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What Is a Weighted Score?

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After you've finished taking a test, and your teacher hands back your test with a grade you're certain is going to take you from a C to a B on your final score, you probably feel elated. When you get your report card back, however, and discover that your grade is in fact still a C, you may have a weighted score or weighted grade in play.

So, what is a weighted score? A weighted score or weighted grade is merely the average of a set of grades, where each set carries a different amount of importance.

How Weighted Grades Work

Suppose at the beginning of the year, the teacher hands you the syllabus . On it, he or she explains that your final grade will be determined in this manner:

Percentage of your grade by category

• Homework: 10%
• Quizzes: 20%
• Essays: 20%
• Midterm: 25%

Your essays and quizzes are weighted more heavily than your homework , and both your midterm and final exam count for the same percentage of your grade as all of your homework, quizzes and essays combined, so each one of those tests carries more weight than the other items. Your teacher believes that those tests are the most important part of your grade! Hence, if you ace your homework, essays and quizzes, but bomb the big tests, your final score will still end up in the gutter.

Let's do the math to figure out how the grading works with a weighted score system.

Student Example: Ava

Throughout the year, Ava has been acing her homework and getting A's and B's on most of her quizzes and essays. Her midterm grade was a D because she didn't prepare very much and those multiple-choice tests freak her out. Now, Ava wants to know what score she needs to get on her final exam in order to get at least a B- (80%) for her final weighted score.

Here's what Ava's grades look like in numbers:

Category averages

• Homework average: 98%
• Quiz average: 84%
• Essay average: 91%
• Midterm: 64%

To figure out the math and determine what kind of studying efforts Ava needs to put into that final exam , we need to follow a 3-part process.

Set up an equation with Ava's goal percentage (80%) in mind:

H%*(H average) + Q%*(Q average) + E%*(E average) + M%*(M average) + F%*(F average) = 80%

Next, we multiply the percentage of Ava's grade by the average in each category:

• Homework: 10% of grade * 98% in category = (.10)(.98) = 0.098
• Quiz average: 20% of grade * 84% in category = (.20)(.84) = 0.168
• Essay average: 20% of grade * 91% in category = (.20)(.91) = 0.182
• Midterm: 25% of grade * 64% in category = (.25)(.64) = 0.16
• Final: 25% of grade * X in category = (.25)(x) = ?

Finally we, add them up and solve for x:

• 0.098 + 0.168 + 0.182 + 0.16 + .25x = .80
• 0.608 + .25x = .80
• .25x = .80 – 0.608
• .25x = .192
• x = .192/.25
• x = .768
• x = 77%

Because Ava's teacher uses weighted scores, in order for her to get an 80% or a B- for her final grade, she'll need to score a 77% or a C on her final exam.

Weighted Score Summary

Many teachers use weighted scores and keep track of them with grading programs online. If you're unsure about anything related to your grade, please go talk with your teacher. Many educators grade differently, even within the same school! Set up an appointment to go through your grades one by one if your final score doesn't seem right for some reason. Your teacher will be glad to help you out! A student who is interested in getting the highest possible score he or she can is always welcome.

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• Grade Calculators

Weighted Grade Calculator

Assignments

Assignment 1

Assignment 2

Assignment 3

Assignment 4

Assignment 5

Assignment 6

Assignment 7

Assignment 8

Assignment 9

Assignment 10

Your Grade Average:

To determine what grade you need to get on your remaining assignments (or on your final exam), enter the total weight of all of your class assignments (often the total weight is 100). Then enter the desired grade you would like to get in the class.

Enter Desired Grade

Enter Class Total Weight

Instructions

You can use the calculator above to calculate your weighted grade average. For each assignment, enter the grade you received and the weight of the assignment. If you have more than 10 assignments, use the "Add Row" button to add additional input fields. Once you have entered your data, press the "calculate" button and you will see the calculated average grade in the results area.

If you want to calculate the average grade you need on your remaining assignments (or on your final exam) in order to get a certain grade in the class, enter the desired grade you would like to get in the class. Then enter the total weight of all your class assignments. Often the total weight of all class assignments is equal to 100, but this is not always the case. Press either the “Calculate” button or the “Update” button and you will see your average grade for the class and the results will be displayed in the results area.

Video Instructions

How to calculate weighted grade average?

• First multiple the grade received by the weight of the assignment. Repeat this for each completed assignment.
• Then add each of the calculated values from step 1 together.
• Next add the weight of all the completed assignments together.
• Finally, divide the calculated value from step 2 above by the value calculated from step 3. This gives you the weighted grade average.

Weighted Grade Formula

Weighted Grade = (w 1 x g 1 + w 2 x g 2 + w 3 x g 3 + …) / (w 1 + w 2 + w 3 + …)

Example Calculation

Here is an example. Let's say you received a 90% on your first assignment and it was worth 10% of the class grade. Then let's assume you took a test and received an 80% on it. The test was worth 20% of your grade.

To calculate your average grade, follow these steps:

• Multiple each grade by its weight. In this example, you received a 90% on the first assignment and it was worth 10%. So multiply 90 x 10 = 900. You also received an 80% on the test and it was worth 20% of the class grade. So multiply 80 x 20 = 1600.
• Add the calculated values from step 1 together. We now have 900 + 1600 = 2500.
• Add the weight of all the completed assignments together. To do this, add 10% for the first assignment and 20% for the second assignment. That gives us 10 + 20 = 30.
• Finally, divide the value from step 2 by the value from step 3. That gives us 2500 / 30 = 83.33. Therefore our weighted grade average is 83.33%.

