How to Calculate a Report Card Grade

We all love surprises in most cases but not when it comes to the grades. Knowing how to calculate your grades can help you avoid unpleasant surprises with your report card.

Grading Scale

Grading scale refers to the method of converting student’s numerical scores into letter grades. Usually, in grading system A is referred to top-performing students to F for the lowest-performing student.

Each letter grade is typically followed by a % that shows how many questions you answered correctly during an exam or assignment. Although there are differences in grading scales that account for pluses or minuses (A+ or A-, etc.),

the most common grading scale is:

A = 90–100%

B = 80–89%

C = 70–79%

D = 60–69%

F = 59%and below

Weighted vs. Unweighted Grades

Generally there are two types of Grades and these are weighted and unweighted. Unweighted GPA is easy to calculate than weighted GPA.

The unweighted grade point average is the tool used by most American high schools and colleges to effectively measure student progress. A point is a point, and no one point has more value than another, even though certain assignments might be worth more total points than others.

Teacher may give students homework to be worth 10 points per assignment and tests of 15 points each or he/ she can give both of these assignments 10 points each. It is up to the teacher what his/her point delivery is and for this you need to check your syllabus for information about how the teacher has set it up.

Weighted grades take into account the form of assignment, so that some are worth more than others. The instructor creates grading categories and assigns a % point to each of the categories that add up to 100%.

For an example, homework can be worth 10% of the class score, exams and quizzes worth 30%, class work 50% and involvement worth 10%. In this kind of set up, your homework will still be 10% of the grade and it will not matter how much homework you received and the same goes to every other category.

Always check your course syllabus for details on which categories the instructor has generated and how much weight each class carries.

Calculate Your Unweighted Grade

When the teacher use point system that does not weigh grades, it is comparatively easy to measure your score. Here you just need to know the total number of points possible for the course, the number of points you have received and the size of the ranking.

To be sure about your rating you just need to add your total points earned by the number of possible points, and then check the ranking scale to see what letter ranks up with the number of points you’ve earned.

Calculate Your Weighted Grade

If your instructor uses a weighted grading system, determining your grade needs somewhat more arithmetic than an unweighted system would require. You’ll be required to know the ranking categories and the allocated weight for each of them; along with the % you’ve won in each category. Multiply the % in-category by the weight of that category to