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Grade Calculator

Calculate your current course grade from assignment points. Enter one assignment or build a full points-based gradebook; blank rows are ignored.

Your assignments

Total-points grading: earned points ÷ possible points.

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Blank rows are ignored.

How to calculate a course grade

1. Enter each assignment score

For every completed assignment, enter the points you earned and the points possible. For example, 42 out of 50 points is entered as 42 and 50.

2. Let the calculator add the points

The calculator combines earned and possible points across your completed rows. A 10-point quiz and a 100-point exam therefore affect the result according to their point values.

3. Read your percentage and letter grade

Your percentage is the total earned points divided by the total possible points, multiplied by 100. The default letter-grade reference is shown on the Grading Scale page.

Grade % = Total Points Earned ÷ Total Points Possible × 100

Need help choosing the right method? Read How to Calculate Your Current Grade for a points-vs-weighted walkthrough.

Different category weights? Use the Weighted Grade Calculator when homework, quizzes, exams, projects, or participation have separate percentage weights.

Important: grading scales vary

There is no single universal percentage-to-letter policy. Check your syllabus or instructor's grading scale before treating the letter grade as official.

Keep going. Related guide: Total points vs. weighted grades.

Where letter grades actually came from

Grading a course wasn't always a percentage-and-letter system. Yale's president Ezra Stiles was recording student rankings in Latin as early as 1785 — "optimi," "second optimi," "inferiores," and "pejores" — a rough best-to-worst scale rather than a number. Harvard graded on a 1–200 point scale for most of the 1800s (1–100 for math and philosophy), and the earliest letter grade on record anywhere in the US was a B, given to a Harvard student in 1883.

The letter-grade system familiar today traces to Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, which introduced an A-through-E scale in 1897 — not 1887, a date that gets repeated incorrectly on a surprising number of grade-calculator sites; Mount Holyoke's own library archives confirm 1897. The original scale was uneven: A covered 95–100%, B and C each covered wider 10-point bands, and D meant exactly 75% — anything below that was an E for "failed." A year later, Mount Holyoke replaced E with F and rebalanced the ranges, closer to the scale most schools use now. The system spread to other colleges over the next two decades, and F stuck around for the same reason most schools still skip the letter E today: E looked too easy to misread as "excellent."

Why total-points and weighted grading can give different answers on the same scores

Here's a comparison that catches a lot of students off guard: the same raw scores can produce two different final grades depending on which method your syllabus uses.

Total-points method: a 20-point quiz scored 18/20, and a 200-point exam scored 170/200. Combined: (18+170) ÷ (20+200) = 188 ÷ 220 = 85.5%.

Weighted method: the same two scores, but the syllabus instead says quizzes are 30% of the grade and exams are 70%, regardless of point totals. Quiz percentage is 90%, exam percentage is 85%. Weighted result: (90×30 + 85×70) ÷ 100 = (2,700 + 5,950) ÷ 100 = 86.5%.

A full point difference, from the exact same two scores — because total-points grading let the 200-point exam dominate the result (it's worth ten times the quiz), while the weighted syllabus explicitly capped the exam's influence at 70%. Neither number is "wrong"; they're answers to two different questions. This is why checking your syllabus for the words "weight" or "percentage breakdown" before trusting any grade calculator matters more than which calculator you use.

Percentage, letter grade, and GPA — quick reference

PercentageLetter4.0 GPA point
97–100%A+4.0 (some schools: 4.3)
93–96%A4.0
90–92%A−3.7
87–89%B+3.3
83–86%B3.0
80–82%B−2.7
77–79%C+2.3
73–76%C2.0
70–72%C−1.7
67–69%D+1.3
63–66%D1.0
60–62%D−0.7
Below 60%F0.0

This table is a common US reference, not a universal rule — some schools set the passing threshold at 70% instead of 60%, some skip minus grades entirely, and A+ is worth 4.3 on some scales and capped at 4.0 on others. Your syllabus or registrar's published scale always overrides a general reference like this one.

How a grade calculator works, and why your method matters

A grade calculator does one thing: it divides the points you earned by the points possible, then converts that decimal into a percentage and a letter grade. Every calculator on this page runs the same formula.

Current Grade % = Total Points Earned ÷ Total Points Possible × 100

What trips most students up is not the math but the method. There are two grading systems in common use, and they can produce different results from the same raw scores.

Total-points grading

Every assignment is worth its exact face value in points. A 100-point exam naturally carries ten times the influence of a 10-point quiz. You add all the earned points, divide by all the possible points, and get one number. This is what our Grade Calculator computes by default.

Weighted grading

Your syllabus assigns a fixed percentage to each category, like homework 20% and exams 50%, regardless of how many internal points each assignment is worth. A 10-point quiz in the "homework" category still carries 20% of the course grade if that is what the syllabus says. For this method, use our Weighted Grade Calculator.

