How much can one assessment actually move my grade?

Enter what your grade already stands at from everything else, and this one assessment's weight. This shows the full best-case and worst-case range it can cause.

Need your next decision? Final Weight Sensitivity

How we calculated this

This evaluates the weighted aggregate at the two extremes of this one assessment: a score of 0% and a score of 100%. Using the example values above (64% locked in from everything else, 20% weight on this assessment), a zero gives 64%, a perfect score gives 84%, and the full span this assessment controls is exactly its weight, 20 points.

Limitations

This shows the mathematical range only, not a likely outcome. It also assumes everything else in the course stays fixed, which is only true once that other work is actually graded.

Common mistakes

A frequent error is entering the "contribution from everything else" figure as a percentage of the remaining course rather than an absolute number of points toward the final grade; the two are easy to confuse when a course has several categories, so recompute it with Current Weighted Course Grade first if you are not certain.

Frequently asked

Why does the span always equal the weight?: Because moving a score from 0% to 100% on a piece worth W% of the course moves the overall grade by exactly W points, by definition of a weighted average.
How is this different from the weight-sensitivity tool?: Final Weight Sensitivity compares different possible weights for a final; this tool holds the weight fixed and shows the score range instead.
Is the midpoint of the range a realistic expectation?: Not necessarily; the range shows mathematical extremes, not a probability-weighted guess. Use Course Grade After the Next Assessment with your actual expected score for a more grounded number.
Does this work for a category weight instead of one assessment?: Yes; the same math applies whether the weight belongs to a single assessment or an entire category.
Why show a range instead of just my expected outcome?: A range establishes the true stakes before you commit to a study plan or a level of worry; an expected-outcome number alone can hide how much room there actually is on either side.

Next decision

To see how a specific expected score (not just the extremes) changes your grade, see Course Grade After the Next Assessment.