Exam Score Needed Calculator

Current term mark

Exam weight, %

Target final grade

Result

Score needed95.5
Verdictthe target is reachable
Best possible final86.8
Worst possible final46.8
Current mark78
Exam weight, %40%

The term is already locked in

Works out the exam mark required for a target final grade, given the weight the exam carries.

A final grade is the weighted sum of the mark accumulated through the term and the exam. The first part is fixed; only the second can move the total, and it moves it in proportion to its weight.

Which produces an awkward property: at an exam weight of thirty percent, raising the final by ten points means scoring thirty-three points above your current average. Sometimes that is simply above a hundred.

What this calculator shows

The minimum exam mark for the final grade you want
Whether the target is reachable at all
The best and worst possible finals given any exam result

What to keep in mind

The calculation is linear: the final is the weighted sum of the term mark and the exam.
It ignores minimum exam thresholds, which at some institutions cap a grade regardless of the arithmetic.

FAQs

How is a final grade calculated?

The term mark is multiplied by its share and the exam by its own, and the two are added. At a 40 percent exam weight, the term supplies 60 percent of the final.

Why does the required score come out above a hundred?

Because the exam weight is too small to close the gap. The smaller its share, the more the final is fixed by term work.

What if the exam is worth a hundred percent?

Then the final equals the exam and the required mark equals the target. That structure appears on courses without continuous assessment.

Are minimum thresholds included?

No, the calculation is pure arithmetic. A minimum exam mark below which no grade is awarded has to be checked in the institution's regulations.

Worked example

Reaching eighty-five

Input: 78 for the term, exam weight 40%, target 85

Output: You need 95.5 on the exam

Note: The best possible final here is 86.8, so the target is reachable with barely a point to spare. At an exam weight of 30 percent it would already be out of reach.

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Exam Score Needed Calculator

Result

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