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Leave blank if the second grading period isn't over yet — the maths averages over what exists.

How your school weighs them

In order: Quarter 1 / Quarter 2 / Final Exam. The common pattern is 40/40/20 — check your student handbook.

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You need on the final
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Fill in the numbers above and the answer appears here as you type.

Standing before the final—
Your goal—

Semester Grade Calculator

Two quarters plus the final exam — the 40/40/20 semester grade, and what you need on the final.

How a semester grade is put together

Most US high schools compute the semester grade from the two grading periods plus the final exam, each with a fixed share. The most common split is 40 / 40 / 20 — each quarter counts 40%, the final counts 20% — but districts differ (45/45/10 and 42.5/42.5/15 both exist), so the weight boxes above stay editable. The split is printed in your student handbook or course syllabus.

Semester = Q1 × w₁ + Q2 × w₂ + Final × w₃
Q1 = 85, Q2 = 88 on a 40/40/20 split, aiming for a 90 semester grade: the quarters have banked 85×0.4 + 88×0.4 = 69.2 points. You need 90 − 69.2 = 20.8 more from a slot worth 20 — that's 104%, so a 90 is out of reach. An 89 needs 99%; an 88 needs 94%. The calculator above runs this the moment you type.

Only one quarter in the books?

Leave the second box blank. The calculator averages over the weight that actually exists, which answers the mid-semester version of the question: “what does the rest of the semester have to look like?”

Exam exemptions change everything

Many schools exempt seniors — or students above a grade threshold — from the final entirely. If you're exempt, the semester grade is just the weighted average of the quarters, and the whole “what do I need” question disappears. Exemption rules are school policy; check before you spend finals week panicking over an exam you may not take.

College classes rarely use quarter/semester splits — they weight by category instead. For those, use the final grade calculator's weighted tab.

Frequently asked questions

My school uses 45/45/10, not 40/40/20.Type your split into the three weight boxes — the preset is only a starting point. The math is identical for any split.
Do semester grades or quarter grades go on my transcript?Usually the semester grade is what transcripts and GPA use, with quarters as progress marks — but this is district policy, so check your handbook.
Letter thresholds and passing lines differ between schools — your syllabus always wins. This calculator assumes no dropped scores or replacement policies unless you model them yourself.
Written by The Editorial TeamUpdated July 20, 2026 · Scale sources are cited on every thresholdHow we research & review · About our team

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