Free grade calculator. Work out your weighted class grade from assignments and exams, or find the score you need on the final to hit your target grade.
A grade calculator works out your weighted class average: multiply each score by its weight, add the results together, and divide by the total weight. To find the score you need on a final exam, use: Required = (Target ā Current Ć (1 ā w)) / w, where w is the final exam's weight as a decimal ā e.g. with a 75% average, a 40% final and an 80% target, you need 87.5% on the final.
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Grade Calculator
A grade calculator answers the two questions every student asks at some point in the semester: "what is my grade right now?" and "what do I need on the final to reach my target?" Both come down to the same idea ā the weighted average. In most courses, not every piece of work counts equally: homework might be worth 20% of the overall grade, a midterm 40%, and the final exam the remaining 40%. Your overall grade is each score multiplied by its share of the total.
The math is simple: multiply each score by its weight as a decimal, add everything up, and divide by the total weight. If your homework average (20% of the grade) is 90%, your midterm (40%) was 75%, and your project (40%) scored 85%, your weighted grade is 90 Ć 0.20 + 75 Ć 0.40 + 85 Ć 0.40 = 18 + 30 + 34 = 82%.
Weighted Grades
A simple average treats every score equally ā add them up and divide by the count. That only matches your real grade when every item carries the same weight, which is rare. In the example above, the simple average of 90, 75 and 85 is 83.3%, while the true weighted grade is 82%. The more uneven the weights, the wider that gap becomes.
The weighting effect cuts both ways. A brilliant score on a homework worth 5% barely moves your overall grade, while a weak result on a midterm worth 40% drags it down hard. Before deciding where to spend your study time, check the syllabus and see where the weight actually sits ā an hour spent preparing for a heavily weighted exam is worth many hours spent polishing low-weight assignments.
Final Exam
The most popular use of a grade calculator is working out the score you need on a final exam. The formula is: Required = (Target ā Current Ć (1 ā w)) / w, where w is the final exam's weight as a decimal. It works because your pre-final average contributes (1 ā w) of the overall grade, and the final contributes the remaining w.
Worked example: you are carrying a 75% average, the final is worth 40% of the grade, and you want to finish with 80%. Required = (80 ā 75 Ć 0.60) / 0.40 = (80 ā 45) / 0.40 = 87.5%. You need 87.5% on the final exam ā demanding, but possible with focused preparation.
If the result comes out above 100%, the target is mathematically out of reach ā no score on the final will get you there, so lower the target and aim for the best grade that is still attainable. If it comes out at 0% or below, congratulations: your target is already secured before you even sit the exam.
Common Mistakes
Weights that don't add up to 100%. Mid-semester this is expected ā you haven't been graded on everything yet, and this calculator normalizes by the total weight so the running average stays correct. But if your list is meant to cover the whole course and the total isn't 100%, a category is probably missing or a weight was mistyped, and the result will silently mislead you.
Mixing points and percentages. If your course is graded in points ā say 43 out of 50 on a quiz ā convert each score to a percentage first: 43 / 50 = 86%. And remember category rules like "lowest homework score dropped": apply them before averaging, or the grade you calculate will be lower than the grade you actually have.
Grading Systems
This grade calculator works in percentages because nearly every grading system maps onto them. In the US, 90ā100% is typically an A, 80ā89% a B, 70ā79% a C and 60ā69% a D, though exact cutoffs vary by school and instructor. Many European systems use numeric scales instead ā 1ā10 in the Netherlands, 2ā6 in Bulgaria, 1ā6 in Germany ā but individual course components are still combined the same way, with a weighted average.
For an average across whole courses rather than within a single course, use the GPA calculator, which supports US 4.0 and European scales with credit weighting. And if you want to measure how much you improved from one test to the next, the percentage calculator handles percentage change between any two scores.
Study Smarter
Copy the weights straight from the syllabus
Course syllabi state exactly how much each category is worth ā homework, quizzes, midterms, projects, final. Enter those weights once at the start of the semester, and every grade you add afterwards lands in the right proportion.
Make sure the total weight is 100%
When your list is meant to represent the whole course, the weights must sum to exactly 100%. The calculator warns you when they don't ā treat that warning as a prompt to re-check the syllabus, not something to ignore.
Update after every graded item
A running weighted average tells you early whether you are drifting away from your target grade ā while there is still time to fix it. Waiting until finals week to do the math removes all of your options.
Set your final exam target early
Use the final grade tab well before exam period. Knowing you need 65% on the final is a very different study plan from discovering you need 95% ā and finding out with a month to spare beats finding out the night before.
Prioritize by weight, not by deadline
It is tempting to work on whatever is due next, but a 40% exam deserves far more preparation than a 5% homework. Let the weights, not the calendar, decide where your limited study hours go.
Multiply each score by its weight (as a decimal), add the results together, and divide by the total weight. For example, if homework worth 20% averages 90%, a midterm worth 40% scored 75%, and a project worth 40% scored 85%, your weighted grade is 90 Ć 0.20 + 75 Ć 0.40 + 85 Ć 0.40 = 82%.
Mid-semester it's normal ā you simply haven't received all your grades yet, and the calculator normalizes by the total weight entered, so the running average is still correct. If the list is supposed to represent the entire course, though, a total other than 100% usually means a category is missing or a weight was mistyped, which will skew the result.
Use the formula: Required = (Target ā Current Ć (1 ā w)) / w, where w is the final's weight as a decimal. For example, with a current grade of 75%, a final worth 40%, and a target of 80%: (80 ā 75 Ć 0.60) / 0.40 = 87.5%. That is the score you need on the final exam.
It means your target grade is mathematically out of reach ā even a perfect score on the final exam would leave you short. In that case, lower the target until the required score drops to 100% or below to see the best overall grade you can still finish with, and focus your effort on securing that.
Yes ā just convert each score to a percentage first. Divide the points you earned by the points possible and multiply by 100: scoring 43 out of 50 on a quiz is 43 / 50 Ć 100 = 86%. Enter that percentage along with the item's weight and the weighted average works exactly the same.
In the most common US scale, 90ā100% is an A, 80ā89% a B, 70ā79% a C, 60ā69% a D, and below 60% an F, often with plus/minus steps in between. Cutoffs vary between schools and instructors, however, so always check your course syllabus ā some use 93% for an A or curve the results.