WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Multiply each included percentage score by its course weight, add the contributions, then divide by the included weight. Check the weighting rules inside categories before entering a category score.
Start with the share of the course
An assessment worth 40% of your course contributes more to your final grade than one worth 10%. To combine them, multiply each score by its weight, add those contributions, and divide by the total included weight.
For example, 85% in coursework worth 40%, 92% in a midterm worth 30%, and 78% in a final worth 30% gives (85 × 40 + 92 × 30 + 78 × 30) ÷ 100 = 85%.
A missing score is not a zero
Before the final is marked, you only know the coursework and midterm scores. Their weights total 70%. Your average on that completed work is (85 × 40 + 92 × 30) ÷ 70 = 88%. That is your average so far; it is not a prediction of your final result.
Entering zero for the final instead gives 61.6% overall. Only enter zero if that is the score you intend to include. Leave unknown scores blank.
When assignments have different point totals
Suppose two quizzes belong to a quiz category worth 40% of the course. You score 9/10 on one and 45/90 on the other. If the category pools earned points, its score is (9 + 45) ÷ (10 + 90) × 100 = 54%. If both quizzes count equally, it is (90% + 50%) ÷ 2 = 70%. Those are different policies, not two ways of writing the same calculation.
With an exam score of 70% and an exam weight of 60%, the pooled-points policy gives 54 × 0.40 + 70 × 0.60 = 63.6%. Equal quiz weighting gives 70%. Read the syllabus or ask the lecturer which category rule applies. Do not give every quiz a 40% course weight: that would count the category twice.
| Assessment | Earned / possible | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Quiz 1 | 9 / 10 | 90% |
| Quiz 2 | 45 / 90 | 50% |
| Quiz category, pooled points | 54 / 100 | 54% |
| Quiz category, equal quizzes | Two equally weighted scores | 70% |
Use scenarios to understand the remaining assessment
Return to the example with a completed-work average of 88% over 70% of the course. The final contributes the remaining 30%. A final score of 60% produces 88 × 0.70 + 60 × 0.30 = 79.6% overall. At 75%, the overall result is 84.1%; at 90%, it is 88.6%. This gives a more useful planning range than treating the current 88% as a finished course grade.
For a completed course whose weights total 100%, improving an assessment score by 10 percentage points raises the overall result by its weight multiplied by 10: a 30%-weighted exam adds three overall percentage points. That sensitivity calculation does not predict what score you will earn. It helps you see the size of an assessment’s contribution.
A five-minute check before trusting the result
Write the assessment name, possible points and course weight on separate lines. Percentage scores and percentage weights are easy to confuse: a score of 18/20 is 90%, while its course weight might be only 10%. Use the score percentage in the mark field and the syllabus weighting in the weight field.
If your learning platform displays a different total, check whether it has grouped categories, excluded ungraded work, dropped a score, included a penalty or applied extra credit. Resolve that rule before changing an input merely to make the two totals agree.
- Convert raw marks to percentages before combining unlike point totals.
- Confirm whether categories pool points or average assignment percentages.
- Keep unknown marks blank; include zero only when it is the actual score.
- For a completed course, check that the intended weights sum to 100%.
- Keep an estimate clearly separate from the officially awarded result.
Check what your weights mean
Use the weights from your course assessment scheme. If all assignments count equally within a category, first calculate that category’s average, then apply its course weight. A category worth 30% does not mean that every assignment inside it is worth 30%.
This calculator combines the rows you enter. It does not automatically drop your lowest score, apply extra credit or infer category rules. If your course uses those rules, resolve them before entering the applicable scores and weights.
Keep the number separate from the letter grade
A calculated percentage does not by itself establish an A, a pass or a degree classification. Check your institution’s grading boundaries and rounding policy. Effikos shows the percentage without inventing those rules.
Something needs a closer look? Send us a correction.
