Compare capped changes to existing weighted components using the inputs on this page.
Study & Grades
Combine weighted course components
Enter each component grade and its official course weight to calculate the weighted contribution, normalized grade and possible course-grade range.
Component contribution breakdown
Each contribution equals grade × weight ÷ 100. Component rows may show extra decimal places when needed; totals and status use the underlying entered values.
| Component | Grade | Weight | Contribution |
|---|
Calculation used
Use the official grade percentages and course weights. When less than 100% of the course is entered, the normalized grade describes only the included components.
Compare capped changes to existing components
Import known component grades and their official weights above. Enter hypothetical changed grades and their ceilings. Compare replacement with keeping the higher result, while retaining the distinction between partial contribution and a complete course grade.
Combine known grades using official course weights
The original calculator combines known component percentages and their course weights. A component’s course contribution is grade × weight ÷ 100. If all weights total 100%, the sum of contributions is the complete weighted course grade. Below 100%, it is a partial contribution; normalized performance within the entered portion is contribution ÷ entered weight × 100.
For grades 88%, 76% and 84% at weights 20%, 15% and 25%, the entered weight is 60% and the contribution is 17.6 + 11.4 + 21 = 50 points. Normalized performance is 83.3333…%. With 40% unentered and future grades assumed to lie from 0% to 100%, the mathematical course range is 50–90%. The values 50 and 83.33 describe different things.
The OpenStax weighted-mean explanation gives the underlying sum-of-products divided by sum-of-weights calculation. Course weighting and grade-replacement rules still come from the syllabus, not from a general mathematical formula.
Compare hypothetical changes without losing the original record
The additional scenario imports known component rows as a snapshot. For each component, leave the assumed changed grade blank to keep the original unchanged, or enter an assumed grade and its ceiling. A ceiling applies only to a nonblank change. Nothing is written back into the original calculator or an institutional gradebook.
The replacement rule uses the lower of the assumed grade and its ceiling. The keep-higher rule compares that capped change with the original grade and retains the larger. These are user-selected hypotheses, not university presets; a real reassessment may follow another rule.
In the 60%-complete example, changing Assignments from 88 to an assumed 90 with an 85 ceiling gives 85 under replacement. Changing Quizzes from 76 to 85 with a 100 ceiling and leaving Midterm unchanged gives a contribution of 50.75 points, normalized to approximately 84.583333%, and a scenario course range of 50.75–90.75%. Under keep-higher, the original 88 assignment grade is retained instead, giving 51.35 contribution points.
Read course-point effects separately from component grades
The scenario table shows each original grade, weight, assumed grade, ceiling, effective grade and change in course percentage points. A ten-point improvement in a component worth 10% adds only one course point. A lower capped replacement can decrease a result. Tied largest positive changes are all reported; the tool does not infer which topic is quickest to improve or where to allocate study time.
The ceiling outcome shows what entered components would contribute if every component with a nonblank change instead reached its entered ceiling, under the selected rule. Unchanged rows stay unchanged. This is a hypothetical bound, not a prediction of an attainable or permitted reassessment score.
Weights, raw marks and precision
Use 1–30 entered components, grades from 0% to 100% and positive course weights. A 0% grade is a real result; a fully unused grade/weight row can be ignored on import. Complete a partly filled row or remove it. Exact total weight above 100% is rejected, and a near-100% partial total remains partial before display rounding.
Maximum marks are not automatically course weights. Convert a raw score such as 42/60 to 70% first, then use the official course weight. If several quizzes form one category, combine them according to the course’s category rule before entering that category once; do not repeat its full weight for each quiz.
The scenario accepts plain decimals up to 18 places and uses exact rational sums, caps and comparisons. Displays use at most six decimal places, with exact total weight and exact contribution change also shown. Source edits or row changes disable scenario calculation until re-import, which resets its assumptions.
Scope and other grade questions
The scenario does not infer dropped scores, curves, penalties, extra credit, letter-grade boundaries, institutional caps, mandatory pass conditions or eligibility. Scores above 100% need the institution’s official treatment. Imported rows are browser snapshots rather than saved grade records.
Use Grade Needed on Final for an unknown weighted final, Required Marks for unfinished equally valuable raw marks, or Marks Percentage to convert raw component scores. Assumed changes are not known results and should be labelled accordingly when sharing a calculation.
