Final Grade Calculator
Calculate your weighted course grade from categories, find exactly what you need on your final exam to hit a target grade, or convert raw points into a percentage and letter grade.
Weighted Grade
82.9%
Letter Grade
B-
Total Weight Entered
100.0%
This calculator runs entirely in your browser. Letter-grade cutoffs shown here follow a common US scale — your instructor's syllabus is the final authority on how your course is actually graded.
How Weighted Grade Calculation Works
Final Grade = Σ(Category Score × Category Weight) ÷ Σ(Category Weight)Multiply each category's score by its weight, add those products together, then divide by the total weight. Dividing by the total weight used (rather than a fixed 100) means the result stays meaningful even mid-term, before every category has graded work in it.
Worked Example
Homework is worth 20% of the grade (scored 92%), Quizzes are worth 30% (scored 85%), and Exams are worth 50% (scored 78%).
- 92 × 20 = 1,840
- 85 × 30 = 2,550
- 78 × 50 = 3,900
- Sum: 1,840 + 2,550 + 3,900 = 8,290
- Total weight: 20 + 30 + 50 = 100
- Final grade: 8,290 ÷ 100 = 82.9% (B-)
These are the calculator's default values in the Weighted Categories tab above.
"What Do I Need on My Final?" — the Algebra
Your overall grade is a weighted blend of your current grade and your final exam score: Target = Current × (1 − Final Weight) + Required × Final Weight (weights as decimals). Solving for the required score isolates it on one side:
Required Score = (Target Grade − Current Grade × (1 − Final Weight)) ÷ Final WeightWorked Example
Current grade 84%, final exam worth 20% of the course, target overall grade 85%.
- 84 × (1 − 0.20) = 84 × 0.80 = 67.2
- 85 − 67.2 = 17.8
- 17.8 ÷ 0.20 = 89.0% needed on the final
Letter Grade Scale (Common US Convention)
There is no single universal letter-grade scale — many schools and instructors set their own cutoffs. This is the scale this calculator uses by default:
| Letter Grade | Percentage | GPA (4.0 Scale) |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | 97% + | 4.0 |
| A | 93% – 96.99% | 4.0 |
| A- | 90% – 92.99% | 3.7 |
| B+ | 87% – 89.99% | 3.3 |
| B | 83% – 86.99% | 3.0 |
| B- | 80% – 82.99% | 2.7 |
| C+ | 77% – 79.99% | 2.3 |
| C | 73% – 76.99% | 2.0 |
| C- | 70% – 72.99% | 1.7 |
| D+ | 67% – 69.99% | 1.3 |
| D | 63% – 66.99% | 1.0 |
| D- | 60% – 62.99% | 0.7 |
| F | 0% – 59.99% | 0.0 |
Common Mistakes & Edge Cases
- Category weights that don't add up to 100%A weighted grade only works out to the number you expect if the category weights sum to 100%. Forgetting a category, or entering a syllabus weight wrong, silently shifts the result — always add up your weights before trusting the output.
- Confusing points-based grading with percentage-based gradingSome courses grade every assignment as a percentage that gets weighted (e.g. Homework 20%, Exams 50%); others simply add up raw points earned out of total points possible across the whole term. Mixing the two — weighting a raw point total as if it were already a percentage — produces a meaningless number.
- "What do I need on my final" assumes the current grade excludes the finalThe required-final-score formula only works if the "current grade" you enter is your average of completed work with the final exam's weight excluded — not an overall grade that somehow already includes a placeholder final score. If your gradebook already factors in an assumed final score, back that out first.
- Reading an "impossible" result as a literal number to chaseIf the required final score comes out above 100%, that means the target overall grade cannot be reached through the final exam alone at that weight — it does not mean "try to score 110%." Likewise, a required score at or below 0% means the target is already locked in regardless of the final.