“passed out (of college)”
Say “I graduated in 2020” or “I finished my degree in 2020”. To most listeners outside India, “pass out” means to faint.
Updated · Loista team
Understood across India
I passed out of college in 2020.
Travels further
- I graduated in 2020.
- I finished my degree in 2020.
Why it lands differently
“Pass out” for finishing a course is common in India, and in Britain people also use it for completing military or police training (a “passing-out parade”). In everyday international English, though, “I passed out” means you lost consciousness, which is not what you want an interviewer to picture.
When it's fine
With Indian recruiters and classmates, and in Indian CVs where “year of passing” is a familiar label.
Try it out loud
Read each line, say a version that travels out loud, then open it to compare. Any version that's clear to a listener abroad counts.
I passed out from IIT Delhi last year.
I graduated from IIT Delhi last year.
Which year did you pass out?
Which year did you graduate?
We're hiring candidates who passed out in 2025.
We're hiring people who graduated in 2025.
Practise saying it, not just reading it
Loista gives you a realistic speaking prompt and specific feedback on your answer, then a retry focused on one thing, so you can hear whether it landed.
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For adults aged 18 and over.