How to use the percentile needed calculator
Once a target is fixed, the useful question narrows to one thing: what do the sections I have not taken yet have to come back as? Enter the target weighted percentile, the sections whose percentiles are already locked in with their weights, and the weights on the sections still ahead of you, and the average percentile those remaining sections need comes back straight away.
The figure is rounded up. If 84.2 is required, writing 84 misses the target, so the answer has to be the value that clears it; the unrounded number is printed next to it. A requirement of 0 or less means the target is already met even at the bottom of the scale on everything left, and anything above 100 means a perfect score on the rest would still fall short with the weights you gave.
The locked and remaining weights must total 100 within 0.01 pp. Beyond that, the calculator stops and shows the running total, which catches a mistyped weight before it distorts the answer. Weights belong to the program you are aiming at, so copy them from what it publishes.
This reverses a weighted average of percentiles and nothing more. Superscoring, score choice, bonus points and any index formula a specific program publishes are not applied, so treat the result as the arithmetic floor rather than a decision.
Frequently asked questions
Rounding down would give a figure that misses the target. A useful answer has to be one where hitting it clears the goal, so it is rounded up and the unrounded value is printed alongside it.
It means a perfect 100th percentile on every remaining section still would not reach the target with the weights you entered. Lowering the target or looking at programs that weight your stronger sections more heavily is the better move.
No. It reverses a weighted average of percentiles using the weights you supply. Bonus points, score choice policies and any index formula a specific program publishes are not applied.