Test Grade Calculator
Enter your total questions or points and how many you got right (or wrong), and get the percentage, the letter grade, and a full grading chart in real time. Mark a quiz, problem set, or lab test in seconds — no submit button, no rounding surprises.
How are you counting?
Count whichever pile is smaller — the result is identical either way.
The whole paper you scored out of
How many you dropped
Your score
85.0%
Grade BThat's a B on the standard 7-point scale.
Correct
17
Wrong
3
Points dropped
15.0%
Your easy-grader chart
Every number wrong on your paper, the score it leaves, the percentage, and the grade — built live from your total, with your own row marked.
| # wrong | Score | Percentage | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 20 / 20 | 100% | A+ |
| 2 | 18 / 20 | 90% | A- |
| 4 | 16 / 20 | 80% | B- |
| 6 | 14 / 20 | 70% | C- |
| 8 | 12 / 20 | 60% | D- |
| 10 | 10 / 20 | 50% | F |
| 12 | 8 / 20 | 40% | F |
| 14 | 6 / 20 | 30% | F |
| 16 | 4 / 20 | 20% | F |
| 18 | 2 / 20 | 10% | F |
| 20 | 0 / 20 | 0% | F |
Large papers are sampled in even steps so the chart stays readable; your exact result still appears as the headline. Grades follow the standard US 7-point bands.
How many can you afford to miss?
A (90%)
2
misses max
1 over
B (80%)
4
misses max
1 to spare
C (70%)
6
misses max
3 to spare
Pass (60%)
8
misses max
5 to spare
Read this before the exam: it's your error budget. Each figure is the most questions you can drop and still land at or above that grade on your paper.
Turn the chart into a pre-exam plan
The easy-grader chart isn't just for marking afterward — read it the night before to know exactly how much margin each grade gives you.
The miss budget is your safety margin
On a 20-question paper, an A (90%) lets you miss 2; a B (80%) lets you miss 4; a C (70%) lets you miss 6. Knowing that going in changes how you triage: if two questions are worth ten minutes of fighting and you already have an A in the bank, that's your margin to spend elsewhere — or to bank.
A miss is one question, a point is a fraction of one
The budget counts whole questions because that's how you sit a test. On a paper of n questions, each one is worth 100 ÷ n percent, so the budget for a grade floor g is floor(n × (1 − g/100)). It rounds down — you can't “afford” 2.7 misses, only 2.
Points-based and half-mark schemes
Plenty of papers aren't one mark per question. Here's how to grade them correctly without the percentage drifting.
percentage = (points earned ÷ points possible) × 100
17.5 earned out of 20 possible
= (17.5 ÷ 20) × 100 = 87.5% → B+
Score in points, not question counts. A half-mark answer earns 0.5 of that question's points; 17.5 out of 20 is a perfectly valid figure and the percentage stays exact.
points possible = questions × points each
30 questions worth 2 points each
= 60 points total
When each question carries more than one mark, the ‘total’ on this tool is the points total — questions × points each — and you enter your score in those same points.
Don't mix the two units
The single most common batch-grading slip is entering a question count where a points total belongs (or vice versa). On a 30-question paper marked out of 60 points, the total is 60 and your score is in points — feed it 30 and the percentages double. Decide your unit once, then keep every number in it.
Rounding and the band boundaries
Where a percentage lands a grade can hinge on a fraction of a mark, so this tool is precise about the edges.
Rounding happens once, at the very end
The percentage is computed at full precision and only rounded for display. That's why 23/30 shows as 76.7%, not 76% — and why a grade you worked out by hand with rounded steps can differ from this one by a tenth of a point. Round once, at the end, and the band you land in is correct.
Bands are inclusive at the bottom
A band runs from its lower bound up to just under the next one. 90% is the floor of A− (90–92.999%), while 92.999% is still an A− and 93% tips into a straight A. If a single mark sits you right on a boundary, that mark is the difference between two grades — which is exactly why the chart is worth a look before you submit.
Your module's cut-offs may differ
This tool uses the standard US 7-point bands. Some modules set their own thresholds (A at 90% vs 93%, a 50% pass mark vs 40%). The percentage is the source of truth — read it off the chart, then apply your own band table where the cut-offs differ.
Reading the result honestly
What each part of the output means, so a borderline mark is never a surprise.
| You see | What it means | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage | Your correct points as a share of the total, at full precision. | A returned mark that disagrees by a point is usually a rounding or recording slip. |
| Grade | The 7-point band your percentage falls into (incl. +/−). | Near a cut-off, one question flips the letter — check the chart row above and below. |
| Points dropped | How many percentage points the misses cost you. | Equals 100 − your percentage; a quick sanity check on the score you typed. |
| Miss budget | The most questions you can drop and still hit each grade. | Rounds down to whole questions — never bank on a fractional miss. |
Recomputing from the raw score is the quickest way to catch a transcription error before it sticks to your transcript.
