Weighted Grade Calculator
Work out your course grade when homework, tests and the final each count for a different percentage. The running weight total updates as you type.
Weights total: —
Weighted grade
—
Letter grade
—
Total weight
—
| Category | Your grade | Weight | Contributes |
|---|---|---|---|
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The contributes column is the useful one: it shows how many points of your final grade each category is actually delivering. A 95% in a category worth 10% contributes 9.5 points — less than a 70% in a category worth 40%, which contributes 28.
Related calculators
Grade Calculator
Add up points earned and points possible across assignments to get your course percentage and letter grade.
Final Grade Calculator
Find the score you need on the final exam, or the course grade a given final score will give you.
Grade Average Calculator
Average a list of grades and see the highest, the lowest and the resulting letter grade.
Weighted GPA Calculator
Add course-level bonuses for Honors, AP and IB classes and compare weighted GPA against unweighted.
How to use this calculator
- Take the categories and weights from your syllabus — "homework 20%, tests 50%, final 30%".
- Enter your current percentage in each category. If you only have points, work the category out with the Grade Calculator first.
- Watch the weight total. It should match your syllabus; if it does not, something is missing or duplicated.
- Choose how to handle categories that have not been graded yet.
How the calculation works
Each category contributes its grade multiplied by its share of the course. Add those contributions up and you have the course grade.
When the weights add to 100, the total weight in the denominator is 100 and the formula is the familiar one. When they do not — because the final has not happened yet — you have a choice, and the two answers are very different.
A worked example
| Category | Your grade | Weight | Contributes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homework | 92% | 20% | 18.4 |
| Midterm | 85% | 30% | 25.5 |
| Final | 78% | 50% | 39.0 |
| Total | — | 100% | 82.9 |
The course grade is 82.9%, a B- on a standard scale.
The 92% in homework barely moves it, because homework is only a fifth of the course. The 78% on a final worth half the grade is what pulls the average down. This is the single most useful thing a weighted calculation tells you: where your effort actually counts.
When your weights do not add up to 100%
Suppose only homework (20%) and the midterm (30%) have been graded — 50% of the course. The same grades give two legitimate answers:
| Question | Calculation | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| How am I doing on graded work? | (18.4 + 25.5) ÷ 50 | 87.8% |
| What if nothing else were graded? | (18.4 + 25.5) ÷ 100 | 43.9% |
Both are correct; they answer different questions. The first is what you want mid-term. The second explains why a gradebook sometimes shows an alarming number in week four — it is counting the ungraded half of the course as zero.
Important notes and limitations
Check the syllabus, not the gradebook
Online gradebooks vary in how they handle ungraded categories, dropped scores and extra credit. The syllabus states the weights; the gradebook is one interpretation of them at a point in time.
- Subcategories. If tests are 50% split across three tests, enter the test average as one 50% category rather than three separate ones.
- Dropped scores should be excluded when you work out the category average, not here.
- Extra credit can push a category above 100%, which the calculator allows.
- If you only want to know what you need on the final, the Final Grade Calculator answers that directly.
Frequently asked questions
My weights do not add up to 100%. What now?
That is normal part-way through a term, because some categories have not been graded yet. Choose "grade on the work completed so far" and the calculator divides by what you entered. Choose the other option to see what you would end with if nothing else were graded — a much lower number, and the one your gradebook sometimes shows.
What is the difference between weighted and points grading?
In a points course every assignment carries a point value and the weighting happens by itself. In a weighted course the syllabus fixes each category's share of the grade regardless of how many points are in it — so twenty homework assignments might still only be worth 15% between them. Use the Grade Calculator for a points course.
How do I find my grade for a category?
Work out that category on its own first — total points earned in it divided by total points available in it. The Grade Calculator will do that for you, then bring the percentage back here.
My weights add up to more than 100%. Why?
Almost always a category entered twice, or a subcategory counted alongside the parent it belongs to. Check the syllabus: the listed categories should total exactly 100%.
Does a category with no grades yet count as zero?
Only if you enter it as zero, or choose the full-100% option. Leaving it out entirely and using the completed-work option is usually what you want.
Guides that explain this
-
How to Calculate Weighted Grades
Turning a syllabus of percentages into a course grade, including what to do when your categories do not add up to 100%.
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How to Calculate Your Final Grade
Both directions of the final exam formula — the grade you will end with, and the score you need — plus when the target is out of reach.