Grade Percentage Calculator
Turn a test score into a percentage and letter grade.
Percentage
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Letter grade (US scale)
About this tool
Enter the points earned and total points possible on a test or assignment to see the percentage score and an approximate US letter grade — useful for checking a graded paper by hand, working out what you need on a final, or converting a rubric score into something you can compare across classes.
The math. It's a single division: percentage = (points earned ÷ points possible) × 100. A 42 out of 50 is 42 ÷ 50 = 0.84, or 84%. The letter grade is then read off a scale that maps percentage ranges to letters — the number itself doesn't "know" what grade it deserves until a scale is applied to it, which is why the same 84% can be a B in one class and a B- in another.
The scale this tool uses. A widely-taught simple 5-letter US scale, with no pluses or minuses:
| Percentage | Letter |
|---|---|
| 90–100% | A |
| 80–89% | B |
| 70–79% | C |
| 60–69% | D |
| Below 60% | F |
Why your syllabus might disagree. There's no single national standard — every school, and often every individual instructor, sets its own cutoffs and decides whether to use plus/minus grades at all. A common plus/minus variant, with the 4.0 GPA points typically assigned to each (matching the scale used in the GPA calculator), looks like this:
| Percentage | Letter | GPA points |
|---|---|---|
| 93–100% | A | 4.0 |
| 90–92% | A- | 3.7 |
| 87–89% | B+ | 3.3 |
| 83–86% | B | 3.0 |
| 80–82% | B- | 2.7 |
| 77–79% | C+ | 2.3 |
| 73–76% | C | 2.0 |
| 70–72% | C- | 1.7 |
| 67–69% | D+ | 1.3 |
| 60–66% | D | 1.0 |
| Below 60% | F | 0.0 |
Treat both tables as reference points, not authority — whatever scale is printed on your actual syllabus or grade book is the one that counts. If you already know your course's letter grades and just need the overall GPA, use the GPA calculator instead; for the reverse direction (turning any ratio into a plain percentage without the grading context), see the percentage calculator.
Extra credit and edge cases. If points earned exceeds points possible — extra credit pushed the score past 100% — this tool still reports the raw percentage (say, 104%) rather than capping it, since some instructors do let a score exceed 100%; your school's policy on whether the letter grade itself can go "above A" varies. A total of zero or a negative value can't produce a meaningful percentage, so those are flagged as invalid instead of silently showing a wrong number.
Frequently asked questions
- What letter grade scale is used?
- A common standard US scale: 90–100% = A, 80–89% = B, 70–79% = C, 60–69% = D, below 60% = F. Some schools use pluses/minuses or a different scale — check with your specific institution for the scale that counts toward your record.
- Can points earned be more than total points?
- The tool will still calculate a percentage over 100% if extra credit pushed the score above the total, though most grading scales cap the letter grade at the top regardless.
- Does this handle negative or missing values?
- Negative numbers or a total of zero are treated as invalid input, since a percentage can't be meaningfully calculated from them.
- Why doesn't this show plus/minus grades like B+ or C-?
- It uses the simpler 5-letter scale so the result isn't tied to one specific institution's exact cutoffs. The plus/minus table above shows one common variant if your class uses that style — check your syllabus for the exact percentages your instructor uses, since they vary by school.
- How do I turn this percentage into a GPA?
- Match your percentage to a letter grade using your school's actual scale (the plus/minus table above is one common example), then look up that letter's grade points — typically 4.0 for an A down to 0.0 for an F. The GPA calculator handles multiple classes and credit hours together once you have each course's letter grade.
- Is 89.5% rounded up to 90% before the letter grade is assigned?
- No — this tool applies the letter grade to the exact percentage calculated, without rounding first. Some instructors round borderline scores up as a courtesy, but that's a policy decision they make, not something this tool assumes on your behalf.