How do I calculate my grade in Canvas?

In two stages. First, compute a percentage for each assignment group after that group's drop rules. Then combine the groups: if weighting is on, multiply each group percentage by its weight and add them up; if weighting is off, pool all earned and possible points. Blank work is excluded from the current grade, and excused work is excluded entirely.

How are assignment groups weighted in Canvas?

Each group has a weight set by the instructor. A weighted course multiplies each group percentage by its weight and adds the contributions. If a group has no graded work, Canvas removes it and divides the rest by their combined weight. A 0%-weighted group contributes nothing.

Does Canvas drop the lowest score?

Not exactly. Canvas drops the score or scores whose removal gives the best group percentage, and point value matters. In an official example, dropping a 65% item on a 100-point assignment beat dropping a 50% item on a 24-point assignment, giving 62 out of 74, or about 84%.

Why is my Canvas grade higher than I expected?

Usually because blank (ungraded) work is excluded from the current grade, which inflates the total, or because an excused assignment was removed from the calculation, or because a drop rule removed a low score. Switch to the total-grade view — ungraded counted as zero — to see the lower bound.

How do I check what I need on remaining work in Canvas?

Canvas's built-in What-If Grades lets you type hypothetical scores into individual cells, but it cannot solve for a target. Use the target solver on our Canvas Grade Calculator: enter a target percentage and it tells you the uniform score you need across all remaining work.

What grading scheme does Canvas use?

Canvas's default scheme starts A at 94%, then A− 90, B+ 87, B 84, B− 80, C+ 77, C 74, C− 70, D+ 67, D 64, D− 61, and F below 61. Institutions often replace the default, so confirm your course's cutoffs.

Calculate Your Grade in Canvas — Groups, Weights & Drops

The short answer

Canvas calculates your grade in two stages. First, it computes a percentage for each assignment group (Homework, Quizzes, Exams) after applying that group's drop rules. Then it combines the groups: if weighting is on, each group percentage is multiplied by its weight and the contributions are added; if weighting is off, all earned points are pooled and divided by all possible points.

Skip the manual math: the Canvas Grade Calculator models every rule below — drops, excused, blank, empty groups, current vs final, and target solving.

Step 1: Group your assignments

Open your course's Grades page in Canvas. Assignments are already organized into groups your instructor set up — for example, Homework (20%), Quizzes (30%), and Exams (50%). Write down each group's weight and every assignment's score and points possible. Note each assignment's status: a dash means blank (no grade yet), EX means excused.

Step 2: Compute each group's percentage

For each group, after applying its drop rules (Step 3) and removing excused items entirely, divide earned points by possible points.

Example. Homework group: three assignments scored 8/10, 9/10, and 10/10, with no drops. Group percentage = 27 ÷ 30 = 90%.

Step 3: Apply the drop rules — the part most people get wrong

If a group drops the lowest N scores, Canvas does not simply remove the lowest percentage. It removes the score(s) whose removal gives the best group percentage. Point value matters, because dropping a big assignment removes more points from both sides of the fraction.

Official example. Scores of 100% on 50 points, 65% on 100 points, and 50% on 24 points. Undropped: 127 ÷ 174 = 73%. Dropping the 65%-on-100 item gives 62 ÷ 74 = 83.8% — better than dropping the 50%-on-24 item. Canvas drops the 65% item.

Two more rules: only graded assignments can be dropped (a blank is never a drop candidate), and for all drops to apply, the group must hold at least 1 + dropped + never-drop graded scores.

Step 4: Combine the groups

Weighted course. Multiply each group percentage by its weight and add. Official example: groups at 75%, 98%, and 87% with weights 20%, 50%, and 30% give (0.75 × 0.20) + (0.98 × 0.50) + (0.87 × 0.30) = 90.1%.

Empty group. If a weighted group has no graded work, Canvas removes it and divides the rest by their combined weight. In the example above, if the 30% group were empty: [(0.75 × 0.20) + (0.98 × 0.50)] ÷ 0.70 = 91.43%.

Unweighted course. Pool everything: total earned ÷ total possible, after drops and exclusions.

Step 5: Know which total you're looking at

Canvas shows two totals. The current grade (checkbox “Calculate based only on graded assignments,” on by default) uses graded work only — blank work is excluded, which inflates the number. The total grade (checkbox off) counts ungraded work as zero. If your grade looks surprisingly high, you're probably looking at the current grade.

Blank vs missing vs excused vs zero

Status	Effect
Blank (dash)	Excluded from the current grade; counted as zero in the total-grade view
Missing	A label only — changes nothing by itself
Excused (EX)	Excluded from earned and possible points entirely
Zero	Counts fully: 0 earned out of the full points possible

Step 6: What you need on remaining work

Canvas's built-in What-If Grades lets you type a hypothetical score into a cell and watch the total change — but it can't solve for a target. For that, use the Canvas Grade Calculator: enter a target percentage and it solves for the uniform score you need across all remaining work, or tells you the target is unreachable.

For a single final exam instead of a whole course, the Final Grade Calculator does the same job with one exam's weight.

Common mistakes

Averaging group percentages without weights. A 90% in a 20% group and an 80% in an 80% group is not 85% — it's 82%.
Treating a blank as a zero. Blank work is excluded from the current grade; only the total-grade view counts it as zero.
Treating “Missing” as a zero. The label itself changes nothing — only an entered zero counts.
Assuming drop-lowest removes the lowest percentage. It removes the best-outcome scores; point value decides.
Forgetting empty groups. An ungraded group is removed and the rest renormalized — it doesn't count as zero.
Using the wrong grading scheme. Canvas's default starts A at 94%, but your institution may replace it.

Canvas grading scheme (default)

A 94 · A− 90 · B+ 87 · B 84 · B− 80 · C+ 77 · C 74 · C− 70 · D+ 67 · D 64 · D− 61 · F below 61. Institutions often replace the default — confirm your course's cutoffs. Compare letters on the Grading Scale page.

Sources

Rules in this guide come from Instructure's official Canvas guides: weighting the final course grade, assignment-group rules, viewing grades, What-If Grades, and grading schemes. This guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by Instructure or Canvas.

Calculate Your Grade in Canvas