What the easy grader does
The easy grader turns the length of a test into a grading chart. Type how many questions a test has and every possible score appears at once: number wrong, number right, percent and letter grade. With a 20-question quiz you can see at a glance that 3 wrong is 85%, a B, without reaching for a calculator for each paper.
Teachers have long used printed slide charts for this job, and many people still call any such chart an "EZ grader". This page is an independent, free version of the same idea, and it also works as a grading calculator for point-based tests, half-credit answers and your school's own letter scale. It is a test grade calculator, a quiz grade calculator and a printable grade scale in one place.
How to use it
- Choose Questions if every question is worth one point, or Points if the test is scored out of a point total, such as 40 or 100.
- Type the number of questions or total points, up to 500.
- Pick how percentages are rounded: nearest whole percent (the default), nearest tenth, or not rounded.
- Switch on Half-point steps if you give half credit. The chart then adds rows for 0.5, 1.5, 2.5 and so on.
- Use Quick lookup for a single paper. Type how many a student missed, or switch to number right, and the matching row is highlighted in the chart.
- Check the letter grade scale at the bottom and change it if your school uses different cut-offs.
- Print chart gives a clean black-on-white page to keep next to a stack of tests. Copy chart pastes into a spreadsheet, and Download CSV saves a file.
How each row is calculated
Every row uses one formula:
percent = (total − wrong) ÷ total × 100
On a 20-question test each question is worth 100 ÷ 20 = 5%. A student who misses 3 has 17 right, and 17 ÷ 20 × 100 = 85%. On the standard scale, 85% falls in the B band (80 to 89), so the row reads 3 – 17 – 85% – B.
Most test lengths do not divide 100 evenly. On a 30-question test each question is worth about 3.33%, so missing 4 gives 26 ÷ 30 × 100 = 86.666…%. Rounded to the nearest whole number that is 87%; to the nearest tenth it is 86.7%. Both are a B.
Above the chart, the cut-off summary answers the question teachers ask most: how many can a student miss and still get each grade? For 20 questions on the standard scale it reads A 0–2 wrong, B 3–4, C 5–6, D 7–8 and F 9 or more.
Rounding decides the borderline grades
Rounding only matters near a cut-off, but there it can change the letter. Take a 100-point test where you deduct half points, and a student loses 10.5 points:
(100 − 10.5) ÷ 100 × 100 = 89.5%
nearest whole percent: 90% -> A
nearest tenth: 89.5% -> B
no rounding: 89.5% -> B
The grader rounds halves up, so 89.5 becomes 90. Letter grades are always read from the percent the chart shows, so if you choose whole-percent rounding, that 89.5 counts as an A. Some schools and teachers never round a test score, and some round only the final course grade. Choose the setting that matches your written policy, and use the same one for every student.
The effect is larger on short tests. On a 12-word spelling test each word is worth 8.33%. One wrong is 91.67%, which rounds to 92%, an A. Two wrong is 83.33%, which rounds to 83%, a B. No rounding choice can produce an 88 or a 90 on that test, because those scores do not exist with 12 questions.
Letter grade scales
Three presets cover common US school scales, and you can type any other:
| Preset | A | B | C | D | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (10-point) | 90+ | 80–89 | 70–79 | 60–69 | below 60 |
| 7-point | 93+ | 85–92 | 77–84 | 70–76 | below 70 |
| With + and − | A+ 97, A 93, A- 90 | B+ 87, B 83, B- 80 | C+ 77, C 73, C- 70 | D+ 67, D 63, D- 60 | below 60 |
Edit any letter or minimum and the scale switches to Custom. A score gets the highest grade whose minimum it reaches, and the last grade covers everything below. Minimums can have one decimal, such as 89.5 if your policy puts the A line there. Outside the US, grading bands vary by country, school and exam board; type the bands you use, or replace the letters with numbers or words such as Pass and Merit.
With plus and minus grades, a short test cannot reach every band. On 20 questions each question moves the score 5 points, so the chart shows A+, A, A-, then B, B-, and no B+ at all. The cut-off summary marks those grades as not reachable.
Grading chart for a 20-question test
| Wrong | Right | Percent | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 20 | 100% | A |
| 1 | 19 | 95% | A |
| 2 | 18 | 90% | A |
| 3 | 17 | 85% | B |
| 4 | 16 | 80% | B |
| 5 | 15 | 75% | C |
| 6 | 14 | 70% | C |
| 7 | 13 | 65% | D |
| 8 | 12 | 60% | D |
| 9 | 11 | 55% | F |
| 10 | 10 | 50% | F |
From 11 wrong down to all 20 wrong the percent keeps falling by 5 each row, from 45% to 0%, all F on the standard scale.
