Case 1
- Current course grade
- 78%
- Grade you want
- 80%
- Weight of the final exam
- 30%
84.7%
Open with these valuesFinal Grade Calculator
101.3%
Result: 101.3 %The answer is deliberately not capped at 100 %. If it reads 118, the grade you want is out of reach no matter how the exam goes — and knowing that before you sit it is worth more than a comforting number.
Worked examples
Case 2
- Current course grade
- 78%
- Grade you want
- 90%
- Weight of the final exam
- 30%
118.0%
Open with these valuesCase 3
- Current course grade
- 95%
- Grade you want
- 80%
- Weight of the final exam
- 20%
20.0%
Open with these valuesHow it's calculated
needed = (target − so far · (1 − g)) / g
- StepEnter your course grade so far.
- StepEnter the grade you are aiming for.
- StepEnter how much the final exam counts.
- ResultRead what the exam has to be; over 100 % means it cannot be done.
What this number means
Two things decide a course grade: what you have already done, and what the final exam does to it. This page turns that relation around and asks the more useful question — given where you stand and what the exam is worth, what does the exam itself have to score? The reasoning fits in a line. At the preset values the work already graded carries 70 % of the course, so 78 % so far contributes 54.6 points towards the final grade. A target of 85 therefore needs the remaining 30.4 to come out of an exam that carries 30 %, and 30.4 divided by 0.3 is 101.3 %. That shape is also why the required score reacts so sharply: the smaller the weight of the exam, the larger the number the same shortfall is divided by, which is why the calculator lets the answer run past 100 rather than capping it. What the page does not model is anything a syllabus does at the edges — rounding into letter grades, a dropped lowest score, extra credit, a curve applied afterwards. It compares percentages on one flat scale. The assumption that carries the most weight is the current grade you enter. It has to be the true weighted average of everything already marked, and it has to cover exactly the part of the course the exam does not. If work is still outstanding, the figure is not yet the one to type in here.
The result is not capped at 100 %
If it reads 118, the grade you want is out of reach no matter how the exam goes. Knowing that before you sit it is worth more than a comforting number.
The weight of the final matters most
The same 78 % so far and the same target of 85 % need 101.3 % when the final counts 30 %, but only 92 % when it counts 50 %.
Zero or below means the target is secured
At 90 % so far with a target of 85 %, the required score is 73.3 %, and a lower target drives it to zero. The target then holds whatever happens in the final.
Commonly misread
Over 100 % just means I need a very good exam.
It means the target is out of reach with that weight. Only a larger final weight or a lower target changes it, not a better exam.
I can enter my category weights here.
The calculator models exactly two parts: what is done and the final. Everything already graded has to be collapsed into one current percentage first.
My current grade matters more than the weight of the final.
The weight moves the required score more than anything else: 101.3 % with a 30 % final against 92 % with a 50 % final, from the same 78 % and target of 85 %.
Questions
How is the required score calculated?
The target minus what the course so far already contributes, divided by the weight of the final. At 78 % so far, a target of 85 % and a final worth 30 %, that is 101.3 %.
What if I need more than 100 %?
Then the target is out of reach with that weight — the example above is exactly that case. A larger final weight or a lower target is what changes it, not a better exam.
What does a result of 0 % or below mean?
The target is already secured whatever happens in the final. At 90 % so far with a target of 85 %, the required score is 73.3 %, and pushing the target lower drives it to zero.
How much does the weight of the final matter?
More than anything else. The same 78 % and target of 85 % need 101.3 % when the final counts 30 %, but only 92 % when it counts 50 %.
My course uses category weights, not a single final weight. Can I still use it?
Only if you first collapse everything already graded into one current percentage. The calculator models exactly two parts: what is done and the final.
Sources and last check
Information, not professional advice.