Final grade calculator

Your final grade is a weighted average of two parts: everything marked up to now, and the final exam. If the final is worth 40% of the course, the marks you already have are worth the other 60%.

Rearranging that for the score the final has to earn gives the number at the top of this page:

Weights are used as decimals in both, so a 40% final is 0.4. Two consequences follow, and they are the reason this page shows a best case and a worst case rather than a single number:

• The formula can return more than 100. That is not a score, it is proof that the target is unreachable. A lighter final exam weight makes this happen sooner, because there is less room left to move your average.
• The formula can return a negative number. That means your target is already secured no matter what happens in the exam hall.

Reachable. Current grade 80%, final worth 30%, target 85%. You carry 0.7 x 80 = 56 points into the exam, so the final has to supply 29 of the remaining 30, which is 96.67%. Demanding, but legal.

Impossible. Current grade 50%, final worth 20%, target 85%. You carry 40 points, and a perfect final adds only 20 more, so 60% is the ceiling. The formula says you need 225%, which is the polite way of saying no. Aim at the grade below instead.

Already secured. Current grade 95%, final worth 20%, target 70%. You carry 76 points, which is already past the target, so the required score is 0%. Worth knowing before you spend a week panicking about that paper rather than the one you could still lose.

What do I need on my final exam to pass?

Enter your current grade, the weight of the final exam, and the overall grade you are aiming for. The calculator returns the exact score the final has to earn. If that score is above 100 it says the target is out of reach and tells you the best grade still available to you.

What does current grade mean here?

It is your weighted average across everything that has already been marked, expressed as a percentage. If assignments, internals and quizzes make up 70% of the course and you are averaging 82% across them, your current grade is 82.

Where do I find my final exam weight?

It is in the course outline or syllabus, usually in the assessment breakdown table. If the final is described as worth 40 marks out of a 100 mark course, the weight is 40%.

Why do most final grade calculators show impossible numbers?

Because they print the raw result of the formula without checking it. A required score of 180% is arithmetically correct and practically useless. This page states plainly when a target cannot be reached and shows the highest grade you can still finish with.

What does it mean when the answer is 0%?

It means the grade you already carry into the exam is enough to hit your target even if you score nothing on the final. The page also shows the grade you are guaranteed at a zero, so you can see how much room you have.

Does this work for letter grades?

Work in percentages, then map the result to your institution's letter grade scale. Grade boundaries differ between universities, so converting for you would mean guessing at your scale.