Test Grade Calculator

Blake Boege
Written by Blake Boege · Founder, Calculator Answers

A test grade calculator converts a single test result into a percentage and a letter grade. It divides the score earned by the score available and multiplies by one hundred, then matches the percentage against a percent-to-letter scale. Because grading scales are set by individual schools rather than nationally, the scale used is printed alongside the result. It answers the question for one test only, not for a whole course grade.

Enter one test score and get the percentage, the letter grade, and the grade points it is worth. Pick the mode that matches how your test was scored: questions correct, questions missed, or points earned out of the total.

Quick Answer

Divide the points you earned by the points the test was worth and multiply by 100. Enter questions correct, questions missed, or raw points, and the calculator returns the percentage, the letter grade, and the grade points on its published default scale.

How is your test scored?

How many you got right.

Must be more than 0.

Leave a box empty and the result waits rather than guessing. A real zero still counts as a zero.

Test grade

Letter grade · A−

90.00%

18 correct · 2 missed of 20

Score18 / 20
Letter gradeA−
Grade points3.7

(18 ÷ 20) × 100 = 90.00%

That is an A-range score on this scale. Your school may use different cutoffs.

Grading scale used here

Percent ranges, letter grades, and grade points on this site's default grading scale
PercentLetterGrade points
97-100%A+4.0
93-96%A4.0
90-92%A−your score3.7
87-89%B+3.3
83-86%B3.0
80-82%B−2.7
77-79%C+2.3
73-76%C2.0
70-72%C−1.7
67-69%D+1.3
63-66%D1.0
60-62%D−0.7
Below 60%F0.0

This is the default scale this calculator uses, not a national standard. Schools set their own cutoffs: some use a 10-point scale where 90 to 100 is an A and 80 to 89 is a B, some award no plus or minus grades at all, and some give more than 4.0 for an A+. Check your syllabus or your school's official chart for the cutoffs that count.

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Examples

18 correct out of 20

= 90.00% (A−)

2 missed out of 20

= 90.00% (A−)

35 out of 50 points

= 70.00% (C−)

42.5 out of 50 points

= 85.00% (B)

How it works

Formula · Test percentage = (points earned ÷ points possible) × 100

Every mode on this page reduces to the same division. Whatever you earned goes over whatever was available, and the quotient becomes a percentage.

Test percentage = (points earned ÷ points possible) × 100

Questions missed mode · earned = total − missed

The percentage is then matched against the grading scale printed under the calculator. That scale is generated from the same values the calculator scores with, so the published table and the result cannot disagree.

A worked example

A 50-point unit test. You scored 42.5 after half credit on one question. 42.5 ÷ 50 = 0.85, and 0.85 × 100 = 85.00%. On the default scale that is a B, worth 3.0 grade points. Had the test been 50 questions and you missed 7, the missed-questions mode would compute 50 − 7 = 43 correct, then 43 ÷ 50 = 86.00% — still a B, but a different number, which is why the mode matters.

What this page does not do

This calculator scores one test. It does not combine several assignments, and it does not solve backwards for a score you still need.

Assumptions and limits

  • Every question is worth the same. In the two question-based modes each item counts equally. If your test weights some questions more heavily, add up the points yourself and use Points earned.
  • No curve is applied. If your teacher curves the class, the raw percentage here is the starting point, not the grade you will be given.
  • The scale is a default, not a rule. Schools set their own cutoffs, and a 1% difference at a boundary changes the letter. The table above is what this page uses; your syllabus is what counts.
  • Grade points follow the same default table. Institutions that use a 4.33 scale, or that award no plus and minus grades, will assign different points to the same percentage.

Where to go next

Frequently asked questions

Divide the points you earned by the points the test was worth, then multiply by 100. For a test scored in whole questions, that is questions correct divided by total questions. 18 correct out of 20 is 18 ÷ 20 = 0.9, which is 90%. This calculator does that and then reads the percentage off a letter-grade scale.

That depends on the scale your school uses, which is why the full scale is printed on this page rather than hidden inside the calculator. The default here is 97-100% = A+, 93-96% = A, 90-92% = A-, 87-89% = B+, 83-86% = B, 80-82% = B-, 77-79% = C+, 73-76% = C, 70-72% = C-, 67-69% = D+, 63-66% = D, 60-62% = D-, below 60% = F. Plenty of schools use a 10-point scale instead, where 90 to 100 is an A with no plus or minus. Check your syllabus.

Yes. Choose Questions missed and enter the number you got wrong along with the total number of questions. That is how a physical grading wheel works, and it is often faster when you are marking a stack of papers. 2 missed out of 20 gives the same 90% as 18 correct out of 20.

Choose Points earned and enter your real score. Earning more points than the test was worth is ordinary extra credit, so the calculator lets the result go above 100% and flags it rather than quietly capping you at 100%. In the two question-based modes, a count higher than the number of questions is treated as a typo instead, because you cannot answer more questions than the test contains.

Yes. Entering 0 gives 0% and an F, because that is a real result. Leaving a box empty is different — the calculator waits instead of reporting 0%, so an unfinished form never looks like a failed test.

A single test score is only one input into a course grade. Teachers may weight it by category, curve it, drop the lowest score, or award partial credit the raw counts do not capture. This page answers the narrow question of what one test is worth as a percentage; use the grade calculator to combine it with everything else.