By Lisa Maloney
Updated Aug 30, 2022

Many teachers provide regular updates on your overall grade, but if you prefer to track progress yourself—or if updates are infrequent—calculating your own grade is straightforward. The key is knowing how many points you’ve earned out of the total possible and whether your instructor applies a weighted average.

TL;DR

When no weighted average is used, simply apply: (points earned ÷ points possible) × 100 = class grade (%)

Step‑by‑Step: Unweighted Grade Calculation

If your teacher doesn’t weight categories, add up all earned points and all possible points, then divide.

1. Sum earned points: 75 + 80 + 95 = 250
2. Sum possible points: 100 + 100 + 100 = 300
3. Divide: 250 ÷ 300 = 0.8333
4. Convert to percentage: 0.8333 × 100 = 83 %

Your current class grade is 83 %.

Another Example with Varied Test Scores

1. Earned points: 42 + 33 + 56 + 21 = 152
2. Possible points: 50 + 40 + 60 + 25 = 175
3. Division: 152 ÷ 175 = 0.8686
4. Percentage: 0.8686 × 100 = 87 %

Thus, the grade stands at 87 %.

Calculating a Weighted Average

Some instructors assign different importance to categories—e.g., tests (80 %) and homework (20 %). In this case, compute each category’s score first, then apply its weight.

Process

1. Compute each category: Tests: 280 ÷ 300 = 0.9333; Homework: 295 ÷ 300 = 0.9833
2. Apply weights: Tests: 0.9333 × 0.80 = 0.7466; Homework: 0.9833 × 0.20 = 0.1967
3. Sum weighted scores: 0.7466 + 0.1967 = 0.9433
4. Convert to percentage: 0.9433 × 100 = 94.3 %

After weighting, the overall grade is 94.3 %.

For quick calculations, you might use a free online grade calculator.

Key Takeaways

• Always confirm whether your teacher uses weighted categories.
• Keep a running tally of earned and possible points.
• Apply weights only after individual category grades are computed.

Staying on top of your grades helps you identify areas for improvement and stay ahead of the semester.