Midterm Grade Calculator: See Your Grade After the Midterm

Midterm grade calculator: the quick answer

The midterm score you need is your target grade times the weight of everything counted so far, minus what your coursework already supplies, divided by the midterm’s weight. If the midterm is the only exam, that weight is 100. With 82% in the coursework and a midterm worth 30%, you need 75.34% for a B and 42% for a C. A D takes 8.67%, and an A would take 108.67%, so it is out of reach without extra credit. Add the final exam’s weight and the midterm grade calculator also shows the range your course grade could finish in.

How to use the midterm grade calculator

1. Enter your coursework grade so far. This covers homework, quizzes and anything else except the midterm and the final.
2. Enter the weight of the midterm, for example 30 if it is worth 30% of the course.
3. If the course has a final exam, enter its weight too. If not, leave that box empty.
4. Choose the grade you want, or type a target percentage, to see the midterm score you need. Or enter your midterm score to see your grade.
5. Add the midterm’s points possible to see the score in points. The table lists every grade.

What the midterm grade calculator result means

With a target, the midterm grade calculator gives one of three answers. You may need a score from 0% to 100%. The grade may already be secured, so even 0% on the midterm keeps it. Or the grade may be out of reach, which means more than 100% would be needed. If extra credit is possible, tick the extra credit box and the score is shown instead.

When you enter a final exam weight, your target means your grade so far, counting only the coursework and the midterm. It is a checkpoint, not the end of the course. Enter a midterm score and the calculator also shows the lowest and highest your course grade can reach, from 0% to 100% on the final. Scores needed are rounded up to two decimals, so they never understate what you need. To plan for the final itself, use the final grade calculator.

Midterm grade calculator formula and worked examples

The coursework weight is 100 minus the midterm weight minus the final weight. With no final, the grade so far is your course grade. The letter is the first grade on the scale, counting down from the top, whose minimum is at or below the percentage. A result exactly on a cutoff earns that grade. The full rules are on the grading methodology page.

Example 1: your coursework grade is 82%, the midterm is worth 30%, and there is no final.

For a B you need 80 × 100 = 8,000. Your coursework supplies 82 × 70 = 5,740 of that, so the midterm must supply 2,260, which is 2,260 ÷ 30 = 75.33%. The calculator rounds up to 75.34%, so the score is always enough.

Example 2: your coursework grade is 78%, the midterm is worth 25% and the final is worth 30%, so the coursework counts for 45%. You score 72% on the midterm. Your grade so far is (78 × 45 + 72 × 25) ÷ 70 = 75.86%, a C on the standard scale. With 0% on the final your course grade would finish at 53.1%. With 100% it would finish at 83.1%, a B.

Choosing a grading scale

The standard and plus/minus scales are examples, not rules. If your syllabus uses different cutoffs, choose Custom and enter them, or build and print a chart with the grading scale calculator.

Sources and further reading

Instructors set their own weights and rounding, so check your syllabus first. For background, see Academic grading in the United States and Weighted arithmetic mean on Wikipedia.

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