Classroom examples
A 25-question vocabulary quiz. Each question is 4%, so the chart moves in clean steps: 2 wrong is 92% (A), 3 wrong is 88% (B) and 6 wrong is 76% (C).
A 50-point lab report with half credit. Turn on half-point steps. Losing 3.5 points gives 93%, an A, and losing 5.5 gives 89%, a B. Each half point is worth 1% on this test.
A test with mixed point values. Ten multiple-choice questions at 2 points and four short answers at 5 points make 40 points. Switch to Points and type 40. A student who loses 7 points has 33 ÷ 40 × 100 = 82.5%, which rounds to 83%, a B.
A 40-question test with half credit. Missing two questions and getting half credit on a third is 2.5 wrong: 37.5 ÷ 40 × 100 = 93.75%, shown as 94% with whole-number rounding.
Students checking their own score. Switch the lookup to number right, type the score from the top of the paper and read the percent and letter.
Tips and common mistakes
- Count the questions you actually graded. If you drop a flawed question, grade out of the new total. A 20-question test with one thrown out is graded out of 19.
- Blank answers are wrong answers. Count them in the number missed, or the percent will be too high.
- Average percents, not letters. Two tests at 89% and 79% average 84%, a B. Averaging the letters B and C gives a vague "B/C".
- Extra credit sits outside this chart. The chart stops at 100%. Add bonus points in your gradebook rather than raising the total.
- Keep one rule all year. Switching between rounding methods mid-term makes grades hard to defend to students and parents.
- For other percent questions, such as percentage change between two tests, use the percentage calculator.
Privacy and limitations
The grader runs entirely in your browser and never asks for student names. Nothing is uploaded. Your settings, such as the test length and a custom scale, are saved in this browser's local storage so they are still there next time, and clearing site data removes them.
Tests can have 1 to 500 questions or points, in whole numbers. Partial credit goes down to half points; quarter points are not supported. Percentages are based only on the total you enter, so weighting categories (homework 20%, tests 50%) needs your gradebook. This page is not affiliated with any company that sells printed grading charts.
Frequently asked questions
How do I work out a test grade from the number wrong?
Subtract the number wrong from the total, divide by the total and multiply by 100. On a 20-question test with 3 wrong, (20 − 3) ÷ 20 × 100 = 85%, which is a B on the standard scale. The easy grader does this for every possible score at once, so you can read each paper straight off the chart instead of repeating the sum.
How many can a student miss on a 20-question test and still pass?
With the standard scale, where D starts at 60%, a student can miss up to 8 of 20 questions: 12 right is exactly 60%. To earn at least a C (70%) they can miss 6, for a B (80%) 4, and for an A (90%) 2. If your school's passing mark is 70%, a D does not count as passing, so check your own policy. The cut-off line above the chart shows these limits for any test length.
Is this the same as an E-Z Grader slide chart?
No. E-Z Grader is the brand name of a printed slide chart, and this page is not connected with it. E-Z Grader is a trademark of its owner. People often call any grading chart an EZ grader, and the math is the same: percent equals right answers divided by total questions. This version is free, runs in your browser, handles half points and point totals, and lets you set your own letter scale and print the chart.
Should 89.5% round up to an A?
Only if your grading policy rounds. With whole-percent rounding, the grader rounds halves up, so 89.5% shows as 90% and earns an A on a 90-point A line. With rounding to a tenth, or no rounding, it stays 89.5% and is a B. Schools differ: some round every test, some only the final grade and some never round. Pick the setting that matches your written policy and apply it to every student.
How do half points work in the chart?
Turn on half-point steps and the chart adds a row for every half point lost: 0.5, 1.5, 2.5 and so on. On a 40-question test, 2 wrong plus half credit on a third is 2.5 wrong, so 37.5 ÷ 40 × 100 = 93.75%, shown as 94% with whole-number rounding. Quick lookup accepts halves too, written as 2.5 or 2,5.
Can I grade a test where questions are worth different points?
Yes. Switch to Points and enter the test's total. Ten questions at 2 points and four at 5 points make 40 points. A student who loses 7 points scores 33 ÷ 40 × 100 = 82.5%, which rounds to 83%, a B. The chart then lists every possible number of points lost, in whole or half points, with its percent and letter.
Can I use my school's own grading scale?
Yes. Pick the standard, plus-and-minus or 7-point preset, or edit the letters and minimum percentages directly; the scale switches to Custom. You can add or remove grades, use one decimal such as 89.5, or replace letters with words like Pass and Merit. The last grade always covers every score below the others. Your scale is saved in this browser for next time.