Grade Calculator
Work out your overall module grade by summing points earned over points possible — the honest way — then switch to weighted mode or solve for the score you still need to hit your target.
How this is worked out
Your overall grade is the sum of every point you've earned divided by the sum of every point available— never the average of each assessment's percentage. A piece worth 80 points automatically pulls four times the weight of one worth 20, because it carries four times the points. Rows with no points possible, or with the earned cell left blank, are simply ignored until you fill them in.
Overall grade (points-sum)
79.3%
119 of 150 points across 3 marked assessments.
Where your points come from
150
points on offer
Each slice is that assessment's share of all the points available — the bigger the slice, the more it moves your overall grade.
Points earned
119
Points possible
150
Letter
C+
Averaging your assessment percentages instead would read 80.3% — overstating your real grade by 1.0 points. The averaging-trap section below shows exactly why.
The averaging trap
The same marks, run through two methods, give two different grades — and one of them is wrong. This is the single error this calculator exists to stop.
Averaging the percentages
Add up each assessment's % and divide by how many — the intuitive shortcut, and the wrong one.
(85% + 76% + 80%) ÷ 3
80.3%
Reads as a B-.
Summing the points (correct)
Add every point earned, divide by every point possible — what your registrar actually does.
119 ÷ 150 × 100
79.3%
Your real grade — a C+.
On your own numbers, the shortcut changes your letter grade
Averaging your percentages comes out +1.0 points from the truth (80.3% vs 79.3%) — enough to flip a C+ into a B-. The gap appears whenever a high-point assessment scores differently from a low-point one: averaging treats a 5-point warm-up as if it mattered as much as a 95-point exam. Edit the table above and watch these two numbers separate.
Points total or weighted — which mode is yours?
Both live in the tabs above. They agree in one special case and diverge the rest of the time, so picking the right one is the difference between a true grade and a flattering fiction.
| Use this mode when… | Mode | How it combines marks |
|---|---|---|
| Every mark is a raw score out of points (17/20, 64/80) with no published weights. | Points total | Σ points earned ÷ Σ points possible — big-point work counts more automatically. |
| Your module publishes explicit weights — coursework 25%, final 40%. | Weighted by assessment | Each row becomes a %, then those %s combine in proportion to their weights. |
| You want to know what to score on what is left to hit an overall target. | Grade needed | Banks the points you hold, solves backwards for the average % the rest must reach. |
Points and weighted modes return the identical grade only when each assessment's weight is exactly proportional to its points possible. The moment a low-point quiz carries a high weight — or vice versa — they part ways, and the published weights win.
A worked example, point by point
Worked example
You've had three pieces marked: 17/20 on a problem set, 38/50 on a lab report, and 64/80 on a mid-term. You want your overall grade as it stands right now.
- 1Add every point you earned: 17 + 38 + 64 = 119 points.
- 2Add every point that was on offer: 20 + 50 + 80 = 150 points.
- 3Overall grade = 119 ÷ 150 × 100 = 79.33% — which rounds to 79.3% for display.
- 4Map it to a letter on the standard percentage scale: 79.3% sits in the 77–79% band, a C+.
- 5Compare the shortcut: averaging 85% + 76% + 80% gives 80.33% — half a band higher, because it ignores that the mid-term was worth the most points.
The honest grade is 79.3% (a C+), not the 80.3% the averaging shortcut suggests. Points mode does this the instant you type, and the donut shows you the mid-term's 80-point slice doing the heavy lifting.
From your percentage to a letter and a class
The headline badge reads a letter from the standard percentage scale. Here is the full mapping, with UK degree classifications alongside for context.
| Percentage | Letter | GPA points |
|---|---|---|
| 97–100% | A+ | 4.0 |
| 93–96% | A | 4.0 |
| 90–92% | A− | 3.7 |
| 87–89% | B+ | 3.3 |
| 83–86% | B | 3.0 |
| 80–82% | B− | 2.7 |
| 77–79% | C+ | 2.3 |
| 73–76% | C | 2.0 |
| 70–72% | C− | 1.7 |
| 67–69% | D+ | 1.3 |
| 63–66% | D | 1.0 |
| 60–62% | D− | 0.7 |
| 0–59% | F | 0.0 |
The standard US 7-point percentage scale used for the letter badge. Your institution may set its own cut-offs — check your module handbook for the boundaries that actually count.
| Overall % | UK classification |
|---|---|
| 70–100% | First (1st) |
| 60–69% | 2:1 — Upper second |
| 50–59% | 2:2 — Lower second |
| 40–49% | Third (3rd) |
| 0–39% | Below the honours pass mark |
UK honours bands for orientation. Most universities apply their own borderline and rounding rules at the margins, so treat these as indicative.
