Juan Monroy

All of my classes use a number of different assignments to calculate a student’s final grade. In some classes, all of the assessments—assignments and exams—are weighted equally. But most of the time, each assessment carries a different weight. Here’s how to calculate grades for both cases…

Assessments with Equal Weights

This is really easy. To calculate your final grade, simply average all the scores.

1. Make all scores percentages—out of 100 points—by dividing your score by the total number of points. For example, if you earned a 12 points on assessment with a total 15 possible points, your score is 12/15 = 80/100 = 80 points.
2. Average the percentages. If you’ve earned 80, 90, 82, 72, and 78 on five assessment, the average is calculated by adding the scores and diving that sum by 5 (the number of assessment): 80+90+82+72+78 = 402, then divide 402 by 5. The result in this example is 80.2.

Your final grade would be 80.2% or a low B letter grade.

Assessments with Different Weights

This requires multiplying each assessment score by the weighted percentage and then adding those results.

1. Make all scores percentages—out of 100 points—by dividing your score by the total number of points. For example, if you earned a 12 points on assessment with a total 15 possible points, your score is 12/15 = 80/100 = 80 points. The table above includes the scores already computed as percentages.
2. Multiply the scores by the weight of each assessment. For example, for Reading Quizzes in the table above, multiply the score 92 by 25%—which is 92 x .25 = 23 points. Do this for each assessment.
3. Add the points together. In the above example, the result is 23+13.2+16.8+18+16 = 87.

Your final grade is 87% which is a high B letter grade.

How to Calculate Your Grade in the Middle of the Semester

If you want to know your grade before you’ve finished all the assessment, you can project your grade based on the work you’ve completed. Using the table above, let’s say that you know the scores for the first three assessments, but not the essay or the final exam.

1. Multiply the scores by the weight of each assessment.
2. Add the points for the assessment you’ve completed. This would be 23+13.2+16.8 = 53 points.
3. Add the weights together for the assessments you’ve completed. For the first three assessments, the weights are 25+15+20 = 60.
4. Divide your earned points by sum of the weights of assessments you’ve completed. In this example, it would 53 / 60 = .883333…, or 88.333 / 100, 88.33%.

Your grade at this point is a 88.33% or a high B letter grade.