How to Calculate Your Final Grade

A final grade, on this page, is the percent for the whole course. It uses the scores you already have and the score on the work that is left, usually the final. The steps below are the same arithmetic the grade calculator uses.

Course percent

Turn each piece of work into a percent. Multiply that percent by its weight, add those products, and divide by the weights you entered.

percent = (p1×w1 + p2×w2 + …) / (w1 + w2 + …)

Weights are relative. A final worth 40 and other work worth 60 is the same course as weights 4 and 6. If the weights you type already add to 100, each weight is that share of the course.

Weighted and unweighted

An unweighted average counts every score once. Homework 90, a quiz 80, and a test 70:

(90 + 80 + 70) / 3 = 80

A weighted average gives the test more of the course. Use weights 20, 30, and 50 for those same scores:

90×0.20 + 80×0.30 + 70×0.50 = 77

The 70 is half the course, so it pulls the result down to 77. The plain average stayed at 80 because it treated the homework like the test.

The score you need on the final

Once you know the percent so far and what the final is worth, the score you need is:

needed = (target × total − graded points) / remaining

Graded points means each finished row’s percent times its weight. Total is that graded weight plus the remaining weight. When the whole course is 100, remaining is what the final is worth.

Example: a reachable final

Your grade so far is 88. You want an 85 in the course. The final is worth 40, so the other work is worth 60.

(85 − 88×0.6) / 0.4 = 80.5

You need 80.5% on the final. In the shared formula, graded points are 88×60 = 5280, and (85×100 − 5280) / 40 = 80.5.

Example: a final that cannot reach the target

Your grade so far is 70. You want a 95. The final is worth 10, so 90 of the weight is already done.

(95 − 70×0.9) / 0.1 = 320

You would need 320% on the final. A perfect 100 still has a ceiling. Graded points are 70×90 = 6300, and (6300 + 100×10) / 100 = 73. A 100 on the final finishes the course at 73%.

Use the calculator

Type the scores and weights on the grade calculator. Put the target in target percent and what the final is worth in remaining weight. The page shows the percent, the letter on its 93-scale, and the score still needed.