Final Grade Calculator (Final Exam Score Needed)
The final exam score that reaches your target grade.
Inputs
Use this calculator on your own site
Free embed
- Two lines of HTML, unlimited views
- Shows a small CalculateEveryday bar, with a credit link under the calculator
Formula
Needed on final = (target − current × (1 − w)) ÷ w, where w is the final's weight as a decimal
The course grade is your current grade times everything that isn't the final, plus the final times its weight. Setting that equal to the grade you want and solving for the final gives the formula. The smaller the final's weight, the more extreme the score it takes to move the course grade.
Worked example
With 88% going in and a final worth 25%, the other 75% of the course has already banked 66 points. Reaching 90 needs 24 more from a 25-point exam: 24 ÷ 0.25 = 96% on the final. A perfect paper would finish the course at 91%; a zero would leave 66%.
Where this can give the wrong answer
- A result above 100% means the target is out of reach on the exam alone. The page shows the best grade still possible so you can pick a realistic target.
- A result of zero or below means the target is already secured arithmetically. Many courses still require you to sit the final, or to pass it, regardless of the average.
- 'Current grade' must exclude the final and include everything else at its proper weight. If other work is still ungraded, this treats your current average as holding for it too.
- Finals that replace your lowest midterm, or courses that curve after the exam, break the simple weighted average. Ask the instructor which rule applies.
FAQ
- Because the final is a small slice. With a 20% final, every point you are below target going in costs four points on the exam. From 85%, reaching 90 takes a 110% — impossible — while from 88% it takes 98%.
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