Final exam worth 20%: what score do I need?
If your final is worth 20% of your grade and you have a 78% going in, you need 88.00% on the final to finish with 80%. Full table for every current grade and target.
Each final-exam point is worth 0.2 course-grade points. Assumes the final is the only remaining grade.
| Current grade | Target 60% | Target 70% | Target 80% | Target 90% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50% | 100.00% | 150.00% | 200.00% | 250.00% |
| 55% | 80.00% | 130.00% | 180.00% | 230.00% |
| 60% | 60.00% | 110.00% | 160.00% | 210.00% |
| 65% | 40.00% | 90.00% | 140.00% | 190.00% |
| 70% | 20.00% | 70.00% | 120.00% | 170.00% |
| 75% | 0% | 50.00% | 100.00% | 150.00% |
| 80% | 0% | 30.00% | 80.00% | 130.00% |
| 85% | 0% | 10.00% | 60.00% | 110.00% |
| 90% | 0% | 0% | 40.00% | 90.00% |
| 95% | 0% | 0% | 20.00% | 70.00% |
| 100% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 50.00% |
above 100% (not reachable without extra credit) · 90% or higher · already secured
What a 20% final means
The rest of your course, 80% of the grade, is already locked in. Your current grade carries 4 times the weight of the final. A strong final can lift you about one letter grade; it cannot usually rescue a failing semester on its own.
Worked example
Current grade 78%, final worth 20%, target 80%. Required score = (80 − 78 × 0.80) ÷ 0.20 = 88.00%. Scoring exactly that on the final gives (78 × 0.80) + (88.00 × 0.20) = 80.00%.
Check these before you trust the table
- Your current grade excludes the final.
- The final is its own weight in the syllabus, not part of a larger exam category.
- No drop or replacement rule applies to the final.