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A Step-by-Step Guide to Calculating Weighted Grades: Understanding the Importance of Accurate Calculation

Introduction

As a student, understanding your grades is crucial to your academic success. It’s not enough just to know that you received an A in a class, as it’s important to know how you achieved that grade. One way that grades can be calculated is through weight, which gives certain assignments more “value” than others. Understanding how this system works, and accurately calculating your weighted grades is important as it can have a significant impact on your overall GPA.

Step-by-Step Guide to Calculating Weighted Grades

Weighted grading is a system where each assignment is given a certain percentage “weight,” which is used to calculate the final grade. For example, if you have an English class, your teacher might give your papers a higher weight than homework assignments.

The steps to calculating weighted grades are similar regardless of the assignment type. First, determine the weight of each assignment. This percentage value is then multiplied by the grade achieved in that assignment. Once the grades for each assignment are calculated, you add all of them together and divide the total by the sum of the percentages to get the final weighted grade.

Here’s an example to make it clearer. Suppose a student has a math class that is made up of quizzes (20%), tests (40%), and a final exam(40%). The student gets an 85% on quizzes, an 80% on tests, and an 89% on the final exam. To calculate the student’s final weighted grade, we multiply the percentage weight of each assignment with the grade received:

Quizzes: 20% × 85 = 17

Tests: 40% × 80 = 32

Final Exam: 40% × 89 = 35.5

Total: 84.5

The final grade, therefore, is 84.5%.

Different Methods of Assigning Weights to Different Types of Assignments

While the percentage weighting system is the most common method, there are different ways of assigning weights to assignments. One approach is by category, such as homework, exams, or projects. Another way is by type, such as essays, multiple-choice questions or presentations.

In either case, it’s important to understand how the weights assigned to each assignment type impact the final grade. For example, if you have an English class and your teacher assigns weights of 60% to papers and 40% to quizzes, your papers will have a more significant impact on the final grade than your quizzes. As such, doing well on your papers is crucial if you want to achieve a high final grade.

Common Mistakes Made When Calculating Weighted Grades

Unfortunately, students often make mistakes when calculating their weighted grades. One common mistake is forgetting to calculate the total percentage weight of all assignments, resulting in an inaccurate calculation of the final weighted grade. Another common mistake is incorrect multiplication or addition of grades.

To avoid these mistakes, it’s important to double-check your calculations and be aware of the weight of each assignment as well as keeping an updated grade book.

Staying Organized and Tracking Progress

To ensure accurate calculation of weighted grades students need to track their grades throughout the semester. It’s important to keep track of the weights assigned to each assignment and to record grades accurately. Students can use grade trackers like Google Sheets or Excel to help navigate and track their grades throughout the year.

Tracking grades can help students notice which assignments are the most heavily weighted, allowing them to prioritize their study habits accordingly. By staying organized and on top of their grades, students can also feel more confident in their ability to calculate weighted grades accurately.

Using Weighted Grades to Your Advantage

Understanding weighted grades can benefit students as it can help them prioritize their assignments. Students can focus on the most heavily weighted assignments and then spend more time on the assignments that would significantly impact their overall grade.

Moreover, if a student receives a low grade on an important assignment, this means there is still room for improvement in the grade by prioritizing upcoming important assignment and seeking extra credit options to help boost their grade.

Accurately calculating weighted grades is essential to a student’s academic success. By understanding the weight of each assignment and calculating their grades accurately, students can prioritize and improve their study habits, leading to improved grades and a better understanding of their abilities. It’s essential for students to keep track of their grades and ask for help from teachers or tutors if needed.

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Weighted Grades

Weighted grades are number or letter grades that are assigned a numerical advantage when calculating a grade point average , or GPA. In some schools, primarily public high schools, weighted-grade systems give students a numerical advantage for grades earned in higher-level courses or more challenging learning experiences, such as honors courses , Advanced Placement courses, or International Baccalaureate courses. In many cases, the terms quality points or honor points may be used in reference to the additional weight given to weighted grades. In the case of students who have completed courses considered to be more challenging than regular courses, the general purpose of a weighted grade is to give these students a numerical advantage when determining relative academic performance and related honors such as honor roll or class rank .

In some weighted-grade systems, for example, a grade in a higher-level course may have a “weight” of 1.05, while the same grade in a lower-level course has a weight of 1.0. In this system, a grade of 90 in an honors course would be recorded as a 94.5 or 95, while a 90 in a similar “college-prep” course would be recorded as a 90. An alternate system might add five “quality points” to grades earned in honors courses (90 + 5 = 95) and eight quality points to all grades earned in Advanced Placement courses (90 + 8 = 98). In another variation, an A in a higher-level course may be awarded a 5.0, for example, while an A in a lower-level course is awarded a 4.0. Lower grades in weighted courses would also receive the same one-point advantage—a grade of C, for example, would be assigned a 3.0, while a C in a regular course would be assigned a 2.0. In yet another variation, .33 may be added to all grades earned in Advance Placement courses, so that an A (4.0) would be recorded as a 4.33. While the examples above represent a few common formulations, grading systems and GPA scales may vary significantly from one school or school district to the next.

Given that weighted-grade systems may be calculated in dramatically different ways from school to school, reporters should investigate how weighted grades are calculated, what rationale is being used to support them, and what advantages or disadvantages may result for students.

While the term weighted grades typically refers to the practices described above, it is important to note that weighting may also refer to different levels of “weight” given to particular assignments within a course. For example, a final test may be given more “weight” in determining a course grade—say, 20 percent of the final grade—than an individual homework assignment, which may reflect only a small percentage of the final grade

In addition, some colleges and universities may ask high schools to provide both weighted and unweighted GPAs on student transcripts so that admissions offices can evaluate the differential effect of weighted grades—i.e., how certain course selections and weighted grades affected the GPA calculation.

