Work Out The Mark You Need On The Final
Weighted grades make the final feel like a fog. It isn't: the required score is arithmetic. This takes your current mark, what it counted for, and what the final counts for, then solves for the exact percentage you need to hit your target — and prints an outcome table so you can see how much room there is either side. Local only; nothing leaves the tab.
- Target
- The exact final score your weighting requires
- local
- What it replaces
- Guessing whether it is still reachable
- $0.00
- Input
- Current mark, both weightings, and the target
- no card
- Output
- A required score and an outcome table
- recomputed
What you pay otherwise
| Route | What you get | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Tutor to work it out | Arithmetic you can do in ten seconds | $40+/hr |
| Studying blind | Effort with no idea of the number needed | the margin |
| Assuming it is hopeless | Giving up on a target that was reachable | the grade |
| This page | The required score, and the margin | $0 |
The workflow
Use the weightings from the syllabus, not your memory of them
Courses change weightings between years and the difference moves the required score a lot. Read the actual figures off the module handbook before you calculate anything.
Enter your current mark as the percentage you hold, not raw points
If you have 68 out of 80 on work worth 40%, your current mark is 85%. The tool weights percentages, so converting first is what makes the arithmetic correct.
Check whether the required score is above 100
When it is, the target is gone and the useful question becomes what is still achievable. The calculator says so plainly, which is better than studying for a grade that is arithmetically impossible.
Read the outcome table for margin, not just the target
Needing 71% means 74% is comfortable and 68% misses. Knowing the spread tells you how much of the paper you can afford to lose, which is a more useful revision target than the headline number.
Worked example
Sample: 78% on 40% of the course, target 70% Needed from final (70 - 78×0.40) / 0.60 = 64.67% Margin above pass 64.67% vs 40% pass = 24.67 pts At 70% on final overall 73.20% At 60% on final overall 67.20% — target missed Uploaded nothing — computed in the tab
Numbers above are sample data produced by the tool's own pre-loaded example, run in the browser — not averages or measured benchmarks.
What breaks this
Using remembered weightings moves the required score, sometimes past 100. Entering raw points instead of a percentage makes the weighting arithmetic wrong. Ignoring a hurdle requirement — some courses require a minimum on the final itself, which no overall average can compensate for.
Try it now
A 78% on 40% of the course with a 70% target is loaded, needing 64.67% on the final. Raise the target to 80 and watch the requirement pass 80%.
Open the calculator →Go deeper: the printable sheet
The calculation is free forever. The $4 one-time tier adds:
- Printable sheet — the required score and outcome table on one page — estimate: ~6 min saved rebuilding it as marks come in.
- Saved courses shelf — keep up to 10 courses in this browser — estimate: ~12 min saved across a term.
- Component planner — every remaining component weighted, not just the final — estimate: ~15 min saved doing it by hand.