Where students trip up
Entering wrong when you meant correct
Counting 3 wrong on a 20-mark paper is 85%; entering 3 as ‘correct’ is 15%. Check the toggle matches the number you actually typed — the field label changes to remind you.
Dividing by the wrong total
The total must be the whole paper, not the marks remaining or the marks you lost. If a test is out of 40, the total is 40 — even if you only attempted 35 questions.
Mixing points and question counts
If the scheme uses points (and especially half-marks), enter points — not question counts — for both the total and the score, or the percentage will be off by the points-per-question factor.
Forgetting one mark can change the grade
Near a boundary, a single question is the whole difference between a B+ and an A−. The chart makes those boundaries visible so a borderline result is never a surprise.
Two ways to use this tool
A fast marking tool that doubles as a planning tool — for one paper or a whole stack.
Grade one test
Enter the total and how many you got right or wrong. You get the percentage, the letter, the points dropped, a gauge reading on the 0–100 scale, and the full easy-grader chart with your row marked — plus the miss budget for each grade. Every calculation is a shareable link you can save or print.
Batch grade a stack
Paste or upload a list of papers as Name, Score, Total and grade the whole pile in one pass — even with mixed out-ofs. You get a percentage and letter per paper plus a cohort summary: average, pass rate, and the spread from top to bottom. Copy the graded list straight out.
The exact maths, shown honestly
No magic — two short steps you could do by hand, kept at full precision.
percentage = (correct ÷ total) × 100
34 right out of 40
= (34 ÷ 40) × 100 = 85% → grade B
'correct' is the number you got right, 'total' is the whole paper. 85% sits in the 83–86.999% band — a clean B.
grade = the band the percentage falls into
76.7% → 73–76.999% band
= grade C
The letter is whichever band on the standard 7-point scale contains your percentage. Boundaries are inclusive at the bottom, so 73% is the floor of C.
How it works
- 1
Set the total
Enter the number of questions or points the whole paper is marked out of — the figure your score is a fraction of.
- 2
Enter your result
Flip the toggle to ‘Number correct’ or ‘Number wrong’ and type whichever you tallied first; the tool counts the rest for you.
- 3
Read your grade and chart
See your percentage, letter grade, and points dropped instantly, then scan the grading chart to see how much each question is worth.
Test Grade Calculator — questions
How do I turn a score out of a total into a percentage?+
Divide the number you got right by the total and multiply by 100. For example, 45 out of 60 is 45 ÷ 60 × 100 = 75%. This calculator does that the instant you type, then maps the percentage to a letter grade on the standard 7-point scale.
Should I enter the number I got right or the number I got wrong?+
Either — the toggle flips the maths so you only have to count one pile. After a paper it's usually faster to count your mistakes, so ‘Number wrong’ saves time; the result is identical to entering the correct count. The field label updates to confirm which one you're typing.
What letter grade does my percentage convert to?+
The tool uses the most widely adopted 7-point bands: A+ 97–100%, A 93–96.999%, A− 90–92.999%, B+ 87–89.999%, B 83–86.999%, B− 80–82.999%, C+ 77–79.999%, C 73–76.999%, C− 70–72.999%, and down through D and F below 60%. Your own module may set different cut-offs, so treat the percentage as the source of truth and apply your institution's band table where it differs.
How does the grading chart work?+
It builds a row for each number of questions wrong — from a perfect paper down to zero correct — showing the score it leaves, the percentage, and the grade. Your current result is highlighted. It's the classic ‘how many can I afford to miss?’ table, generated from your own total so the answers are exact for your paper.
Can I use it for points-based marking or half-marks?+
Yes. Set the total to the points available and switch the toggle to ‘Number correct’ to enter the points you earned, including fractional scores. For example, 17.5 out of 20 is 87.5%, a B+. Just don't mix point totals with question counts in the same calculation.
Why does my percentage differ slightly from one I worked out by hand?+
The calculator keeps full precision and rounds only at the end, so 23 out of 30 shows as 76.7% rather than the 77% you'd get from rounding mid-way. Rounding once, at the end, is what keeps the grade band correct — small differences against a hand calculation are the rounded steps, not an error here.
How many questions can I afford to get wrong for a particular grade?+
Read it straight off the grading chart before you sit the paper. On a 25-question quiz, for instance, the chart shows 1 wrong is 96% (an A) and 2 wrong is 92% (an A−), so your budget for a straight A is exactly one miss. Seeing the boundaries in advance turns a vague target into a concrete number of allowed mistakes.
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