How to use the curved grading quota calculator
When a course is graded on a curve, the number of A grades is fixed as a share of the class rather than by a score. That is why the same raw performance lands differently in a seminar of 30 and a lecture of 200: the quota moves with the class size. This page converts the A and B percentages your department uses into head counts, and if you enter your rank it says which band that rank sits in.
Each quota starts as class size times the percentage, divided by 100. How the leftover fraction is handled differs by department, so you can choose rounding down, standard rounding or rounding up; quotas are normally rounded down. If the rounded A and B quotas together exceed the class, the B quota is trimmed to fit and that adjustment is stated. A class of 40 with a 30 percent A share works out to exactly 12.00, so it is 12 students under any of the three rules.
Percentages and rounding rules come from a department policy or a syllabus, so every figure here is entered by you. This page converts a share into a count and places a rank in a band. It does not handle ties at a quota boundary, courses that switch to absolute grading, pass/fail grading or repeat limits, and the instructor and the registrar set the grades that actually appear.
Frequently Asked Questions
The quota works out to exactly 12.00 students, so all three rounding rules give 12. A rank of 12 or better falls in the A band.
A quota is normally kept at or under the stated share, so the fraction is dropped. If your department rounds or rounds up instead, switch the rule and recalculate.
Tie handling is not covered here. When several students share the score at a quota boundary, the department policy decides the outcome.