university they applied to). If you have each course’s R score, use the exact mode.

Why is the estimate different from my real R score?

Two reasons. First, the BCI says the group average used for the R score “may be higher because all the grades below 50 in the group are excluded”, unlike the average on your transcript. Second, the IDGZ and ISGZ of your group come from your classmates’ Secondary 4 and 5 results, which students do not normally see; the estimate assumes an average group unless you enter them.

How do failed courses count?

“Au premier trimestre d’inscription au collégial, les cours échoués ne comptent que pour le quart des unités qui leur sont attribuées, soit une pondération de 0,25; pour les trimestres subséquents, cette pondération est de 0,50.” A failed course counts for a quarter of its units in your first term and half after that.

What R score is good?

The BCI says “La plupart des cotes de rendement se situent entre 15 et 35” (most R scores are between 15 and 35) on a scale from 0 to 50. Admission thresholds are set by each university and program.

Does being in a strong class lower my R score?

No, according to the BCI: “The R score considers the relative strength and dispersion of the group each student is in. There is therefore no advantage or disadvantage to being in one group rather than another.”

Sources

BCI - La cote de rendement au collégial : ce qu'elle est, ce qu'elle fait — 21 January 2025 (French)
BCI - Questions et réponses sur la cote de rendement au collégial — 20 January 2025 (French)
BCI - Questions and Answers about the College R Score — September 2020 (English)
BCI - Cote R: la cote de rendement au collégial (CRC) — information page

All published by the Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire and read on 2026-10-02. French quotations are given in the original, with English translations by GPACalculatorHQ.

Quebec R Score Calculator (Cote R)