Checked 25 September 2026. From the paper instructions in GNDU's 2023-26, 2025-29 and 2026-30 B.Com syllabi and the CBGS ordinance for colleges w.e.f. 2023-24. Rules are the same for B.Com (Honours), Financial Services and Tax Planning and Management.
A GNDU B.Com semester paper is not an objective test. Every theory paper — Financial Accounting in Semester I as much as Direct Tax Law in Semester VI — is a three-hour written paper of eight questions, two from each of four sections, of which you answer five, with at least one from every section. Marks are then turned into a letter grade and grade points, and your semester result is an SGPA on a 10-point scale that GNDU converts to a percentage by multiplying by ten. This guide explains the paper, the grading, the passing rule and the small print on grace marks, with a calculator for your own SGPA.
GNDU B.Com syllabi (all current batches); CBGS ordinance for colleges, Tables 4–5.
How the question paper is set
| Rule | What GNDU prints |
|---|---|
| Questions set | Eight questions of equal marks, two in each of the four Sections (A–D); a question may be split into parts, not more than four |
| Questions to answer | Five, selecting at least one from each section; the fifth from any section |
| Marks per question | Equal marks — so 20 each in a 100-mark paper (our arithmetic from "equal marks") |
| Time | Three hours for 100- and 50-mark theory papers |
| Numerical share | "Minimum 50% numerical questions" in Financial Accounting, Business Statistics, Advanced Financial Accounting, Corporate Accounting, Cost Accounting, Management Accounting, Financial Management and Direct Tax Law (not GST) |
| Sessions | Morning 9:00 am–12:00 pm; evening 1:30–4:30 pm; be seated 15 minutes early |
| Answer book | Answer books with an OMR front cover, handed out 15 minutes before the start, with 15 minutes allowed to fill it in |
| Practicals | Separate papers with their own marks (e.g. Computer Applications in Business practical, 25 marks) |
The eight-questions, attempt-five instruction is word for word the same on the papers of the 2023-26, 2025-29 and 2026-30 B.Com syllabi and the 2026-30 Financial Services and Tax Planning syllabi; the numerical papers carry the extra 50% note. Session times and OMR instructions are from the date sheets of Nov–Dec 2025 and May 2026.
Where other pages get this wrong
GNDU's college B.Com papers are descriptive — five long answers out of eight — and the syllabus prints no internal-assessment share.
Commonly published instead: "Internal Assessment 30 + End Term 70" for every B.Com subject, and objective-type papers.
The 30:70 mid-semester/end-semester split is the rule for GNDU's own campus departments (CBEGS). The college syllabi show only "Max. Marks: 100" per paper, and the instruction on every paper is eight questions, attempt five.
What "at least one from each section" means for you
Because each section is one block of the syllabus and you must answer from all four, you cannot drop a whole section and still write a full paper. What you can do is choose within a section: each section has two questions, and you need one of them. That changes how to revise. Go wide first — enough in every section to answer one question well — and only then go deep in the two or three sections where you want your fifth answer to come from. In the numerical papers at least half the questions are problems, so practise working them by hand — a section you can only answer in theory leaves you one choice instead of two.
| Part of the three hours | Suggested minutes | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Read the whole paper and choose | 10 | Pick your five before writing: one per section plus the best fifth |
| Five answers | 32 each (160) | Equal marks, so equal time; do not let one long numerical eat two answers' time |
| Check and finish | 10 | Totals, working notes, question numbers written correctly |
A suggested split of the 180 minutes, not a GNDU rule. The OMR cover is filled in the 15 minutes before the paper begins, so it does not come out of these three hours.