The fundamental rationale for weighting grades is that the practice provides an incentive for students to challenge themselves academically. By assigning greater value to grades earned in more challenging courses, weighted grades remove a potential disincentive posed by tougher courses—i.e., students worrying that a lower grade in a tougher course might adversely affect their GPA or class rank. In addition to providing incentives to students, advocates may argue that weighted grades deservedly reward students who take tougher courses, recognize higher levels of academic accomplishment, and provide a more fair or balanced system of grading in schools with multiple academic tracks.

Critics of the practice tend to make the following arguments:

• Weighted grades discourage students from taking certain classes that may be educationally valuable but that may present a numerical disadvantage when calculating GPA and class rank. Art and music classes are rarely weighted, for example, so students may not consider art and music courses out of fear that such courses will adversely affect their GPA and class standing.
• Weighted grades are not academically meaningful unless the grades are based on a single set of learning standards that are evaluated consistently from course to course. In other words, unless schools can verify that a grade of A in one course actually represents greater academic accomplishment than an A earned in another course, the use of weighted grades can be misleading. For example, it’s possible that a course labeled “college prep” may actually be more challenging than a course labeled “honors.”
• Weighted grades may actually act as disincentives, rather than incentives, for students. While weighted grades may make challenging courses seem less “risky” to students, it’s also possible that students, once enrolled in the course, may not work as hard because they know that a lower grade is worth as much as a higher grade in another course. In addition, students enrolled in lower-level courses know that their efforts are being assigned less value by the grading system, so even if a student works hard and earns a good grade in a college-prep course, that effort will still be assigned a lower value than grades earned by students in higher-level courses.
• Weighted grades can devalue certain courses and reinforce cultural divisions within a school. Because both teachers and students know that lower-level courses are assigned a lower value, the practice of weighting grades reinforces the prestige associated with higher-level courses and the stigma associated with lower-level courses—for both teachers and students. Consequently, teachers may not want to teach lower-level courses, and students may feel embarrassed or ashamed to take them.
• Weighted grades create opportunities for students to manipulate the grading process. In this view, weighted grades focus students on superficial outcomes—peer completion and higher numerical scores—rather than on more substantive outcomes, such as mastering new skills, exploring new ideas, learning from failure, or enjoying and appreciating the learning process, for example.

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Use Weighted Assignment Groups in Your Canvas Course

by Thomas Keith | Aug 26, 2022 | Canvas , Canvas Features/Functions , How-tos , Pedagogy

Introduction

• Create an Assignment Group

Weight Assignment Groups

Use weighted assignment groups to calculate the total grade, drop a low score from an assignment group, further resources and getting help.

It is good pedagogical practice to maintain a Canvas Gradebook that gives an accurate reflection of your students’ performance. Students frequently consult their grades in Canvas to get a sense of how they are doing in your course and of areas in which they need to improve. You can use weighted Assignment Groups in your Canvas course to help ensure that the grade calculated by Canvas is indicative of students’ actual performance.

Create An Assignment Group

An Assignment Group in Canvas is a means of sorting assignments according to the categories to which they belong in your syllabus. By default, new assignments created in your Canvas course will be added to a catch-all group called Assignments . (Note that “assignments” in this context refers to anything that is graded; this can be an Assignment proper, a Quiz, or a graded Discussion.)

You can create a new Assignment Group by going to the Assignments tab in your course and clicking the gray +Group button at the upper right.

It is a good idea to give your group a name that reflects the assessment categories on your syllabus. For example, if the group contains quizzes that are given each week of the quarter, you might call it Weekly Quizzes .

Once a group has been created, there are two ways to add assignments to it:

Assignment Groups are most useful when used to weight grades. With weighted Assignment Groups, you can make the organization of your assignments in Canvas match the organization used on your syllabus. You also have greater flexibility than is offered by weighting each individual assignment: if an assignment needs to be dropped or added, you can simply remove it from/add it to the appropriate assignment group, and Canvas will automatically recalculate the final grade accordingly.

For the remainder of this post, we will use as an example a course in which the grading is as follows:

• Five short quizzes: 20% of the final grade
• One midterm exam: 30% of the final grade
• One final exam: 40% of the final grade
• Attendance and participation: 10% of the final grade

To begin, the instructor creates four assignment groups, named Short Quizzes , Midterm , Final Exam , and Attendance and Participation .

She then clicks the column of three dots at the upper right and chooses Assignment Groups Weight .

She then checks the box next to Weight final grade based on assignment groups . This allows her to set the percentage weight for each assignment group.

Note that Canvas shows the instructor that the assignment groups add up to 100%. It is important to check this, as Canvas will not stop you if your groups add up to less than or greater than 100%.

Once the instructor has weighted her groups to her satisfaction, she clicks the maroon Save button. Canvas then indicates across from each assignment group’s name the percentage value of the total grade that it carries.

The instructor can now create her assignments and add them to the appropriate assignment groups by one of the two methods enumerated above.

An important caveat: If an assignment group contains more than one assignment, it is important that all assignments have the same point value for Canvas’ math to work out correctly. This avoids the risk of “double weighting,” which will occur if assignments within a group have different point values. For example: if a quiz worth 5 points and a quiz worth 50 points are placed in the same assignment group, the latter quiz will be worth ten times as much in Canvas’ calculations, which will greatly skew the result. In our example course, the instructor has avoided this risk by creating five quizzes within the Short Quizzes group, each of which is worth three points.

The Midterm and Final Exam groups each contain only one assignment. This can be an assignment of type Online Assignment if the instructor wishes her students to submit it through Canvas, or it can be an assignment of type On Paper if students will hand in a physical exam paper.

For the Attendance and Participation group, the instructor creates an assignment of type No Submission .

Remember that in Canvas, there is a one-to-one correspondence between assignments and columns in the Gradebook. Thus, if you wish to create a column for (e.g.) students’ attendance/participation grade, it is necessary to create a corresponding assignment. By making it of type No Submission , the instructor has ensured that students do not need to hand in any work, while still creating a Gradebook column where the grade is recorded.

