What does "Top 10%" mean in edge cases? Imagine you want to apply for a stipend. Only the top 10% of ones class are eligible. The final grade distribution (German grades) is like this

1.0 - 3%
1.1 - 2.5%
1.2 - 7%
...

The complete table comes as an official addendum to your transcript of records, which shows your own final grade.
Obviously the university screwed up the grading in the past years and gave out way too good grades, which led to a kind of inflation. In other fields at the same university it's more like

1.0 - 0.1%
1.1 - 0.3%
1.2 - 2 % ...

Imagine now one has a 1.2. Can he just say he is top 10% based on this table? IMO one has to be opportunistic here and not think much about it: Less than 10% have a better grade than you -&gt; you are top 10%. People will probably not even check the table, as 1.2 is usually much better than top 10%.
But my friend in question has a bad feeling about it and is &quot;scared&quot; it will be conceived as cheating. What's your opinion on this? Is there any authoritative legal information on this?
Is there any authoritative legal information on this?

I am not aware of any jurisdiction in which applying for a stipend for which you are not eligible is illegal. For obvious reasons, eligibility is bindingly determined by the stipend giver, not by the applicants.
The rule &quot;top 10%&quot; does not seem to be stated clearly. If the students that got 1.2 in your class are included, then the statement

12.5% of the students in the class are in the top 10%

would be true, which seems to be a contradiction. If, as Nuclear Wang proposes, the students with 1.2 are not included in the 10%, then the statement

Only 5.5% of the students in the class are in the top 10%

would be true, which also seems a contradiction. As both plausible interpretations lead to apparent contradictions, it is reasonable to have doubts about the actual meaning of the rule. So if the rule is not stated more clearly, just apply and let the stipend givers decide. That is their job, not yours (or your friend's).