Letter Grade Calculator
Type in a percentage — or your points earned out of the total — and instantly see your letter grade, your GPA points, and exactly how far you are from the next letter up. Free to use, with no login required.
What Is Your Letter Grade?
Use the percentage tab if you already know your score as a percent, or the points tab if you know how many points you earned out of the total possible.
Scale: A+ 97–100, A 93–<97, A− 90–<93, B+ 87–<90, B 83–<87, B− 80–<83, C+ 77–<80, C 73–<77, C− 70–<73, D+ 67–<70, D 63–<67, D− 60–<63, F below 60. Grade points: A+/A 4.0, A− 3.7, B+ 3.3, B 3.0, B− 2.7, C+ 2.3, C 2.0, C− 1.7, D+ 1.3, D 1.0, D− 0.7, F 0.0.
You got a number back — 85%, 43 out of 50, 92.5 — and the first question is always the same: what letter grade is that? This calculator answers it in one step, and it answers the two questions that always follow: how many GPA points is it worth, and how far are you from the next letter up? Type a percentage, or your points earned out of the total, and you will see all three answers at once.
How to Use the Letter Grade Calculator
- Pick a tab. Choose Percentage if you already know your score as a percent (for example, 85), or Points Earned if you know your raw score (for example, 45 out of 50).
- Enter your score. One number for the percentage tab; two numbers — earned and total — for the points tab.
- Press “Get My Letter Grade.” You will see your letter grade, the GPA points it is worth on the standard 4.0 scale, and the exact distance to the next letter up — in percentage points, and in raw points too when you used the points tab.
The Formula
Converting a score to a letter grade is two steps, and the calculator does both for you.
Step 2 — letterMatch the percentage to the letter-grade scale below.
If you already have a percentage, step 1 is done and the only work is the lookup. That is why teachers can grade a whole stack of tests with a chart: the percentage is the only number that matters, and the scale turns it into a letter.
Example Letter-Grade Scale
This is the standard plus/minus scale used across this site and by most US schools. One honest caveat, repeated across this site: the letter grade depends on your school’s own scale — these are standard values, and your school’s official grade is what counts on your transcript. Some schools use a straight 90/80/70/60 scale with no plus or minus, and some shift the cutoffs by a point or two.
| Letter Grade | Percentage Range | Grade Points |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | 97–100 | 4.0 |
| A | 93–<97 | 4.0 |
| A− | 90–<93 | 3.7 |
| B+ | 87–<90 | 3.3 |
| B | 83–<87 | 3.0 |
| B− | 80–<83 | 2.7 |
| C+ | 77–<80 | 2.3 |
| C | 73–<77 | 2.0 |
| C− | 70–<73 | 1.7 |
| D+ | 67–<70 | 1.3 |
| D | 63–<67 | 1.0 |
| D− | 60–<63 | 0.7 |
| F | below 60 | 0.0 |
Worked Examples
Example 1: 85% → B, 3.0 GPA points
85% falls in the B band (83% up to 87%), so the letter grade is a B, worth 3.0 grade points. The next letter up is B+ at 87%, so you are 2 percentage points away — on a 100-point test, that is 2 more points (87/100 = 87%). On a 50-point test the same gap is a single point: 44/50 = 88%, already a B+.
Example 2: 92.5% → A−, 3.7 GPA points
92.5% sits in the A− band (90% up to 93%), so the grade is an A− worth 3.7 points. The next letter up is a plain A at 93%, just 0.5 percentage points away — the closest possible miss. On a 200-point exam, half a percent is a single point.
Example 3: 45 out of 50 → 90% → A−
First the percentage: 45 ÷ 50 × 100 = 90%. On this scale 90% is the very bottom of the A− band, so the grade is an A− worth 3.7 points. This is the most argued-about score in school, because on a scale with no plus/minus grades, 90% is a plain A — see our full walkthrough of what grade 18/20 is, which is the same 90% on a 20-question test.
Example 4: 17 out of 20 → 85% → B
17 ÷ 20 × 100 = 85%, a B worth 3.0 points. The B+ boundary is 87%, so you are 2 points away — and on a 20-question test, each question is worth 5%, so one more correct answer (18/20 = 90%) would have jumped you past B+ entirely and landed on an A−. Short tests punish and reward in big steps; our test grade calculator shows the full chart for any test size.
How Far Are You From the Next Letter?
