Find your overall course grade by combining each category — homework, tests, final exam — weighted by how much it counts toward your final mark.
Most courses don't treat every assignment equally — a final exam usually counts for much more of your grade than a single homework set. A weighted grade accounts for that by multiplying each category's percentage score by how much it's worth, then adding those weighted values together. This is very different from just averaging your percentages across categories, which would treat a 5%-weight quiz the same as a 40%-weight final.
Dividing by the total weight (rather than assuming it's exactly 100%) means this still works even if your weights don't quite add up to 100 — useful if you're estimating your grade before every category has been finalized.
Say homework is worth 30% of your grade and you scored 88%, a midterm is worth 30% and you scored 76%, and the final exam is worth 40% and you scored 90%. Weighting each score by its category gives (88×30 + 76×30 + 90×40) ÷ 100 = 85.2%, which lands solidly in B-range territory.
| Percentage | Letter grade |
|---|---|
| 90% and above | A |
| 80% – 89% | B |
| 70% – 79% | C |
| 60% – 69% | D |
| Below 60% | F |
Different schools and instructors sometimes use different grading scales or add plus/minus grades — check your syllabus if you need an exact match to how your course is graded.