From marks to grades
| Marks in the paper | Letter grade | Grade points |
|---|---|---|
| Above 90 to 100 | O (Outstanding) | 10 |
| Above 80 to 90 | A+ (Excellent) | 9 |
| Above 70 to 80 | A (Very Good) | 8 |
| Above 60 to 70 | B+ (Good) | 7 |
| Above 50 to 60 | B (Above Average) | 6 |
| Above 40 to 50 | C (Average) | 5 |
| 35 to 40 | P (Pass) | 4 |
| Below 35, or absent | F (Fail) | 0 |
Table-4 of the CBGS ordinance for colleges. The bands are percentages of the paper's maximum, so 18 out of 50 is 36% (P) and 70 out of 100 is B+, not A — a mark exactly on a boundary falls in the lower band except at 35: 90 is A+, 80 is A, 70 is B+, 60 is B, 50 is C, 40 is P and 35 is P.
CBGS ordinance, Table-4. A P is worth 4 points; an F is worth nothing and has to be cleared.
SGPA, CGPA and percentage
Each paper carries credits, printed in its scheme as L+T+P; for the B.Com papers these match GNDU's credit table, which maps 4 credits to 100 marks, 2 to 50 and 1 to 25. Your SGPA is the credit-weighted average of your grade points in a semester: multiply each paper's grade points by its credits, add them up and divide by the total credits. CGPA is the same calculation across every semester so far. Both are taken to two decimals, and 0.005 rounds up. The ordinance then says a CGPA of 6 is 60%: the conversion to a percentage is simply CGPA × 10.
| Paper (Semester I, 2026-30) | Marks | Grade (points) | Credits | Points × credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Accounting | 62 / 100 | B+ (7) | 4 | 28 |
| Business Organisation | 71 / 100 | A (8) | 4 | 32 |
| Business Statistics | 55 / 100 | B (6) | 4 | 24 |
| English Language Skills-I | 68 / 100 | B+ (7) | 4 | 28 |
| Punjabi / PHC-I | 74 / 100 | A (8) | 4 | 32 |
| Computer Applications (theory) | 36 / 50 | A (8) | 2 | 16 |
| Computer Applications (practical) | 20 / 25 | A (8) | 1 | 8 |
| Entrepreneurship Mindset-I | 40 / 50 | A (8) | 2 | 16 |
| Total | 25 | 184 → SGPA 7.36 ≈ 73.6% |
A worked example with made-up marks, using the ordinance's method. Notice that a raw total of 426 out of 625 would be 68.2%, while the SGPA route gives 73.6%: grading rounds each paper to its band before averaging, so SGPA × 10 is not the same as your marks percentage.
SGPA and percentage calculator
Enter your marks in each paper (rows are the 2026-30 Semester I scheme — change the maximum marks or leave a row blank for your own scheme). The tool takes credits as the maximum marks divided by 25, which matches GNDU's credit table (4 credits = 100 marks) for these papers; check the credit column of your own scheme.
| English Language Skills-I | / | |
| Punjabi / Mudhli Punjabi / PHC-I | / | |
| Financial Accounting | / | |
| Business Organisation | / | |
| Business Statistics | / | |
| Computer Applications (theory) | / | |
| Computer Applications (practical) | / | |
| Entrepreneurship Mindset-I | / |
Grades from the CBGS ordinance (Table-4); SGPA is the credit-weighted average of grade points, rounded to two decimals; percentage = SGPA × 10. This is your own estimate — the gazette is the result.
Passing a paper and passing the degree
The pass rules
- A paper is passed with grade P or better — 35%. An F has to be cleared by re-appearing, within the maximum time for the degree.
- Each paper of a subject is passed separately: fail the practical and pass the theory, and you re-appear only in the practical.
- The degree needs a CGPA of at least 4 and the programme's minimum credits — 137 for the three-year exit and 179 for the four-year Honours (NEP template).
- Credits are earned only in papers with P or above.
- Anyone who takes longer than the minimum duration, or has an F in any paper, is not eligible for a university merit position, medal or award.
Grace marks. A candidate who appears in every paper of an examination and fails one or more can be given grace marks up to 1% of the total aggregate marks (excluding internal assessment) if that is enough to pass. In a 625-mark semester that is at most about six marks, shared across the failed papers. At a re-appear the limit is 1% of the marks of the re-appear papers themselves — one mark on a 100-mark paper.