Note also that if students need to submit work that will not be graded, such as an outline for an upcoming paper, you can create an assignment of submission type Online Assignment and check the box Do not count this assignment toward the final grade in the assignment options area.

Using weighted assignment groups allows Canvas to do your math for you. A column will appear in the Gradebook for each assignment group. The Total column will be calculated by multiplying the value of each column by its percentage weight and adding the results. In the case of the student below, the grade is calculated as follows:

Short Quizzes: 12 out of 15 possible points = 80 * 0.2 = 16

Midterm Exam: 90 out of 100 possible points = 90*0.3 = 27

Final Exam: 80 out of 100 possible points = 80*0.4 = 32

Attendance and Participation: 100 out of 100 possible points = 100*0.1 = 10

Total: 16+27+32+10 = 85

If you wish, you can set an assignment group to drop one or more low scores (or high scores) automatically. To do this, go to the group within the Assignments tab and click on the column of three dots across from its name to open a dialog box. Then enter the number of low or high scores you wish to drop and click Save .

You can also specify that an assignment should never be dropped by clicking the blue +Add an assignment link next to Never drop: and choosing its name from the drop-down that appears.

For more information, please see:

• How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups?
• How do I create rules for an assignment group?

If you have additional questions, Academic Technology Solutions is here to help. You can attend our workshops to learn more about Canvas and other tools for teaching with technology. You can also drop into our Office Hours (virtual and in-person) to ask any questions you may have; no appointment is required.

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Weighted Grading

• Post author By CTLD Support
• Post date April 19, 2021
• 1 Comment on Weighted Grading

Last updated on August 23, 2023

There are many advantages to using a weighted grading scheme. For example, you don’t need to manipulate points to make your total points work out to a nice even number (like 1000), and you don’t need to shuffle points around when you add, remove, or change an assignment. Also, you can easily ensure that major assignments, like essays or exams, will be worth more than multiple small assignments, such as a series of homework assignments or participation points, without worrying about the math.

• 1.1 Best practices
• 1.2.1 Set Up Assignment Groups
• 1.2.2 Weight Assignment Groups

How Does Weighted Grading Work?

In a weighted grading scheme, assignment groups are set to make up certain percentages of the total grade. For example, as shown in the pie chart below, the homework category could be weighted at 15%, discussions at 20%, quizzes at 25%, and exams at 40%. Note that all of those numbers add up to 100%.

To determine a student’s overall grade, Canvas would automatically perform the following calculation: Final grade = (overall homework grade) x 15% + (overall discussion grade) x 20% + (overall quiz grade) x 25% + (overall exam grade) x 40%

Best practices

• Since a weighted grading system is less common than a points-based system, be sure to thoroughly explain the grading system to your students.
• Weight important assignment groups (like tests and projects) more heavily than less important assignment groups (like homework).
• Make sure all assignment groups add up to 100% (unless you have an extra credit category).
• Easily create extra credit by creating an extra credit assignment group that makes it possible for students to earn more than 100% in the course.
• Continue to make each individual assignment/assessment worth the number of points that naturally makes sense, considering the number of criteria you are using to grade the assignment. For example, an essay with 6 rubric criteria and 4 rubric categories could be worth 24 points.
• Remember that points are still relevant within each assignment group . For example, a 20 point homework assignment will impact the final grade more than a 10 point homework assignment.

Let’s walk through it together

Set up assignment groups.

• Go to MSU Denver’s Faculty and Staff Hub .
• Click Canvas in the Teaching & Learning section.
• Log in to your Canvas account.
• Select the course you’d like to work in.
• Click Assignments on the course navigation menu at left.
• Click the +Group button.
• Type the name of the Assignment Group (e.g., “Discussions” or “Participation”).
• Click Save .
• Repeat Steps 7 and 8 as needed until you have created all of your desired groups.
• Click and drag the 8-dot icon to the left of an item’s name to move it into a different Assignment Group.

Weight Assignment Groups

• Click the Options icon (three vertical dots) next to the blue +Assignments button.
• Select Assignment Groups Weight .
• Check the box that says “ Weight final grade based on assignment groups .”
• Enter numbers in the boxes to show the weight of each category as a percentage.

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[…] of weighted assignments claim there are several advantages to this system of grading. According to CTLD Support at Metropolitan State University of Denver (2021), making the assignment points equal a specific number is unnecessary; points do not need to […]

Weighted grades

Weighted grades are used in college, university and even high school courses by educators in order to determine how tests, assignments, projects and other factors should count towards the final grade. For example, a teacher may choose to make the results of an exam worth 50 percent of a student’s total class grade, while assignments account for 25 percent and participation marks are worth another 25 percent.

Weighted grades refer to the different levels of importance a professor may assign to certain classwork. Weighted grades are seen to be a fair and equitable method for determining a student’s final mark, especially when the student is aware of how a particular class or course is being weighted. However, critics of weighted grades argue that knowledge of the course mark breakdowns may disincentivize students from trying to excel at aspects of coursework that count less towards their final mark.

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Teaching resources, more terms starting with w, web-enhanced classes, weighted grades.

Grading: Weighting Grade Proportionately Versus Equally

Understanding the difference between equally and proportionally weighted categories.

It’s important to know if grades within each category are weighted equally or proportionately.

Weighted Proportionally: 

For example, all of mary’s homework assignments are worth 15 percent or 15 points out of 100 of her grade..

Mary receives the following grades:

Homework 1 : 4/5

Homework 2 : 10/10

Homework 3 : 1/1

Homework 4 : 4/5

Homework 5 : 0/10

Homework 6 : 8/8

If the grades are weighted proportionately, add up all of the points that she received and all of the points that were possible and divide to get her total percentage of her 15 points for homework.

