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Semester Grade Calculator
Combine two quarter grades and a final exam into your semester grade.
StudentsSemester grade with a 20% exam weight
In many US high schools the semester grade is built from two quarters plus a semester exam, often weighted 40% for each quarter and 20% for the exam. This calculator follows that structure: enter your two quarter percentages and the exam score, adjust the exam weight if your school uses a different split, and see the semester percentage and letter grade. Leave the exam score blank by entering the score you are aiming for to plan ahead.
How to use the Semester Grade Calculator
- Enter your first quarter percentage.
- Enter your second quarter percentage.
- Enter your semester exam score, or the score you are targeting.
- Set the exam weight used by your school, then read your semester grade.
Formula
Equivalently, with a 20% exam: Semester = Q1 x 0.40 + Q2 x 0.40 + Exam x 0.20. The quarter average carries 80% of the grade between the two quarters.
Worked example
Quarter 1 is 84%, Quarter 2 is 88%, and the exam, worth 20%, is scored at 79%. Semester grade = (84 + 88) / 2 x 0.80 + 79 x 0.20 = 86 x 0.80 + 15.8 = 68.8 + 15.8 = 84.6%, a B. A stronger exam of 95% would have produced 87.8%, a B+.
Good to know
Because the two quarters carry most of the weight, the semester exam rarely rescues or ruins a grade on its own; with a 20% exam, even a perfect score can only add a few points to the quarter average. The exception is a school that also requires a minimum exam score to pass the semester, which some districts do. If your school calculates the semester as a straight average of three numbers (Q1, Q2, exam) instead, set the exam weight to about 33% to reproduce that method.
US grading scale reference
The table below is the US plus/minus scale used across this site. Where this tool offers other scales, the Canadian scale sets an A from 85% with a pass at 50%, and the Australian scale uses the bands HD (85%+), D (75-84%), C (65-74%), P (50-64%) and F (below 50%) on a 7.0 GPA.
| Letter grade | Percentage | GPA points |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | 97–100% | 4.0 |
| A | 93–96% | 4.0 |
| A- | 90–92% | 3.7 |
| B+ | 87–89% | 3.3 |
| B | 83–86% | 3.0 |
| B- | 80–82% | 2.7 |
| C+ | 77–79% | 2.3 |
| C | 73–76% | 2.0 |
| C- | 70–72% | 1.7 |
| D+ | 67–69% | 1.3 |
| D | 63–66% | 1.0 |
| D- | 60–62% | 0.7 |
| F | 0–59% | 0.0 |
Frequently asked questions
How is a semester grade calculated?
Most schools weight the two quarters at 40% each and the semester exam at 20%, then add the three weighted parts. This calculator uses that structure with an adjustable exam weight.
What exam score do I need for an A semester grade?
Try exam scores until the semester grade reaches 90%, or use the Final Grade Calculator with your quarter average as the current grade, 90% as the target and your exam weight.
My school uses trimesters. Can I still use this?
Set the two term grades as the quarters and treat the final assessment as the exam with its weight. For three equal terms with no separate exam, a simple average of the three is closer.
Do semester grades go on my transcript?
In most US high schools, yes: the semester (or year) grade is the credit-bearing grade that feeds the cumulative GPA, while quarter grades are progress snapshots.
What if one quarter is much lower than the other?
The formula averages them, so a weak quarter costs half its gap. A 70% quarter beside a 90% quarter behaves like two 80% quarters before the exam is added.
Go deeper
Prefer the full walkthrough? Read our guide: How to Calculate Your Final Grade — it explains the method step by step with more worked examples.
Sources & further reading
- College Board BigFuture — How to Calculate Your GPA on a 4.0 Scale — The most widely cited US reference for letter-grade to 4.0-scale conversion.
- National Center for Education Statistics (US Department of Education) — Official US education data on grading, attainment and outcomes.
Related tools
Last reviewed: November 2026. Results from this calculator are estimates based on the published scales above; your school's recorded grade is the official one.