Weighted Average Grade Calculator

Many UK university degrees weight modules by credit value. A standard undergraduate year comprises 120 credits, with modules typically worth 15, 20 or 30 credits each. Your weighted average is calculated by multiplying each module mark by its credit value, summing the results and dividing by the total credits. A weighted average differs from a simple one only in that the items count unequally, which is precisely the point, since a 30-credit module ought to move your average twice as far as a 15-credit one.

Degree classification is usually based on a weighted average across years, with later years counting more heavily. A common weighting is Year 2 at 33% and Year 3 at 67%, or Year 2 at 25% and Year 3 at 75%. Some institutions count all three years, while Oxford and Cambridge weight final-year examinations at 100% and treat the first year as qualifying only. Enter your module marks and credit values year by year and you get an average for each year and an overall figure on your institution's weighting, mapped to a First at 70% or above, a 2:1 at 60%, a 2:2 at 50%, a Third at 40% and a Pass at 35 to 39%.

The same arithmetic governs A-level papers, except that the weights come from the specification rather than from credits. AQA Maths splits into three papers at 33%, 33% and 34%. Marks of 80, 70 and 85 across those papers contribute 26.4, 23.1 and 28.9, giving a weighted total of 78.4%, against 78.3% from a plain average. The gap is narrow here because the weights are nearly equal, and it widens as soon as they are not.

Weights vary by subject and by board, so read the specification rather than assume. AQA Biology runs 33%, 33% and 34%, and so does Physics. OCR Chemistry is 37%, 37% and 26%. AQA English Literature puts 40% on each of two papers and 20% on the non-examined assessment. Modern languages typically weight writing at 50%, with speaking and listening at 25% each. Non-examined assessment across subjects generally falls somewhere between 10% and 30% of the total.

Knowing the weights changes where revision time ought to go. A paper carrying 50% deserves a proportionate share of it, and underperforming on a heavy component costs far more than the same slip on a light one. The useful move is to work backwards. With Paper 1 at 75 counting 40% and Paper 2 at 78 counting 30%, an overall 80% needs 88.7% on the remaining paper, which tells you quickly whether the target is still realistic and where the effort has to go.

Weighting turns up in plenty of other places across UK education. A Year 2 built from 10 modules of 30 credits and a Year 3 of eight 15-credit modules plus four at 30 credits are handled identically, by credit. Teachers weight current performance, trajectory and mock results when they produce UCAS predictions. Subjects are usually treated as equals for university entry, so AAB means three A-levels of the same standing, while an EPQ counts as half an A-level on the UCAS Tariff. BTEC units are weighted by credit count, and the International Baccalaureate works on a 7-point scale across six subjects plus theory of knowledge and the extended essay.