A middle school GPA is the simplest GPA there is: letters to points, averaged, with no credits and usually no weighting. Students compute it because report cards carry it, because 9th grade placement often depends on 8th grade marks, and because the first high-school-credit course (Algebra 1 for many) is taken in middle school and does follow them. This page has the calculator, the scale and the two questions parents ask: does it count, and what is it for.
Download the middle school GPA sheet (PDF) (the 4.0 scale by letter and percentage on both grading scales, a worked example, a blank class table and what counts for high school; two pages, free).
The calculator
How it is calculated
- Each class gets the points for its letter: A 4.0, A- 3.7, B+ 3.3, B 3.0, B- 2.7, C+ 2.3, C 2.0, C- 1.7, D+ 1.3, D 1.0, F 0. (A+ is 4.0 in most schools, 4.3 in some.)
- Add the points and divide by the number of classes. Middle schools rarely assign credits, so each class counts once; where a school does use credits, the high school GPA calculator weights by them.
Worked example, six classes:
| Class | Grade | Points |
|---|---|---|
| English | A | 4.0 |
| Math | B+ | 3.3 |
| Science | A- | 3.7 |
| Social studies | B | 3.0 |
| Spanish | A | 4.0 |
| Art | C+ | 2.3 |
| Total | 20.3 |
GPA = 20.3 / 6 = 3.38, an average between B+ and A-. One step in one class (the C+ in Art to a B) would add 0.7 points, or 0.117 to the GPA.
The scale by letter and by percentage
Middle schools use one of the two scales below (or a 7-point scale, A from 93, in some private schools). The plus-minus scale is Buffalo Public Schools' published scale for grades 3 to 12; the 10-point scale without pluses is the North Carolina state scale, which districts may use below high school and many do.
| Percentage | Plus-minus letter (Buffalo Public Schools) | 4.0 points | 10-point letter (North Carolina) | 4.0 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 97-100 | A+ | 4.0 | A | 4.0 |
| 93-96 | A | 4.0 | A | 4.0 |
| 90-92 | A- | 3.7 | A | 4.0 |
| 87-89 | B+ | 3.3 | B | 3.0 |
| 83-86 | B | 3.0 | B | 3.0 |
| 80-82 | B- | 2.7 | B | 3.0 |
| 77-79 | C+ | 2.3 | C | 2.0 |
| 73-76 | C | 2.0 | C | 2.0 |
| 70-72 | C- | 1.7 | C | 2.0 |
| 67-69 | D+ | 1.3 | D | 1.0 |
| 65-66 | D | 1.0 | D | 1.0 |
| 60-64 | F | 0.0 | D | 1.0 |
| below 60 | F | 0.0 | F | 0.0 |
The calculator takes a letter or a percentage; a percentage is converted on the plus-minus scale, so enter the letter instead if your school uses the 10-point scale (an 80 is a B, 3.0, there, and a B-, 2.7, on the plus-minus scale).
Does it count?
For the high school GPA: usually not. The cumulative GPA on the high school transcript starts with 9th grade. The exception is any course taken in middle school for high school credit, most often Algebra 1, Geometry or the first year of a world language: many districts record it on the high school transcript with its grade, where it counts in the GPA, and some let families ask for it to be removed or retaken. Whether a course is "for high school credit" is a question to ask at enrollment, not at graduation.
For placement: yes. Honors and accelerated tracks in 9th grade are commonly set from 8th grade marks, teacher recommendations and a placement test, and the track sets the ceiling on the weighted GPA for four years (the weighted GPA calculator shows how much). A 7th and 8th grade GPA in mathematics and English is the main evidence in that decision.
For selective schools: sometimes. Selective public high schools, magnet programs and private schools ask for middle school transcripts, and some weight 7th and 8th grade GPA heavily.
For college: no, except through the two routes above.
What the number is for
A middle school GPA is a report of habits more than of ability, and its most useful reading is the trend by subject between 6th and 8th grade. A mathematics grade that goes A, B+, B across those years is the clearest early warning there is for 9th grade, where Algebra 1 or Geometry arrives with a real GPA attached and the 9th grade drop begins. The fix is cheap in 7th grade and expensive in 10th: a term of 1-on-1 work on the specific skills behind the slipping grade, usually fractions, negative numbers and equations in mathematics and sentence-level writing in English.
Download the middle school GPA sheet (PDF) (the scale by letter and percentage, the worked example, a blank class table and what counts for high school; two pages, free).
Where to get help
A 1-on-1 online class with a tutor who holds a master's in mathematics and teaches the US curriculum, Algebra 1 to AP Calculus, chemistry and physics, at 7 am before school, after 4 pm and on weekend mornings, US time, for US$10 to $13 an hour: the grade worked out above read together in the free 30-minute first class, the category or the course where five more points cost least found, and the term spent on exactly that. How online tutoring from India to the USA works, or the 1-on-1 online tutoring page.
Questions parents ask
1How do you calculate a middle school GPA?
2Does middle school GPA count for high school?
3Does middle school GPA matter for college?
4What is a good GPA in middle school?
5How do I convert percentages to GPA in middle school?
See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →
Shobha
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