Example numbers. Type yours over them, or
Your grade so far can be a percentage or a letter. The final's weight is its share of the whole course in your syllabus.
Final grade calculator
What do I need on my final? Enter three numbers from your gradebook and syllabus.
Other setups: I already took the final · My final counts as a test · My lowest test is dropped · My class uses points · Part of my final is graded · I’m exempt from the final
A different final-exam setup
Replacement happens before dropping. The final itself can be dropped. Do not use this setup if your syllabus says otherwise.
The result is a percentage of the final exam. A bonus given as course percentage points goes in the last field below instead.
The answer is the average needed across the rest of the final. Use shares within the exam here, not shares of the whole course.
Letter scale: Common US plus/minus scale
The plus/minus cutoffs Wikipedia lists for US colleges: A+ from 97%, A 93, A- 90, B+ 87, B 83, B- 80 and so on down to D- at 60. It is not universal, so use your syllabus's cutoffs when they differ. Source: Wikipedia, “Academic grading in the United States”.
| Letter | Lowest % | Remove |
|---|
Each letter starts at its lowest percentage and runs up to the next letter.
Rounding and decimal places
Follow your syllabus. A displayed percentage can round up while the unrounded score stays below a cutoff.
Only changes how results are shown. Extra places appear when rounding would push a score over a letter cutoff.
A letter typed as a score counts as the lowest percentage for that letter on this scale. Use the original percentage when you have it.
Check a single cutoff with the grading scale calculator.
How this was worked out
87 × 0.7 + exam % × 0.3 + 0
| Target | Final needed |
|---|---|
| 85% | 80.34% |
| 90% | 97% |
| 95% | Out of reach |
Grading scales checked . Sources are at the bottom of the page.
How do you calculate the grade you need on your final?
Your current grade covers everything except the final. Multiply it by the share already completed, subtract that contribution from your target, and divide by the final's share.
Needed final = (target − current × (1 − final share)) ÷ final share
For example, an 87% current grade contributes 60.9 course points when the final is worth 30%. Reaching 90% takes another 29.1 points, so the final needs 97%.
In points mode, 371 points from 420 before a 100-point final needs 71 points on the final to reach 85%: (371 + 71) ÷ 520 × 100 = 85%. With 87% current, a 30% final and 40% of that final already earning 80%, a perfect score on the rest gives 88.5% overall.
For a final inside a test category, open “A different final-exam setup.” You can also enter course points or a final with some parts already graded.
Why a target can be out of reach
A lightly weighted final can only move your grade so far. With 70% so far and a final worth 10%, even a perfect final ends at 73%. A target of 90% would require 270% on that exam.
“Already secured” means even a zero meets the numeric target under the entered rules. It does not waive an exam, attendance rule or minimum passing score. Check the syllabus before deciding you can skip anything.
If a final is one test inside a category, the category weight is shared by those tests. It does not apply in full to each test.
What do I need on my midterm?
First decide which grade you mean: the one your gradebook shows right after the midterm, or your course grade at the end.
Right after the midterm: in “Final is worth”, enter the midterm's share of the work graded by then, not its share of the course. Say work worth 30% of the course is graded at 80% and the midterm is worth 20%: the midterm is 20 ÷ (30 + 20) = 40% of what will be graded. Enter 80, 85 and 40, and an 85% right after the midterm needs 92.5%, because (80 × 30 + 92.5 × 20) ÷ 50 = 85.
At the end of the course: enter the midterm's share of the whole course, 20%. The answer then assumes the rest of the course, including the work still to come, ends at your current average. With the same numbers, an 85% course grade would need 105% on the midterm, so it depends on doing better than 80% later. To plan the later work as well, enter each category in the class grade calculator and mark future scores as what-if scores.
Reading the ladder
The ladder shows one bar for each letter on your chosen scale. The bar's length is the final score that letter needs. A green “already yours” means even a zero on the final keeps that letter; a striped red bar means no score up to the highest possible can reach it.
Drag the “If I score” slider to see where any final score leaves your course grade. The letters use the scale and rounding set under “Letter scale”.