Grade Needed on Final Calculator
Use this companion mode when the final-exam grade is unknown. Its inputs and results are separate from the component table above; enter the coursework average excluding the final and its official course weight.
Check scoring increments and a separate exam minimum using the inputs on this page.
Study & Grades
Plan the final exam score
Use your current coursework grade, the final exam weight and a target course grade to calculate the minimum final exam result needed.
Calculation used
This tool assumes the current grade represents completed coursework before the final and that the final exam is the only remaining weighted component.
Check scoring increments and a separate exam minimum
Use the current coursework grade, final weight, target and exam maximum above. Enter the permitted score increment and any separate exam minimum from your syllabus. An exam maximum is required for this check.
Start with coursework performance excluding the final
The current grade must be the normalized percentage across the completed, non-final portion of the course. Do not enter a portal percentage that temporarily counts an ungraded final as zero. If coursework secures 57.4 percentage points from 70% of the course, enter 57.4 ÷ 70 × 100 = 82%, not 57.4%.
Use the syllabus weight for the final, not its raw maximum marks. If several completed categories need combining first, use the Weighted Grade Calculator. This page assumes one remaining weighted final; it does not model several unknown assessments.
How the basic requirement is calculated
With current coursework percentage C, final weight W% and target course percentage T, secured contribution is C × (100 − W) ÷ 100. Required final percentage is (T − secured contribution) × 100 ÷ W.
For C = 78%, W = 30% and T = 80%, coursework secures 54.6 points. The final must provide 25.4 points, so the requirement is 84.6666…%. In a 100-mark exam, whole-mark scoring requires 85: 85 produces an 80.1% course grade, while 84 produces 79.8%.
The original form offers whole or decimal marks when an exam maximum is entered. Without an exam maximum it reports the required percentage. A target already secured produces a zero numerical requirement; an impossible target remains flagged rather than being capped to 100%. With a 100% final weight, coursework has no contribution.
Combine an exam minimum with the course target
Some courses impose a separate exam requirement. Monash University’s assessment glossary describes hurdle requirements; the particular requirement must come from your own unit or syllabus. No university-specific minimum is preset here.
In the additional check, enter an exam maximum above and an explicit separate exam-minimum percentage. Zero means no separate numerical minimum for this scenario. The check takes the larger of the marks needed for the course target and the marks needed for the exam minimum, then moves upward to the next permitted scoring increment.
In the 78% coursework example, a separate 90% final-exam minimum requires 90/100 even though the course target alone requires 85 whole marks. At 89, the course target is met but the separate exam minimum is not. Meeting the overall target cannot substitute for that second condition.
Check the scoring grid and one increment below
Enter a positive increment in exam marks. An increment of 0.5 means 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and so on; an increment of 2 means 0, 2, 4, 6 and so on. This zero-based grid is an assumption you must verify. A maximum of 7 with a two-mark grid has 6 as its largest reachable score; 7 is not automatically added to the grid.
The result shows the smallest grid score meeting both entered thresholds and, when possible, the score one increment below. Both rows show exam percentage, resulting course percentage and separate yes/no checks for the two thresholds. If no grid score within the maximum works, the result says so.
The check uses exact rational arithmetic for the entered plain decimals and threshold comparisons. Displayed decimals use at most six places. The candidate’s exact mark value is also shown; do not treat a rounded percentage as a new official threshold.
Inputs, assumptions and limits
Coursework, target and exam-minimum percentages must lie from 0% to 100%; final weight must be above zero and at most 100%. Exam maximum and increment must be positive and at most 1,000,000,000 marks. The additional check requires all its values, including an explicit zero minimum when appropriate, and accepts plain decimals up to 18 places. It reads current values rather than the old displayed result.
Its increment and exam-minimum settings apply only to the additional check; they do not change the original form’s whole/decimal selection. Editing source inputs invalidates the old additional result. A zero arithmetic requirement does not waive a requirement to sit the exam.
The grid assumes every multiple of the increment is attainable. Negative marking, section caps and partial-credit rules can create another score set. Curves, dropped coursework, special rounding, resits, extra credit, other hurdles and official pass decisions are not modeled. Use the institution’s published rules and grading record.
For remaining work combined as equally valuable raw marks rather than a weighted final, use the Required Marks Calculator. These calculations run in your browser and do not retrieve or save student records.