What Information Is on Your High School Transcript?

By Staff Writer | Last Updated August 4, 2015

A high school transcript shows high school grades, the classes a student took in high school and GPA, says Christa Fletcher for Campus Explorer. Depending on the school, the transcript may also include other information, such as a record of behavior or details about the school’s evaluation processes.

A high school transcript, sometimes called a secondary school transcript, shows the types and levels of classes a student took from grades nine through 12, according to the Stanford Undergraduate Admission office. Both Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania note that colleges pay careful attention to the difficulty and variety of courses taken, as well as grades achieved. The transcript should also show how many pass/fail classes a student took and may include any courses a student dropped or failed to complete, notes Fletcher.

In addition to GPA, high school transcripts typically include class rank, reports Fletcher. Some schools consider the grades for all of the classes when calculating GPA, while others only focus on core curriculum like math, science, English and social studies.

A transcript might also include information about how often a student was evaluated, such as semester, trimester or quarterly, and about the school’s method of ranking students, says Fletcher. Some transcripts include a student profile that notes negative or positive behavior, such as attendance, suspensions, community service and/or a list of honors. A transcript might also include a school profile with demographic information.