In the case below, 69.23% of 15 points is  10.38  points.  This is Mary’s final points for Homework.

Weighted Equally:

If grades within a category are weighted equally then each assignment within that category will be worth the same as every other homework assignment regardless of actual point value.  

Divide each assignment points earned by each assignment points possible to get the percentage.  

Next, take an average of those percentages.  That average is the percentage of the final 15 points for homework.

In the case below, 76.67% of 15 points is  11.5 . This is Mary’s final points for Homework.

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Coursework/GPA

Most students think a lot about their GPA in high school. There's no doubt that GPA is one of the most important pieces of information colleges will consider in your application. However, GPA can vary drastically in the way it's calculated at different schools. Some high schools use unweighted GPAs and some use weighted GPAs. I'll give you an overview of the differences between the two and what each type of GPA might mean in the context of your personal experiences.

Basic Differences Between Weighted and Unweighted GPAs

So what are weighted and unweighted GPAs? In short, unweighted GPAs do not take course difficulty level into account and weighted GPAs do. Let’s unpack these differences below. 

Unweighted GPA

Traditionally, GPA is calculated on an unweighted scale. Unweighted GPA is measured on a scale of 0 to 4.0. It doesn't take the difficulty of a student's coursework into account. An unweighted GPA represents an A as a 4.0 whether it was earned in an honors class, AP class, or lower-level class.

Weighted GPA

Weighted GPA is often used by high schools to better represent students' academic accomplishments. Weighted GPA takes into account course difficulty rather than providing the same letter grade to GPA conversion for every student. Usually, weighted GPA is measured on a scale of 0 to 5.0 , although some scales go higher. An A in an AP class may translate into a 5.0 weighted GPA, while an A in a regular-level class would give you a 4.0 weighted GPA. Many schools also have mid-level classes (such as honors classes) where the highest weighted GPA you can earn is a 4.5.

Weighted vs Unweighted GPAs: Differences in Calculation

As you might expect, unweighted and weighted GPAs are calculated differently. In this section we give an in-depth explanation of how to calculate both GPA types.

Unweighted GPA is much simpler to calculate than weighted GPA. This is because you don't have to consider the levels of your classes in the calculations. Let's say you're taking five classes, and you have As in two of them and Bs in three of them. The two As will each translate to 4.0s, and the three Bs will each translate to 3.0s. If you add 4.0 + 4.0 + 3.0 + 3.0 + 3.0 and then divide by five, you'll get an unweighted GPA of 3.4.

If your grades aren't quite as simple as that, here's a quick letter grade and percentage to GPA conversion chart to make things easier.

Most schools more or less follow this scale for unweighted GPAs. Yours may be slightly different, but it shouldn't vary too much.

The calculations for weighted GPA can get a little more tricky because you may be taking a variety of courses at different academic levels. Going with the example that we used for unweighted GPA, let's say once again that you're taking five classes and getting As in two of them and Bs in three of them. But this time let's also say that one A is in a regular-level class, one A is in an honors class, two Bs are in AP classes, and one B is in an honors class.

How is your weighted GPA calculated? Well, each grade has to be considered in conjunction with class level. This means using the unweighted GPA conversion scale for grades in regular-level classes, adding 0.5 to the scale for mid-level/honors classes, and adding 1.0 for high level/AP classes. This means:

• The A in a regular-level class would still be a 4.0
• The A in an honors class would be a 4.5
• The two Bs in AP classes would each be 4.0s
• The B in the honors class would be a 3.5

If you add 4.0 + 4.5 + 4.0 + 4.0 + 3.5 and divide by 5, you get a 4.0 weighted GPA. Remember, not all schools will use this exact weighted GPA scale, but as you can see, there can be a big difference between the numbers you get for unweighted GPA and weighted GPA based on the types of classes you're taking.

Even if two students have identical grades, one might have a weighted GPA that's a full point higher than the other. Let's say you have a 3.2 unweighted GPA and are taking five classes. If even two out of the five classes are honors or AP and the rest are regular-level, your GPA would get bumped up to a 3.6 on a weighted scale. A slight difference in the levels of your classes can make a big difference in your weighted GPA.

Do Colleges Look at Weighted or Unweighted GPAs?

So, do colleges care more about your weighted or unweighted GPA? The short answer is that most colleges care somewhat more about weighted GPAs because they do a better job showing the difficulty of the classes you took.

However, colleges care more about your entire record of coursework than just your GPA out of context. They'll look to see which classes you took, how difficult those classes typically are, and what your class rank is. All of these factors are going to give them a better understanding of your GPA. So, when you're wondering which GPA is more important, the real answer is that colleges will look at all the information they're given to get the best idea of your academic skills. They won't just glance at your GPA and decide whether it's a good number or not without looking at other factors.

If your transcript shows increasing difficulty in your coursework, this will look impressive to colleges, even if your GPA isn't perfect. If you have a 4.0 GPA but took all the least challenging classes in high school, colleges will be less impressed since you didn't push yourself academically. This means you should continue working on taking difficult classes and getting high grades in them in order to be as impressive as possible.

The good news? We can help you ace your AP exams and improve your GPA! Through our AP Test Tutoring program , you can get one-on-one help from experts who aced the tests themselves. Whether you’re looking to get a great score in math, science, social science, or language, our experienced tutors can help you get there.

What Does All of This Mean for You?

Whether your school uses weighted or unweighted GPA can impact your class rank and experiences in the college admissions process . It’s important to know the differences and where your weighted and unweighted GPAs stand so you know how your application will stack up against other applicants’.

