What is a Weighted Grade?
A weighted grade is an overall course evaluation where individual assignment categories are assigned specific percentages of your final grade. Rather than simply adding all points together, your performance in each category is multiplied by that category's syllabus weight.
For instance, in a university college course, a 100-point midterm exam weighted at 30% has a dramatically larger impact on your GPA than a 100-point homework assignment weighted at only 5%.
The Weighted Grade Formula
The universal formula to determine a weighted average is calculated by summing the products of each category's percentage score and its corresponding weight, divided by the total sum of the weights:
Example Calculation:
- Homework: 90/100 (90%) with 20% weight → 0.90 × 20 = 18.0 points
- Midterm Exam: 82/100 (82%) with 30% weight → 0.82 × 30 = 24.6 points
- Final Project: 95/100 (95%) with 50% weight → 0.95 × 50 = 47.5 points
Summing these contributions: 18.0 + 24.6 + 47.5 = 90.1% (Grade: A-).
What if Weights Don't Equal 100%?
During the middle of an active semester, you might only have completed 50% or 70% of the total course weights. Our calculator intelligently handles this by dividing by the sum of completed weights. This projects your current running grade accurately as if the remaining assignments were not yet scored.