How a weighted grade works
Most courses do not treat every assignment equally. A syllabus might say homework is 20% of the grade, quizzes 30%, the midterm 20% and the final 30%. Your course grade is the weighted average of your scores in those categories.
If only some categories have been graded, dividing by the weight graded so far gives your current grade: how you are doing on the work you have done. Once the weights reach 100%, the same sum is your final course grade.
Worked example: current grade
| Category | Weight | Score | Weight × score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homework | 20% | 85% | 17.0 |
| Quizzes | 30% | 78% | 23.4 |
| Midterm | 20% | 46/50 = 92% | 18.4 |
| Total | 70% | 58.8 |
Current grade = 58.8 ÷ 70 × 100 = 84%, a B on a standard scale. The final exam, worth the remaining 30%, has not happened yet.
You can type scores as percentages or as points. “46/50” is read as 46 ÷ 50 × 100 = 92%.
What do I need on the final?
The final exam calculator works backwards from the grade you want.
Continuing the example, with a current grade of 84%, a final worth 30% (w = 0.3) and a target of 80%:
- The work before the final counts for 70%: 84 × 0.7 = 58.8 points.
- You need 80 − 58.8 = 21.2 more points from the final.
- The final is worth 30 points, so you need 21.2 ÷ 0.3 = 70.7% on it.
The table under the result repeats this for every letter grade:
| Course grade | Needs at least | Score needed on the final |
|---|---|---|
| A | 90% | 104.0%: not possible without extra credit |
| B | 80% | 70.7% |
| C | 70% | 37.3% |
| D | 60% | 4.0% |
Seeing every line at once helps you decide where to spend your study time. Here a B is realistic, while an A is out of reach unless there is extra credit.
Letter grades
The default scale is the common US one: 90% for an A, 80% for a B, 70% for a C and 60% for a D. Switch to the plus/minus scale (A+ from 97%, A from 93%, A− from 90% and so on) or edit any boundary to match your syllabus. Some schools start a D at 65%; others use words such as Distinction or Pass, and you can type those as letters too.
Tips and common mistakes
- Use the weights from the syllabus, not the number of assignments. Ten homework sets might together be worth only 20%.
- Dropped scores: if your teacher drops the lowest quiz, leave it out before working out the quiz average.
- Points-based courses: if the course simply adds all points, enter each item’s points possible as its weight and its score as a percentage. The result is the same as total points earned ÷ total points possible.
- A target near 100% needs a near-perfect final. If the needed score is above 100%, ask early about extra credit or re-sits.
When you have grades for all your courses, the GPA calculator turns them into a semester and cumulative GPA. On a 10-point system, use the CGPA calculator. For a single test score out of a total, the percentage calculator is quickest.