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In English academics, we make a distinction between a standard record of marks and its more official cousin the "Transcript of Grades".

The "record of marks" (the name may vary) is an on-going point of reference for the student, and may change as the student progresses through their program.

The "Transcript" or "Transcript of Grades" is the official document one receives after completing their program, and obtaining a copy of it usually involves some formalized action within a secure system: i.e. a mailed envelope may have an official seal across its flap closure, or an electronic transcript system may require an authentication system of some kind.

On a related note, our children receive a "report card" after each term at their primary school, representing a third distinction that we make in English.

How are these distinctions handled in French (if at all)?

Merci beaucoup !

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  • We only make this distinction in some universities. At my university in the U.S. (and Google shows this is also true for many others), these are called official transcripts and unofficial transcripts. These would presumably be translated as relevé de notes officiel and relevé de notes non-officiel, and Google finds both of these phrases on the websites of many Canadian universities (but the adjectives officiel and non-officiel don't seem to be used for this in France).
    – Peter Shor
    Commented Nov 24, 2023 at 15:09

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A transcript of grades is relevé de notes. This is the term used by the universities, and also in the European ECTS system (where, however, the English term is “Transcript of Records”).

I'm not familiar with the term “record of marks”, but I have a feeling that, too, would be translated as relevé de notes.

A report card is bulletin scolaire or bulletin de notes.

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    Usually for "record of marks" we just say "marks": "I wanna check my marks." / "Have you updated our marks yet?"
    – Luke Sawczak ♦
    Commented Nov 21, 2023 at 12:08
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    @Luke Sawczak — Yes, I've heard that. If I'm not mistaken, Brits and Canadians tend to use “marks” for what is almost always called “grades” in the States.
    – Segorian
    Commented Nov 21, 2023 at 13:36
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    Indeed. Then they become "grades" when they're on a report card (even for us in Canada).
    – Luke Sawczak ♦
    Commented Nov 21, 2023 at 14:41
  • The "record of marks" is what we call it at our (Canadian) institution. It's simply a list of their marks that a student can refer to using their online school account. It changes when it is added to (class completion), or if something unusual happens, like an "incomplete" grade is updated to a supported exception for "illness". Given that there is so much room for institutional idiosyncrasy here, that the lack of a standard name is understandable. I doubt that there is any standard term in French either.
    – Parapluie
    Commented Nov 22, 2023 at 18:48
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The "report card" has a french equivalent which is the "bulletin de notes", that is relevant in primary and secondary schools : école, collège, lycée et classes préparatoires (2 years scholarship to prepare the entrance exam to the Grandes Ecoles).

In the universities, the notation system doesn't include an evaluation of learning achievement that changes along scholar life as the "report of grades" do: notes are static and usually given following an examination. These notes may be collected in different ways, mostly a web server (with private access) specific to each educational institution.

At the completion of the studies (or at the end of the year for significant steps), the usual document provided to the student is a diploma that precises the "honour" (mention assez bien, bien, très bien).

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