Calculate high school GPA from each course’s grade points and credits. This tool shows a term’s unweighted and weighted GPA, combines the term with previous GPA credits, and works backward from a target cumulative GPA. Choose simple letter grades or enter your school’s own points, including plus/minus values.
Enter the grading policy before comparing GPAs
A 4.0 scale is a common example, not a national rule. College Board’s GPA guidance explains that schools and colleges may use different grade conversions and weighting. Start with your transcript or school handbook. If it gives grade points directly, choose the custom-points mode.
- Enter the courses you want included and the GPA credits for each course.
- Choose A/B/C/D/F values or enter actual grade points from your school.
- Enter any course bonus your policy awards. A bonus of 0 leaves the course unweighted.
- Use the term results by themselves, or add your previous GPA and the credits used to calculate it.
- For planning, enter future credits, a target GPA and the highest future GPA your policy allows.
GPA formula with course credits
GPA = Σ(grade points × credits) ÷ Σ(credits). This is a credit-weighted mean. A course carrying twice as many credits contributes twice as much to the GPA. The NIST weighted-mean formula provides the arithmetic; your school decides which points and credits belong in it.
For weighted GPA, the tool adds the bonus you entered to the course’s base points before multiplying by credits. It does not assume that every honors or AP course receives the same bonus. In particular, a failed advanced course may receive no bonus under your policy, so enter 0 when that applies.
Example 4.0 letter-grade values
| Letter | Base points |
|---|---|
| A | 4.0 |
| B | 3.0 |
| C | 2.0 |
| D | 1.0 |
| F | 0.0 |
These values are the calculator’s simple-letter preset. A percentage is not silently converted to a letter: a school’s cutoffs, rounding and plus/minus rules must be checked separately. UNC’s registrar provides one institutional plus/minus example in the sources below, but that university policy is not a universal high school policy.
Worked example with unequal credits
Suppose you have an A in a 1-credit course, a B in a 1-credit course, and a C in a half-credit course. The quality points are 4 × 1 + 3 × 1 + 2 × 0.5 = 8. Divide by 2.5 credits to get 3.2 GPA. The simple average of 4, 3 and 2 is 3.0, which would incorrectly give the half-credit course the same influence as the full-credit courses.
If your school awards a hypothetical 0.5-point bonus to the A course, weighted quality points become 8.5 and weighted GPA becomes 8.5 ÷ 2.5 = 3.4. This bonus is an example of the control, not a recommendation for your school’s policy.
Cumulative GPA and previous terms
Cumulative GPA = (previous GPA × previous credits + new quality points) ÷ total credits. For a previous GPA of 3.0 over 10 credits and a new term of 3.2 over 2.5 credits, the result is (30 + 8) ÷ 12.5 = 3.04. Averaging the two GPAs would give 3.1 and ignore that the previous record contains more credits.
Use the same weighting policy for previous and current points. Combining an old unweighted GPA with a newly weighted term produces a mixed measure. A rounded previous GPA can also introduce a small difference compared with a transcript that retains full precision internally.
What GPA do I need next term?
Required future GPA = [target × (current credits + future credits) − current GPA × current credits] ÷ future credits. This is the cumulative formula rearranged. With 3.0 over 10 credits, a target of 3.2 after 5 additional credits requires (3.2 × 15 − 3 × 10) ÷ 5 = 3.6 in those future credits.
If the required result exceeds the maximum you entered, the target cannot be reached with that many future credits under that policy. A result of zero or less means the target is already secured even if the future average is zero. The maximum must match your policy; a weighted scale may have a different ceiling from an unweighted scale.
Courses to leave out or treat differently
Pass/fail, withdrawn, repeated, incomplete and transfer courses can have special rules. Include only the courses and attempts your school includes in GPA. Do not replace a failed course’s grade with a later attempt unless the school explicitly does so. A course marked pass may carry graduation credit without GPA credit.
For grades within one course, use the module and weighted grade calculator. For an AP exam prediction, use the AP Stats grade calculator. AP exam scores, classroom grades and transcript GPA are different measures.
Frequently asked questions
Is weighted GPA always on a 5.0 scale?
No. Weighting and maximum points vary by school. Enter the points and bonuses in your school’s policy.
Does the tool support plus/minus grades?
Yes. Choose your school’s grade-points mode and enter the point value for each grade, rather than using the simple A/B/C/D/F preset.
Should I average my semester GPAs?
Only if both use the same scale and the same GPA credit totals. Otherwise combine their quality points and credits.
Do AP exam scores count directly toward GPA?
Usually the classroom course grade is the GPA input. Your school decides course weighting; the AP exam’s 1–5 score is a separate result.
What if a target requires more than 4.0?
Compare it with your policy’s maximum future GPA. A target above that maximum is not reachable in the entered future credits.
Why does this differ from my transcript?
Check excluded courses, credits, course bonuses, repeats, rounding and the school’s conversion scale. The transcript remains the authoritative record.
Sources & method
- College Board BigFuture — GPA on a 4.0 scale and school policy differences
- UNC Registrar — grade points and excluded grades (institutional example)
- NIST DATAPLOT — weighted mean, equation 2-20
Results are estimates for general information. Found an error? It helps everyone — see our methodology.