Education
Grade Calculator
Calculate weighted academic grades and determine the score needed in an assessment to reach a target grade.
Calculate your course grade
Enter each assessment's score and contribution to your final grade. Add as many rows as your course requires.
Assessment weights represent each assessment's contribution to the final course grade. When all assessments are entered, their weights should total 100%.
Letter grades and percentage equivalents
A percentage score can be expressed as a letter grade to provide a convenient summary of academic performance. The following reference scale is used for interpreting the result of this calculator. Individual schools may apply different boundaries.
| Letter grade | Grade points | Percentage range |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | 4.3 | 97–100% |
| A | 4.0 | 93–96% |
| A− | 3.7 | 90–92% |
| B+ | 3.3 | 87–89% |
| B | 3.0 | 83–86% |
| B− | 2.7 | 80–82% |
| C+ | 2.3 | 77–79% |
| C | 2.0 | 73–76% |
| C− | 1.7 | 70–72% |
| D+ | 1.3 | 67–69% |
| D | 1.0 | 63–66% |
| D− | 0.7 | 60–62% |
| F | 0.0 | 0–59% |
A short history of academic grading
Educational institutions have used different methods to evaluate students over time. Some early systems relied on class rankings and descriptive categories, while others assigned numerical marks. These approaches reflected the traditions and assessment practices of individual schools.
During the nineteenth century, letter-based grading became increasingly established in formal education. Mount Holyoke College is commonly associated with the early adoption of a letter-grade system in 1887. Its original scale used A, B, C, D and E, with E representing failure. The failing category was later changed to F. Over time, letter grades became widely used, although their precise percentage boundaries remained different across educational institutions.
Other ways to evaluate academic performance
Letter grades make it easier to summarise and compare performance, but they do not always explain the quality of a student's work in detail. Written feedback, practical demonstrations, research projects and portfolios can provide a fuller account of what a student understands and can do.
These approaches also have practical limitations. Detailed assessments require time and consistent evaluation, particularly where an institution has large classes. For this reason, many educational settings combine numerical grades with comments and other forms of feedback. This can provide a useful balance between measurable achievement and individual learning development.
How to use this tool
Calculate weighted academic grades and determine the score needed in an assessment to reach a target grade. Enter your values, review the options and select the action button to see your result.
Important notes
The weighted course grade is the sum of each assessment score multiplied by its share of the final grade. Final-grade planning assumes the remaining assessment weight is the uncompleted portion of the course.