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Different question values? Add their points first. Extra credit can take the score above 100%.
What is 42 out of 48 as a percentage?
42 out of 48 (42/48) is 87.5%, a B+ on the common US plus/minus scale.
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.
Grading scales checked . Sources are at the bottom of the page.
The fraction, decimal and missing points
42/48 = 7/8 = 0.875
Divide 42 earned points by 48 possible points, then multiply by 100 to get 87.5%. 48 − 42 = 6 points missed.
Or count by points: each point is worth 100 ÷ 48 ≈ 2.0833%, so 42 × 2.0833 ≈ 87.5%.
The letter above uses the common US plus/minus scale. Your class may set other cutoffs: open “Letter scale” above to choose another scale or enter your own. For the general method, see how to turn points into a percentage.
What does one more point change?
| Points earned | Percentage | Points missed |
|---|---|---|
| ≈ 85.42% | 7 | |
| 42 out of 48 | 87.5% | 6 |
| ≈ 89.58% | 5 |
≈ means rounded to 2 decimal places.
One point changes this score by 2.0833 percentage points. The denominator stays 48.