Three numbers that quietly break a hand calculation
Beyond the averaging trap itself, these are the slips that put students a band out when they total a grade on paper.
0/0
A placeholder worth zero points
An assessment worth 0 points — or a row where you typed a possible of 0 — would divide by zero by hand. This tool ignores any row with no points possible, so a placeholder for upcoming work never distorts or breaks the result.
79.33…
Rounding before the end
Round each step on paper and the errors compound; a grade that should read 79.3% can come out 79.0%. This tool computes at full precision and rounds once, at display — so it can differ by 0.1 from a rounded-as-you-go calculation, and it is the version that is right.
25 + 40
Mixing points with weights
If your module publishes weights, don't also add the raw points — you'd double-count. Use points mode for marks out of points and weighted mode for explicit weights, and never blend the two methods in a single calculation.
How it works
- 1
List your marked work
Add each assessment with the points you earned and the points it was out of. Use Points total when marks are out of raw points, or switch to Weighted when your module assigns a weight to each piece.
- 2
Read your overall grade
The headline updates live: your overall percentage plus its letter band, with running totals of points earned and points possible. Zero-possible and unmarked rows are ignored until you fill them in.
- 3
Plan the finish
Open Grade needed, enter the points still to come and the overall grade you want, and see the exact percentage you need on the rest — flagged honestly as achievable, already secured, or out of reach.
Grade Calculator — questions
How does this grade calculator work out my overall grade?+
In Points total mode it adds up every point you've earned and divides by every point available, then multiplies by 100. So 17/20 plus 38/50 plus 64/80 is (17+38+64) ÷ (20+50+80) × 100 = 119 ÷ 150 × 100 = 79.3%. It deliberately sums points rather than averaging each assessment's percentage, because averaging treats a 5-point quiz as mattering as much as an 80-point exam.
Why is summing points different from averaging percentages?+
Because each percentage has to be weighted by how much it was worth. Scoring 100% on a 5-point warm-up and 50% on a 95-point exam is (5 + 47.5) ÷ 100 = 52.5% by points — not the 75% you'd get by averaging the two percentages. Averaging quietly inflates small tasks into mattering as much as large ones, which is the single most common grade-maths mistake. This tool never does that.
When should I use weighted mode instead of points mode?+
Use weighted mode when your module publishes explicit weights — for example coursework 25%, mid-term 25%, final 40%. Each assessment is turned into its own percentage, then combined in proportion to those weights. Use points mode when work is simply marked out of points with no separate weighting. They only give the identical answer when every weight is exactly proportional to its points possible.
How do I find the grade I need on my remaining work?+
Switch to Grade needed mode, enter your graded assessments, the total points still to come, and the overall grade you want. The calculator banks your current points and solves for the average percentage you need across the outstanding points. For 80/100 and 45/50 already banked, 50 points left, and an 85% target, you need 90% on the rest — and it confirms that's achievable because a perfect score would reach 87.5%.
What does the letter next to my grade mean?+
It's the letter band your overall percentage falls into on the standard percentage scale: 93–96% is an A, 80–82% a B−, 70–72% a C−, and so on. It's there for quick orientation. Your own institution may set different cut-offs, so always check your module handbook for the exact boundaries that count toward your degree classification.
What happens if my target grade isn't reachable?+
The tool tells you plainly. If even a perfect score on everything left can't reach your target, Grade needed reports it as out of reach and shows your best possible result instead of printing a number above 100% you could never score. That honesty lets you reset to a realistic target, or check whether resit and capped-mark rules apply, before exam day.
Why does my hand-calculated grade differ by a fraction from this one?+
This calculator computes at full precision and rounds only once, at the very end. If you round each intermediate step by hand, those small roundings compound and can shift the result by around 0.1. Rounding only the final answer is the correct approach and is why the tool's figure is the one to trust.
Related tools
Final Grade Calculator
Work out exactly what you need on your final to hit the grade you want — or your grade so far from every assessment and its weight.
GPA Calculator
Work out your credit-weighted GPA from your module grades and credits, on the 4.0, 4.0 (+/−) or 4.3 scale, with letter or percentage entry.
Semester GPA Calculator
Work out each term's GPA and your credit-weighted GPA across every semester in one place.
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