A side-by-side example

Say you scored 18 out of 20 on a quiz and 170 out of 200 on an exam.

MethodCalculationResult
Total points(18+170) ÷ (20+200) × 10085.5%
Weighted (quiz 30%, exam 70%)(90%×30 + 85%×70) ÷ 10086.5%

Same scores, different numbers. Check your syllabus for the word "weight" or a percentage breakdown before deciding which calculator to use.

How one new assignment changes your grade

In a total-points class, adding a new assignment shifts your grade toward that assignment's own percentage, proportional to how many points it is worth.

Say your current grade is 89% on 300 possible points: you have earned 267 points. A new quiz worth 25 points comes back at 18 (72%). Your new grade is (267+18) ÷ (300+25) = 285 ÷ 325 = 87.7%. The quiz was below your existing average, so it pulled the grade down.

A useful rule of thumb: the higher the point value, the more any single score moves the needle. A 100-point final in a class where you have accumulated 300 points so far can shift your grade by as much as 25 percentage points in either direction. Our What-If Grade Calculator lets you test a specific hypothetical score before the assignment is graded.

Adding extra credit

Extra credit adds to points earned without adding to points possible. Say you earn 3 bonus points on top of your 18-out-of-25 quiz. Your score becomes 21 ÷ 25 = 84% for that assignment. If the extra credit is course-level, add those points to your running total earned while keeping the total possible the same. Our guide on how extra credit changes your grade covers the three common methods in detail.

How to read your result: percentage, letter, and GPA

Once you have a percentage, two conversions follow: to a letter grade and, if you need it, to a GPA point value. Both conversions depend on your school's specific scale, so the table below is a common US reference, not a universal rule.

PercentageLetter4.0 GPA pointNotes
97–100%A+4.0 (some schools 4.3)Not all schools award A+
93–96%A4.0
90–92%A−3.7
87–89%B+3.3
83–86%B3.0
80–82%B−2.7
77–79%C+2.3
73–76%C2.0
70–72%C−1.7
67–69%D+1.3
63–66%D1.0
60–62%D−0.7
Below 60%F0.0Passing threshold is 70% at some schools

Check your school's official grading policy before relying on this table for anything consequential. Our Grading Scale page lists common regional and institutional variations, and our guide on how to calculate your current grade explains when to use total points versus weighted categories.

Common questions about calculating a grade

What if I want to plan ahead?

Two tools cover the planning side. The What-If Grade Calculator lets you test a hypothetical score before it is entered in your gradebook. The Final Grade Calculator tells you exactly what you need on your final exam to reach a specific course grade.

What if my class uses weighted categories?

Use the Weighted Grade Calculator instead. Enter each category's percentage and your score in that category. For a full walkthrough of the formula, see the guide on how to calculate a weighted grade.

What if the calculator result does not match my gradebook?

The most common reason is a method mismatch: your gradebook uses weighted categories but you calculated using total points, or vice versa. A second common reason is that your gradebook drops a lowest score or applies a curve that is not visible from your side. Treat the calculator result as a check, and confirm anything grade-critical with your instructor or syllabus.

Grade Calculator FAQs

What is a grade calculator?

A grade calculator combines the scores in a course and turns them into a current percentage and letter-grade reference.

Does a 10-point quiz count the same as a 100-point exam?

Not in a total-points class. The exam contributes more because it contains more possible points. A weighted class should use category weights instead.

Why are blank rows ignored?

Blank rows make it easy to start with a clean calculator and add assignments one at a time without accidentally counting empty entries as zeroes.

What letter grade is 75%?

On the common US reference scale, 75% falls in the C range (73–76% = C). Some schools use a stricter or looser cutoff — check your syllabus, since a 75% is a C+ on some scales and a straight C or even a B− on others.

Is 60% a passing grade?

On the common reference scale, 60–62% is a D−, which is technically passing (D− and above). Many colleges require a C or higher in prerequisite or major courses regardless of the general passing threshold, and some schools set their own minimum passing grade at 70% instead of 60% — always check your specific institution's policy.

What GPA is a B+?

A B+ is typically 3.3 on a standard 4.0 GPA scale, corresponding to roughly 87–89%. Weighted GPA scales (for honors, AP, or IB courses) can award more — sometimes 4.3 — for the same letter grade.

What is the lowest passing grade?

On the common reference scale, D− (60–62%) is the lowest passing grade before F. Many schools instead treat anything below a C (73%) as unsatisfactory for major or prerequisite requirements even though it technically isn't a failing grade campus-wide — the "lowest passing grade" genuinely depends on your specific program's policy.