Weighted grade calculator
Turn a syllabus of categories — or a list of assignments — into one current grade.
| Name | Score % | Weight % | Row actions |
|---|---|---|---|
Rows with a blank score. Leaving them out shows your grade so far.
How many of your lowest scores the course discards.
Used to work out what the remaining work needs to average.
Your current grade is 84.42%.
Your current grade
Your grade so far
84.42%
B on the US letter with +/− scale. Based on the 60% of the course that counts here.
- Weight entered
- 100%
- Still to be graded
- 40%
- Extra credit
- 0 pts
1 row is not graded yet and is left out.
To finish at 90%
You need to average 98.38% across the 40% still to be graded.
Two grading systems, two different sums
Courses divide into two families, and confusing them is the most common reason a calculated grade does not match the gradebook.
Weighted categories
Each category owns a fixed share of the course, no matter how much work is in it. Ten homework assignments worth 20% together are worth 2% each; one midterm worth 25% is worth twelve times any single homework. The sum is Σ(score × weight) ÷ Σ(weight).
Points
Every assignment is worth points, and the course grade is total earned over total possible. Weight is implicit: a 200-point final matters ten times as much as a 20-point quiz because of its size, not because of a rule. The sum is Σ(earned) ÷ Σ(possible).
The practical difference shows up with ungraded work. In a weighted course, an ungraded category leaves a hole of a known size — you can see exactly how much of your grade is still undecided. In a points course, the hole is only as visible as the points possible you have entered.
A worked example
Take a course with these categories, three of which have been graded:
| Category | Score | Weight | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homework | 92% | 20% | 18.4 |
| Quizzes | 85% | 15% | 12.75 |
| Midterm | 78% | 25% | 19.5 |
| Final exam | not graded | 40% | — |
Contributions add to 50.65 points out of the 60% graded so far, so the current grade is 50.65 ÷ 0.60 = 84.42%. That is the figure to carry into the final grade calculator — with the final’s weight of 40% — to find the score you need.
Count the ungraded final as a zero instead and the picture changes completely: 50.65 points out of 100 is 50.65%. Neither number is wrong. The first is your grade on work completed; the second is your grade if you skip the exam. Both are worth knowing, and the toggle above switches between them.
Related calculators
- Final Grade CalculatorBoth directions: the score you need, and the grade you would end up with.
- What Grade Do I Need?Target-first flow for the single question: what score gets me there?
- Final Exam CalculatorWork forwards: pick an exam score and watch the course grade follow.
- Grade Percentage CalculatorPoints to percentage to letter, and back again.
Frequently asked questions
- What happens if my category weights do not add up to 100%?
- Nothing breaks. The calculator averages across the weight you entered and tells you how much is missing, because a partly filled syllabus is the normal case mid-term. A total above 100% is flagged too — that usually means a category has been entered twice, or extra credit has been given a weight instead of being marked as extra credit.
- Should ungraded work count as a zero?
- It depends which question you are asking. Leaving it out gives your grade across the work marked so far, which is what most gradebooks display. Counting it as zero gives your grade if you submit nothing else — the true worst case. Switch between the two: if the gap is large, most of your grade is still undecided.
- How does drop-lowest work here?
- The lowest-scoring rows are discarded by percentage, and in weighted mode their weight leaves the denominator with them, which is how most courses apply the rule. Dropped rows stay visible and are marked, so you can see which ones went. Extra-credit rows and ungraded rows are never dropped.
- How do I enter extra credit?
- Tick the EC box on that row. Extra credit adds to the top of the fraction without adding to the bottom, which is exactly what makes it extra — it can push you above 100%. Do not give it a weight in the ordinary way, or you will dilute every other category instead of adding to your total.
- Which mode should I use — weighted or points?
- Look at your syllabus. If it says things like 'Homework 20%, Midterm 25%', use weighted categories. If it lists assignments worth points that simply add up to a course total, use points. Points mode needs no weights at all: an assignment's influence is decided by how many points it is worth.
- Can I use this to work out what I need on what is left?
- Yes. Enter your target grade and the calculator works out the average you need across everything still ungraded, based on the weight you have not yet used. If only the final exam is left, the final grade calculator gives the same answer in a form built specifically for that case.
Privacy and accuracy
Every calculation runs in your browser. Your grades are never sent to a server, there is no account, and there is nothing to sign up for. Read the privacy policy for exactly what is stored on your device.
The arithmetic is exact, but the answer is only as good as the numbers you enter. Weights, rounding rules and drop policies vary between courses, so check your syllabus — and remember that your learning platform may round differently from the figure shown here.