If Your School Uses Unweighted GPAs…

Admissions committees look at your coursework in conjunction with your GPA to reach conclusions about your academic potential. They understand that some schools do not take the difficulty of students' classes into consideration when calculating GPA. If you take challenging classes but don't have a perfect GPA, you will look better in the college admissions process than someone in regular-level classes who has a 4.0.

It may be harder for your GPA to stand out from your classmates’ when class difficulty is not a factor in the calculation, because more students will have GPAs that are at the same level.  If class rank is based purely on unweighted GPA, your class rank may not reflect the effort you expended. Students with a lot of AP classes can have lower unweighted GPAs than students who took less difficult classes despite being more academically driven.

Don't worry too much, though. College admissions officers are aware of the limits of the unweighted system, and they will look closely at your course record to determine whether your GPA is an accurate reflection of your academic potential.

If Your School Uses Weighted GPAs…

First off, you should know that having a 4.0 weighted GPA doesn't mean you can get into any college. A 4.0 may be the commonly accepted gold standard, but with weighted GPAs everything shifts upward. A truly elite GPA under the weighted system will actually be close to a 5.0 , so you will need to make sure you adapt your concept of what constitutes a high GPA to fit this model.

With a weighted GPA, your class rank is more likely to reflect your academic drive and ability because your GPA is a reflection of both your grades and the levels of the classes in which you earned them. You'll have a higher rank than someone who earns the same grades as you in lower level classes.

Weighted GPAs mean that you need to be careful because they can be deceptive. A lot of the advice that's out there is targeted towards unweighted GPAs, so you'll need to adjust your thinking to account for the size of the GPA scale at your school.

The bottom line is that colleges will look deeper than the raw numbers when evaluating your high school academic record regardless of whether your GPA is weighted or unweighted. Admissions officers will be able to tell which classes you took and how much you pushed yourself, so your GPA by itself becomes only one part of a much larger picture.

You will also be required to lift the weight of your GPA times 40 in order to walk at graduation, so start training. Why do you think valedictorians are always so ripped?

Your high school GPA may be measured on either an unweighted or weighted scale. The main difference between the two is that weighted GPAs take into account the difficulty of your coursework and unweighted GPAs don't. Most unweighted GPAs are recorded on a scale of 0 to 4.0, and most weighted GPAs are recorded on a scale of 0 to 5.0.

For the most part, whether your high school uses unweighted or weighted GPA shouldn't affect you in the college application process. Colleges will look at your GPA, but they will also consider the bigger picture. Their greatest concern is that you've managed to challenge yourself intellectually with your coursework. GPA is important, but proof of your determination and perseverance in the face of academic struggles is often more impressive than a 4.0.

It doesn’t have to be a struggle, though— our AP Test Tutoring program can help you get the AP scores you want so you can build up that GPA and stand out on your college applications. Get started with our expert tutors today!

What's Next?

Want more information about how to interpret your GPA in the college search process? Find out what it means to have a good or bad GPA for college.

Is your GPA above average? Do you need to work on bringing it up? Learn more about the average high school GPA.

Your college GPA may end up being very different from your high school GPA. Read this article about average GPAs in college to see what might be in store.

Samantha is a blog content writer for PrepScholar. Her goal is to help students adopt a less stressful view of standardized testing and other academic challenges through her articles. Samantha is also passionate about art and graduated with honors from Dartmouth College as a Studio Art major in 2014. In high school, she earned a 2400 on the SAT, 5's on all seven of her AP tests, and was named a National Merit Scholar.

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How to Calculate Weighted Class Grades

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In some courses, grades are not all equal. Grades on some assignments have more weight towards your final grade than other assignments. In order to perform this calculation, you need to know the weight of each grade. This is the percentage the grade counts toward your final grade. Adding together each weighted assignment calculates your overall grade.

1. Determine Grade and Weight

Determine your grade on each assignment and the weight of the grade. For example, assume you receive an 85 percent on a project that counts for 20 percent of your final grade and you receive a 100 on a test that is 80 percent of your grade.

2. Multiply Grade by Weight

Multiply the grade on the assignment by the grade weight. In the example, 85 times 20 percent equals 17 and 100 times 80 percent equals 80.

3. Add together

Add together all your weighted grades to find your overall grade. In the example, 17 points plus 80 points equals a weighted grade of 97.

4. Use an online grade calculator

Use a free online grade calculator.

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Grade Calculator

Use this weighted grade calculator to easily calculate the weighted average grade for a class or course. Enter letter grades (A, B-, C+, etc.) or percentage scores (75, 88, 92, etc.) achieved on all relevant exams, homework assignments, projects, verbal exams, etc. as well as their weights as percentages. Optionally, enter a final grade goal to estimate how much you need to score on your final exam in order to meet your goal.

Related calculators

• How to calculate your grade
• What grade do I need on my final?
• How to convert a grade to percentage?

    How to calculate your grade

With the help of this grade calculator you can calculate your current weighted grade or unweighted grade in terms of percentage, letter grade, or GPA. The tool will also output the weight of all remaining exams, and assignments and has the option of calculating the minimum score you need to obtain on a final exam in order to achieve a target overall grade for a class or course.

To use the calculator, enter the number of grades you currently have, then each grade as a percent or letter grade , and finally the weight each grade adds towards the overall. If no weights are entered, the weights are assumed equal and the calculator will output the unweighted average grade. Otherwise a weighted average grade will be produced in terms of percentage, GPA, and a letter grade.

    What grade do I need on my final?

If you haven't yet got a score on the final exam for a given class, you can use this tool as a final grade calculator. In order to achieve a given grade goal for the entire class, course, or semester, a given minimum grade is required on the final exam, depending on both the weighted average grade to that date, and the weight of the final on the overall grade. This minimum required score can be calculated using the following formula:

Required final score = (Grade Goal - Current Grade x (100% - Weight of Final(%))) / Weight of Final(%)

The current grade is calculated based on the weighted average of all marks to date. The weight of the final test is calculated as 100% minus the combined weight of all grades to date. Therefore, if the combined weight of the scores you enter is 65% then the final exam will have a weight of 100% - 65% = 35%.

