How to use the score gap calculator
When you want to pull a grade up on the next test, the first thing worth knowing is exactly how many points you are short. Enter your current score and the cutoff for the grade you are aiming at, and this calculator works out the points still needed. Add the points each question is worth and it also converts that gap into a number of questions.
The cutoff is something you type in yourself rather than something built in. Grade boundaries are set by the school, the syllabus or the exam board, so an A may start at 90 in one course and 93 in another, and curved exams only settle their boundaries after everyone has sat the paper. Take the figure from your syllabus, score report or teacher.
The test is at or above the cutoff. A score exactly equal to the cutoff counts as reached, not missed, and in that case the points still needed show as 0 points with a margin of 0.00 points. Points still needed and extra questions are both rounded up, because rounding down would leave you fractionally under the line; gaining the number shown always clears it. The exact gap is reported separately to two decimals.
Frequently asked questions
Cutoffs are set by the school, the course syllabus or the exam board, and they are not the same everywhere. An A can start at 90, 93 or a curved score, so the calculator uses the cutoff that applies to your test rather than a built-in table.
Yes. A cutoff means that score and above, so landing exactly on it counts as reached. The points still needed then show as 0 points and the margin as 0.00 points.
Rounding down would leave you just under the cutoff. Rounding up means that gaining exactly the number shown always puts you at or above the cutoff.