About the Percentage to Letter Grade Converter
This percentage to letter grade converter tells you what letter a test, assignment or course score earns and how many grade points that letter is worth on the 4.0 GPA scale. Enter the points you earned and the points possible (or a percentage out of 100), pick the grading scale your teacher uses, and you get the letter, the 4.0 value and how far you are from the next letter up.
It is built for students checking a grade before report cards come out, parents decoding an online gradebook, and teachers who want a quick reference. Four scales are included: the common US plus/minus scale (93 = A, 90 = A−, 87 = B+ and so on), the simple 10-point scale (90/80/70/60), the stricter 7-point scale used by some school districts (93/85/77/70), and a custom scale where you type your own A, B, C and D cutoffs.
Scores are not rounded before grading — an 89.6% stays a B+ on the plus/minus scale. Many teachers round to the nearest whole percent first, so check your syllabus if you are within half a point of a cutoff.
How to use the percentage to letter grade converter
- 1Enter the points you earned, or type your percentage and leave points possible at 100.
- 2Choose the grading scale from your syllabus — plus/minus, 10-point, 7-point or custom.
- 3For a custom scale, enter the minimum percentage for A, B, C and D.
- 4Read your letter grade and 4.0 grade points.
- 5Check how many points you need to reach the next letter up.
Formula and method
The converter first turns your raw score into a percentage. It then walks down the chosen scale from the top letter and returns the first letter whose minimum percentage your score meets or beats. The 4.0 grade points are the standard values for that letter (A = 4.0, A− = 3.7, B+ = 3.3, B = 3.0 and so on down to F = 0; A+ is capped at 4.0 as most colleges do).
The distance to the next letter is the next cutoff minus your percentage. Converting that back to raw points (gap × points possible ÷ 100) tells you how many more points you would need on the same assignment. No rounding is applied, so check whether your teacher rounds 89.5 up to 90.
- Points earned
- Your raw score
- Points possible
- Maximum score (100 for a percentage)
- Cutoff
- Minimum percentage for each letter on the chosen scale
Worked examples
What letter grade is 87%?
On the plus/minus scale, 87% sits in the B+ band (87–89.99), worth 3.3 grade points. The A− cutoff is 90%, so you are 3 percentage points — 3 raw points on a 100-point test — away from the next letter.
45 out of 52 on a 10-point scale
45 ÷ 52 = 86.54%, which falls between 80 and 90 on the simple 10-point scale, so it is a B worth 3.0 points. Reaching 90% would need 46.8 of 52 points — 1.8 more points.
92% on a strict 7-point scale
On the 7-point scale an A starts at 93%, so 92% is still a B (85–92.99) worth 3.0 points. The same score would be an A− on the plus/minus scale — the scale matters.
Custom scale with a 94% A
With cutoffs of 94/86/78/70, a 77% misses the C cutoff by one point, so it is a D worth 1.0 grade point. One more percentage point would lift it to a C.
Frequently asked questions
What letter grade is an 87?+
On the common plus/minus scale an 87% is a B+ (worth 3.3 on the 4.0 scale). On a simple 10-point scale it is a B, and on a 7-point scale it is also a B.
Is an 89.5 an A or a B?+
It depends on rounding. Without rounding, 89.5% is a B+ on the plus/minus scale. Many teachers and learning platforms round to the nearest whole percent, which would make it a 90% — an A−. Check your syllabus.
What is the difference between a 10-point and a 7-point grading scale?+
A 10-point scale gives an A from 90%, B from 80%, C from 70% and D from 60%. A 7-point scale is stricter: A from 93%, B from 85%, C from 77% and D from 70%, with anything below 70% failing.
How many grade points is an A−?+
An A− is worth 3.7 grade points on the standard 4.0 scale. A B+ is 3.3, a B is 3.0 and a B− is 2.7; each plus or minus moves the value by about 0.3.
Is an A+ worth more than 4.0?+
At most US colleges an A+ counts as 4.0, and the AMCAS medical school GPA also caps it at 4.0. Some schools award 4.33, and the LSAC law school GPA counts an A+ as 4.33, so check which system applies to you.