    How to convert a grade to percentage?

Our grade calculator uses the following table to convert letter grades to percentages. Note that since this is not a universally applicable table, ideally one would want to know the exact percentage scores and use these as input for the calculator, otherwise the results may be slightly off.

Again, it is our recommendation that you check with your local school or college and enter percentage grades instead of letter grades for the most accurate calculation. Note that while U.S. colleges and schools are likely to use the above grading, educational institutions in other countries may use a vastly different GPA scale.

Cite this calculator & page

If you'd like to cite this online calculator resource and information as provided on the page, you can use the following citation: Georgiev G.Z., "Grade Calculator" , [online] Available at: https://www.gigacalculator.com/calculators/grade-calculator.php URL [Accessed Date: 29 Jun, 2024].

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Create weighted assignment groups in canvas for grading - knowledgebase / teaching learning and research / canvas / assessments and grading / assignments - oit service center.

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When you have different assignment types (e.g., assignments, discussions, quizzes, etc.), and a weighted grading system, you may use Canvas’ Assignment Groups to calculate weighted grades and organize the assignments. Based on the information you’ve articulated in your syllabus, you can quickly set up Assignment Groups. 

Create Assignment Groups

• Log in to Canvas at canvas.brown.edu and select your course from the Global Navigation menu on the left.

Create an Assignment Group

• Enter the name of the assignment group in the Group Name  box.
• Enter the percentage of the total grade in the % of total grade  box. You can leave the box empty and/or change the number later.
• Click Save .

Create Weighted Assignment Groups for Grading

• Enter the percentage of the total grade for each assignment group in their respective % boxes.
• Make sure the Total is 100%.
• Click Save.

Manage Assignment Groups

• Edit the Group Name  and % of total grade  in their respective boxes.
• Enter the number of scores to drop from each student's final grade in the Lowest Scores  and Highest Scores  boxes.

• To reorder an assignment group in the Assignments  page,  click and drag the assignment group.
• To delete a group,  click the Edit  (gear) icon to the right of the group name, then click Delete . You can delete the assignments within the assignment group or move them to another assignment group.

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Key Concepts for Grading in Canvas

This guide provides an overview of how grading works in Canvas. Specific how -to information on the sections below may be found in the Canvas Instructor Guide .

The Grades function within Canvas allows you to maintain all of your grades online. It provides a robust tool for tasks typically done in a spreadsheet application, making it possible to keep all grading online.

Steps to organize your Gradebook

To enter your grade book, click on the Grades link on your course menu (left of your screen). A list of your students appears on the left side, once you enroll your students , with columns to the right for any learning activity you have set-up to be assessed within Canvas.

Note: The only column created by default in your Gradebook is the Total column. It serves the purpose of calculating the total value of graded assignments in your course. The Total column can be weighted based on the way your graded assignments are grouped. The Total column can be used with the course’s letter grade scheme in order to calculate student final letter grades in your course.

1. Start by creating “Assignment Groups”

2. correlate your grading scheme for the letter grades.

In Canvas, you create a grading scheme instead of typing letters into your Gradebook or the SpeedGrader. The grading scheme correlates percentage ranges or scores to specific letter grades. You can enable the default grading Canvas scheme or create your own grading scheme in your Canvas course, then enable your custom grading scheme.

Use the following:

• Enter and edit grades in the Gradebook guide
• Add a grading scheme in a course
• Watch the grading scheme video (2m 37s) on Vimeo

3. Manage unique calculations (e.g., drop lowest score) in assignment groups

4. To add a Gradebook column, create an Assignment first

The gradebook in Canvas is a blank slate until you create the assignments (see the difference between assignments and learning in Canvas ).

You add columns to the gradebook by adding assignments. The easiest way to remember is that Assignments = Gradebook Columns. Once you create an Assignment, Canvas automatically includes it in the Gradebook, Calendar, Assignments, and Syllabus pages.

Assignments can be:

• Both graded (published assignments, graded discussions, graded quizzes, and surveys) and ungraded assignments (practice quizzes, ungraded surveys, and not graded assignments).
• As simple as just a name, due date, and point score; or, it can include instructions, open and close dates.

Submissions for assignments can be:

• online (through Canvas),
• on-paper (in-person),
• or no-submission (to create extra columns in the Gradebook, or when you want to create an assignment that involves multiple scores).

Tip: No Submission and On Paper assignments still appear to students on their Assignments page. To avoid confusion, you should note it in the assignment description, so students will know whether a submission is required and how they are supposed to submit it.

5. Assign either a point value or percentage to the graded assignments

• An assignment is only calculated into the grade after it is graded, so you should grade it or input a 0. (if the instructor does not input a 0, then the final grade will not reflect how poorly the student is doing).
• Treat Ungraded as 0s” will NOT affect the grade for the student. It is only a display change for the gradebook.

6. Discover what the colors and icons in the gradebook mean

The most common color you will notice is pink, which denotes late assignment submissions. Icons appearing in the gradebook indicate both that the submission has been made by the student, as well as what the submission type is. For an explanation of the icons and colors in the Gradebook, view the How do I use the icons and colors in the Gradebook? web guide.

7. Offer extra credit

There are several easy ways to offer extra credit: Create a no-submission assignment with 0 total points and add points to it, add extra points to an existing assignment, as well as the following:

• Add extra points to a quiz using Fudge points within SpeedGrader™, view the How do I use quiz fudge points in SpeedGrader? web guide
• Create an extra credit category on a rubric, view the How do I create a rubric in a course? web guide
• Create extra credit assignment inside an Assignment Group

For additional assistance, read through the How to give an extra credit in a course? web guide.

