What if I get 100% on the final? Your best possible grade
A perfect exam sets your ceiling, and the ceiling is often lower than people expect. At 76% with a final worth 35%, scoring 100 finishes the course at 84.4% — a B, not an A. The B itself needs 96. Knowing the ceiling first tells you which targets are worth chasing.
Common plus/minus convention; many schools use straight letters or different cut points.
You need 96% on the final.
That is within reach — the final is worth 35% of your grade.
🔢 Show the math
- Work graded so far covers 65% of the course; 35% is still to come.
- Points already banked: 76% × 65% = 49.4 points of the 100 available.
- To finish at 83% you still need 33.6 points from the remaining 35%.
- 33.6 ÷ 35 × 100 = 96% on what is left.
What you need, at every current grade
With a final worth 35% of your course grade and a B (83% on a plus-minus scale) as the goal, this is the score you need on the final from each starting point:
| Current grade | You need on the final | Reachable? |
|---|---|---|
| 89% | 71.9% | Yes |
| 84% | 81.1% | Yes |
| 80% | 88.6% | Yes |
| 76% | 96.0% | Yes |
| 71% | 105.3% | Not with this final alone |
| 63% | 120.1% | Not with this final alone |
Grading scales vary by institution — your school's own table and syllabus govern. Conversions shown here follow common published conventions.
Frequently asked questions
How is the best possible grade calculated?
Take the points already banked and add the full weight of the final. At 76% with 65% of the course graded, 49.4 points are banked; adding all 35 remaining points gives 84.4. Anything above that figure is unreachable no matter how the exam goes, which makes it the first number to check.
Why is a perfect score not enough for an A?
Because a perfect score only fills the slice of the grade the exam controls. The other 65% stays fixed at 76, and blending 76 with 100 in a 65:35 ratio lands at 84.4. An A would have needed about 84.6 going into the final — the shortfall was set weeks before the exam room.
Is aiming for a perfect score sensible?
As a revision strategy it rarely is, because the last few marks cost more effort than the first thirty and often turn on question choice. Aim instead at a score with margin above the one your target actually requires, then spend the remaining hours on a course where the same effort moves more.
What if the exam offers bonus questions?
Some papers allow a mark above the nominal maximum, which lifts the ceiling calculated here. Check whether the bonus adds to your exam mark or to the course total, since the first is scaled by the final's weight and the second is not. The syllabus or the exam rubric will say which applies.
Other targets
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