Final Grade Calculator

This final exam calculator works backward from the grade you want. Your course grade after the final is a weighted average: your current grade counts for everything except the final, and the final counts for its own weight. So the score you need is the goal minus the part you already have, divided by the final's weight. Enter your current grade, the weight from your syllabus and the grade you want, and you get the exact score to aim for, plus the score needed for every letter grade at once. It works the same for high school and college finals.

Already took the exam? Switch to Grade after final, type your score and see the course grade it gives you. Does your class work differently? Under Change settings you can make the final count as a test, let it replace your lowest test, switch to a points class, or type your current grade as a letter or as points. If the result says out of reach, the table shows the best grade you can still finish with, so you can plan your study time around a goal that is really possible. Just trying to pass? Set your school's passing mark as the goal; the passing grade guide shows whether that is a D at 60%, a 70, or a C for your major.

That is the whole calculation by hand. Reverse it to find your grade after the final: course grade = current x (1 minus weight) + final score x weight. The same two lines handle a midterm, a semester exam or a state end of course test, because each is just an exam with a weight. Only know your grade as a letter or as points like 176/200? Set Current grade as to Letter or points: a letter reads as the middle of its band on your scale (a B on the 10 point scale is 85%), and 176/200 reads as 88%.

The same 83% going in can mean an easy final or an impossible one, depending on the weight. Here is the score you need for an 85% at each common weight, with the grade you would finish with after a 0 and after a 100. A heavier final is riskier, but it is also the only way to climb far. The calculator's details panel shows this table for your own grade and goal.

Find your grade going in on the left and read across to the score a final worth 20% asks for each goal.

Some teachers do not give the final its own slice of the grade. It goes into the Tests category, sometimes counted twice. Choose Counts as a test under Change settings and the calculator works out the final's real share for you: enter the tests weight, how many tests you have taken, their average and how many tests the final counts as.

Example: tests are 60% of your grade, you have 4 tests averaging 78, your grade is 82% and the final counts as 2 tests. The final then carries 60 x 2 / (4 + 2) = 20% of the whole grade, and every point it beats your test average by adds 0.2 points to your grade. For an 85%: 78 + (85 minus 82) / 0.2 = 93%. If the final counted as just 1 test it would carry only 12%, and the same 85% would take 103%, out of reach.

A common policy rewards a strong finish: if your final beats your lowest test, the final score takes that test's place, and the final still counts its own weight. Choose Also replaces my lowest test, enter the final's weight (0 if it only replaces), the tests weight and your test scores. The calculator shows the score you need with the replacement and what it would be without it.

Example: you have 84%, the final is worth 20%, tests are 50% of the grade and your four tests are 72, 88, 91 and 85. Without the replacement, an 88% needs 104%, out of reach. With it, a final above 72 also lifts your tests average by (final minus 72) / 4, so you need 93.33%. For an 85% the gap is smaller: 83.33% instead of 89%. If the score you need is not above your lowest test, nothing is replaced and the answer is the plain one.

If your teacher grades by total points instead of weighted categories, choose Points class under Change settings: enter the points you have earned, the points possible so far and what the final is worth.

Example: 631 of 700 points so far (90.14%) and a 150 point final, so the course totals 850 points and the final is 17.65% of it. A 90% needs 0.9 x 850 = 765 points, minus the 631 you have: 134 points on the final, 89.33% of it. An 80% needs only 49 points. Already took the final? Switch to Grade after final and type the points you scored.

A midterm calculator, a quiz or unit test calculator and an end of course calculator all ask one question: what does an exam with a known weight do to a known average? Enter your grade going in, the weight from your syllabus (midterms are often 10% to 20%, semester exams 10% to 25%, college finals 20% to 40%) and the grade you want. For a semester built from two quarters plus an exam, the semester grade calculator takes the quarter grades separately so you do not have to average them first.

State end of course exams follow their own rule. In Florida the EOC in Algebra 1, Geometry, Biology 1 and US History is 30% of the final course grade (Florida Department of Education, standard diploma requirements), so an 80% going in and a goal of 85% needs 96.67% on the EOC. Other states and districts set their own share, so check your syllabus.