8. Calculate the Course Final Grade (in Canvas)

• Use the Assignment Groups
• Use Weighting Grades
• Use Grading Rules
• How do I add a grading scheme in a course?  and
• How do I enable a grading scheme for a course?

9. Calculate the Course Final Grade in a spreadsheet (out-of-Canvas)

For your customized grade calculations outside of canvas, you can download the gradebook calculate the grades and upload your calculated grades back into the Canvas gradebook. To use this out-of-Canvas system, do the following steps

• Create at least two assignment groups and check the option to weight the final grade by assignment group.
• Set the weight for one group at 0% and the other at 100%
• Place all of your assignments in the group that is weighted at 0%
• Create a no-submission assignment for the custom final grade in the group weighted at 100%
• Download the gradebook as a CSV file and use Excel to calculate your own unique grading scenario with the final grade appearing in a column that will match with the custom final grade column you created in Canvas.
• Import the spreadsheet into Canvas to populate the custom column.

Note: For steps 5 and 6 you can also use some other method to calculate grades and either import a spreadsheet or type the grades in by hand. Either way, because the custom final grade column is all by itself in an assignment group weighted at 100% of the grade, Canvas’s final score column will pull its score directly from it as an exact match. All you need to do now is customize your grading scheme in your course settings to reflect your own letter-grade breakdown, and you have successfully posted grades calculated by your own algorithm.

10. End of Semester: Don't Forget to Download the Gradebook

Learner-centered gradebook practices, 1. hide assignments in the gradebook before doing any grading.

By default, students can see results in their Grades tab as soon as their submission is graded. If you want all students to see grades at the same time, rather than live as you enter them, use the three dots on individual assignments in the gradebook to alter the Grade Posting Policy and then select to Manually release grades. After all the grading for that assignment is done, return to the three-dot menu and select Post Grades . View the following web guides:

• How do I select a grade posting policy for an assignment in the Gradebook?
• How do I post grades for an assignment in the Gradebook?
• How do I hide grades for an assignment in the Gradebook?
• How do I select a grade posting policy for a course in the Gradebook?

2. Hide the total column (it is visible to students by default)

3. excuse a student from an assignment.

If needed, a student may be excused from assignments, discussions, or quizzes. Excused items are not calculated as part of the student’s total grade. To use this feature in the gradebook, find the cell for the appropriate student and assignment, type “EX” in that cell, and then press the Enter key. Read through this via the How do I excuse an assignment for a student in the Gradebook? web guide.

4. Make a note about student progress

You can use the notes column to keep track of information in your course that is important to student assessment or growth such as student effort, student challenges, SIS (Student Information Service) IDs, or any other general notes. Students are not able to see notes column. You may toggle between the show/hide notes column link without losing your notes. View the How do I use the Notes column in the Gradebook? web guide.

Tip: Students can view their grades based on “What-If” scores so that they know how grades will be affected by upcoming or resubmitted assignments. They can test scores for an assignment that already includes a score, or an assignment that has yet to be graded. To learn more about this feature, visit How do I approximate my assignment scores using the What-If Grades feature? Web guide.

Self-Paced Canvas Videos

To become more acquainted with the Gradebook:

• Read the How do I use the New Gradebook  web guide and
• View the Canvas Gradebook Overview video (7m 55s)

To learn more about Assignments:

• View the What are Assignments? web guide
• View the Canvas Assignment Overview video (5m 29s)

Canvas-led Training Workshop at Iowa State:

In September 2017, CELT hosted Erin Wasson, Canvas Trainer, to facilitate key workshop topics; view the Canvas-lead Grading and Assignments training video (1h 14m).

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Course assignments are not weighted

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Assessment weighting

My assessment is weighted. What does this mean?

Answer ID 83 | Last updated on 10/10/2023 11.31 AM

Weighting means some of your assessments are worth more than others. This means assessments that were awarded the same raw mark will contribute differently to your overall mark for the unit.

For example: Imagine you have a mid-semester test that is marked out of 30 and you have a major assignment that is also marked out of 30. You see in your Unit Outline that the assignment is weighted at 50% of the final mark and the mid-semester test is weighted at 10% of the final mark. Ultimately, this means that if you score 20 out of 30 for both pieces of assessment, the mid-semester test contributes 6.6 marks (20/30 of 10 marks) and the major assignment contributes 33.3 marks (20/30 of 50 marks) to your final result.

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Your average grade is...

with combined weight of 0.00

To get an overall grade of ( B ), you will need an average grade of 0 on the remaining weight of 0 percent.

Grade Calculator

Enter your grades and press the calculate button., grades in the blue column, weights in the red column. tip: you can tab through the list..

Total Points:

How to calculate weighted grade

The amazing grade calculator use the following grading scale:

A weighted grade or score is average of a set of grades, where each grade (g) carries a different weight (w) of importance. A weighted grade is usually calculated by the following formula:

Weighted grade = (g1×w1+ g2×w2+ g3×w3+...)/(w1+w2+w3...)

For example:

On a syllabus, the percentage of each assignments and exam is given as follow: Homework: 10%, Quizzes: 20%, Essays: 20%, Midterm: 25%, Final: 25%.

The grades earned in each assignment or exam are: Homework: 93%, Quizzes: 85%, Essays: 86%, Midterm: 87%, Final: 91%.

Then using a calculator the overall grade is calculated as:

Weighted grade = (93×10%+ 85×20%+ 86×20%+87×25%)/(10%+ 20%+ 20%+ 25%) = 87 percent.

To get an overall grade of 88 percent, the final grade need to be:

(88×100%- 87×75%)/25% = 91 percent.

Tip: you can adjust your overall grade to calculate the corresponding final grade in real time. Amazing, isn't it?

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