The calculator’s third answer is the one students actually use most, because it turns a grade into a target. The table below shows the gap from the bottom of each band to the next letter up — the distance you would need to close to move one band higher.
| Your Grade | Next Letter Up | Gap to Close |
|---|---|---|
| F (below 60) | D− (60%) | depends on your score |
| D− (60–<63) | D (63%) | up to 3 points |
| D (63–<67) | D+ (67%) | up to 4 points |
| D+ (67–<70) | C− (70%) | up to 3 points |
| C− (70–<73) | C (73%) | up to 3 points |
| C (73–<77) | C+ (77%) | up to 4 points |
| C+ (77–<80) | B− (80%) | up to 3 points |
| B− (80–<83) | B (83%) | up to 3 points |
| B (83–<87) | B+ (87%) | up to 4 points |
| B+ (87–<90) | A− (90%) | up to 3 points |
| A− (90–<93) | A (93%) | up to 3 points |
| A (93–<97) | A+ (97%) | up to 4 points |
| A+ (97–100) | — | top of the scale |
Two things worth noticing. First, the gaps are small — never more than 4 percentage points — which is why a single point on a short test can move your letter grade. Second, the gap is measured from your score, not from the bottom of the band: an 86% is only 1 point from a B+, while an 83% is 4 points away. The calculator gives you your exact number, not the band’s worst case.
What Each Letter Grade Means for Your GPA
Every letter grade carries grade points, and those points are what a GPA is made of. An A and an A+ are both worth 4.0 on the standard scale — the plus does not add points, it just marks the top of the A range. The steps that matter most are the ones around the middle: a B (3.0) to a B+ (3.3) is a 0.3 jump, and a C (2.0) to a C+ (2.3) is the same. Over a full semester of courses, those 0.3 steps add up fast: five B’s average to a 3.0, but five B+’s average to a 3.3.
If you want to see how a set of letter grades combines into one number, use our GPA calculator — enter each course’s letter grade and it averages the points for you. And if you want to know whether your GPA is actually good, our guide to what counts as a good GPA gives the benchmarks by school level.
Percentage or Points — Which Tab Should You Use?
Use the percentage tab when your teacher already gave you a percent, or when you are checking a grade from a system that reports percentages. Use the points tab when you have the raw score — 43 out of 50, 17 out of 20, 88 out of 100 — because the calculator then also tells you how many raw points you need for the next letter, which is the number that actually helps you plan. A student who knows they need “2 more points” can aim at two specific questions; a student who only knows they need “2 percent” cannot.
One special case: extra credit. If extra credit pushed your earned points above the total possible, the points tab will refuse the input — that is deliberate. Use the percentage tab instead, and remember that most schools cap the recorded grade at 100% even when the raw math goes above it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I convert a percentage to a letter grade?
Match the percentage to your school’s scale. On the standard plus/minus scale used here, 90–92% is an A−, 87–89% is a B+, 83–86% is a B, 80–82% is a B−, and so on down to 60% for a D− and below 60% for an F. Type the percentage into the calculator above and it does the lookup for you, including the GPA points.
What letter grade is 85%?
On the standard scale, 85% is a B (the B band runs 83% up to 87%), worth 3.0 GPA points. On a school that uses a straight 90/80/70/60 scale with no plus/minus grades, 85% is also a B. It takes 87% to reach a B+, so an 85% is 2 points short of the next letter up.
Is 90% an A or an A−?
It depends on the scale. On the plus/minus scale used here, 90% is an A− (the A band starts at 93%). On a straight 90/80/70/60 scale with no plus or minus, 90% is a plain A. Neither answer is wrong — it is your school’s scale that decides. If you are unsure which scale your school uses, ask your teacher or check the syllabus; the difference is 0.3 GPA points.
What if my school uses a different grading scale?
Then use your school’s cutoffs with the same method: percentage first, then the lookup. Some schools start A at 93% and A− at 90% (like this one), others start A at 90% with no plus/minus, and some use 92/85/77 cutoffs. The calculator’s result is only as official as the scale behind it — your school’s published scale always wins.
Does an A+ count as 4.0 or 4.3?
On the standard 4.0 scale, an A+ is worth 4.0 — the same as an A. A few schools use a 4.3 scale where an A+ is 4.3, and some weighted high-school scales go higher still for AP courses, but the unweighted 4.0 standard caps at 4.0. If your transcript shows a GPA above 4.0, it is a weighted GPA, not an A+ bonus — our high school GPA calculator explains the difference.
Check Any Score in Seconds
A percentage is just a number until it meets a scale — then it becomes a letter, a GPA value, and a distance to the next grade. This calculator gives you all three at once, for any score, in any subject. If the score came from a test, our test grade calculator shows the full wrong-answer chart for that test size, and our guide to calculating GPA shows how the grade points turn into your semester GPA. You can find every tool in one place on the grade calculators hub.
Got an 85%? See whether 85% is a good grade.