Older students: divisions, not grades
Students still under the old non-credit semester ordinance (before CBGS; GNDU Calendar Vol. II extract of 16 May 2022) were judged differently: 35% in each paper and 40% in aggregate, with divisions — First with distinction at 75%, First at 60%, Second at 50–59% and Third at 40–49%. CBGS students get an SGPA and CGPA, not a division. If an employer or a later admission asks for a percentage, the CBGS figure is CGPA × 10, which the gazette itself states.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Is there negative marking? | None is printed. The papers are written answers marked by examiners, not multiple-choice. |
| Can I write in Punjabi or Hindi? | The CBGS ordinance leaves the medium of instruction to the existing ordinances and does not settle the answer language for commerce papers; ask your college before the exam. |
| Are 50-mark papers also out of eight questions? | Yes. The 50-mark theory papers carry the same instruction, with smaller questions. |
| What does RL or * mean on a result? | RL is result late; * marks re-appear papers; # marks credits short of the degree (from the gazette notes). |
From the CBGS ordinance (clauses VI and 7–14) and the notes printed on GNDU's result gazettes.
Practise it, don't just read it
Five long answers in three hours rewards knowing every section a little and three sections well. Topic quizzes are a fast way to find the section you are weakest in.
The ProSyllabus GNDU B.Com library has Semester I quizzes on Financial Accounting, Business Organisation, Business Statistics, computer fundamentals and English, each with an AI analysis of what you got wrong.
What is the GNDU B.Com exam pattern?
Each theory paper has eight questions of equal marks, two from each of Sections A–D. You answer five in three hours, at least one from each section.
What are the passing marks in GNDU B.Com?
35% in each paper (grade P). The degree also needs a CGPA of at least 4.
How do I convert GNDU CGPA to percentage?
Multiply by 10. The CBGS ordinance says a CGPA of 6 equals 60%.
How is SGPA calculated in GNDU?
Multiply each paper's grade points by its credits, add them up, and divide by the total credits of the semester. It is taken to two decimals.
Is GNDU B.Com exam objective or subjective?
Subjective. Every theory paper is written answers: five questions out of eight.
How many marks is each question in a GNDU B.Com paper?
The questions carry equal marks, so each is 20 in a 100-mark paper.
Does GNDU give grace marks?
Yes, up to 1% of the total aggregate marks (1% of the re-appear papers' marks at a re-appear), only if that is enough to pass.
What is the grade for 70 marks in GNDU?
B+ (7 points). Grade A starts above 70.
Are numerical questions compulsory in GNDU B.Com accounting papers?
The accounting, statistics, costing and tax papers carry at least 50% numerical questions.
What time are GNDU B.Com exams?
Morning papers run 9:00 am–12:00 pm and evening papers 1:30–4:30 pm; your date sheet says which.
Sources
- official — GNDU — B.Com (Honours) (CBGS) syllabus, Batch 2026-30 (updated 17 Jun 2026)
- official — GNDU — B.Com (3-year) / B.Com (Hons.) (4-year) syllabus, Batch 2025-29
- official — GNDU — B.Com (Pass & Hons.) (CBGS) syllabus, Batch 2023-26
- official — GNDU — B.Com (Honours) Financial Services syllabus, Batch 2026-30
- official — GNDU — B.Com (Honours) Tax Planning and Management syllabus, Batch 2026-30
- official — GNDU — CBGS ordinances for colleges w.e.f. session 2023-24
- official — GNDU — Non-Credit Based Semester System Ordinances (University Calendar Vol. II extract, 16 May 2022)
- official — GNDU — NEP 2020 credit templates for colleges
- official — GNDU — date sheet: B.Com (Hons.) Sem I & III / B.Com Sem I, III, V, Nov–Dec 2025
- official — GNDU — date sheet: B.Com (Hons.) / B.Com Sem II, IV, VI, May 2026
- official — GNDU — result gazettes
- reported — Adda247 — GNDU syllabus (reported; see corrections)
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
