Help Guides
Building a grading scale
How many points does a B take? A grading scale answers that once, before you start marking. This guide shows how to set the cut-offs and round them fairly, works out the point boundaries for your next test with the calculator, and saves the scale in Context Grade.
Set the boundaries
Choose your percentage cut-offs
Decide, for each grade, the share of the maximum score it starts at – say 90% for an A. The percentages are rarely fixed by law; they usually come from your school, department or exam board. Ask your colleagues first: parallel classes graded on the same scale are easier to compare and to explain.
Turn them into points and round up
Convert each cut-off into points. 90% of 48 points is 43.2 – a student with 43 points has not reached it, so the A starts at 44. Round the boundary up, never the score a student earned. If you give half points, work in half steps: the A then starts at 43.5.
Fix it in advance and share it
Finish the scale before you mark the first paper, and print it on the test or under the result. Students who know the scale understand their grade – and you never have to defend a boundary you moved afterwards. The cut-off that matters most is the pass mark: choose it deliberately.
Work out your point boundaries
| Grade | from % | Points |
|---|---|---|
| A | 90 | 44 – 48 |
| B | 80 | 39 – 43 |
| C | 70 | 34 – 38 |
| D | 60 | 29 – 33 |
| F | 0 | 0 – 28 |
Change any cut-off; point boundaries are rounded up. A dash (–) means no points are left for that grade at this maximum score. The GCSE-style option is an even 10% split for classroom tests – real GCSE boundaries are set by the exam boards for each paper.
Keep this scale in your gradebook. Context Grade turns points into grades with the scale you set here, for every test and every class - free for teachers.
Start for freeSave it as a scale
Open Grading Setup
In Context Grade a grading scale is simply a scale. Open Grading Setup in the sidebar. You see the ready-made scales – US letter grades, GCSE, the Austrian and German scales and more – next to your own.
Create a scale and add its grades
Under Column & Custom Scales, click Create Scale. Enter a Scale Name and use Add Grade Level to add each grade with its minimum percentage – from the best grade down. The thresholds must go down from top to bottom; the editor checks as you type. Then click Save Scale.
Create Scale → Add Grade Level → Save ScaleUse it for one column or a whole class
A custom scale works for a single grade column – or for the whole class: open Edit Structure in the gradebook and pick it under Active Grading Scale.
Gradebook → Edit Structure → Active Grading ScaleType the points – the grade follows
In Edit Structure, set the Entry mode to Points and enter the column's maximum under Max points (left empty, it counts out of 100). From then on you only type the points a student earned, and the gradebook turns them into a grade with your scale. The AI Batch Grader gets your scale too and suggests grades by it.