Attendance Grade Calculator
Rate mode: attendance as a weighted category
Penalty mode: points per absence
Some syllabi fail the course outright past a set count.
The two shapes, one example each
Rate mode with the defaults: attending 26 of 28 sessions is 92.9%, which earns 9.3 of the 10 points a 10%-weight attendance category carries — the two missed sessions have cost 0.7 points of the final grade. With the rest of the course averaging 84%, the overall sits at 84.9%: attendance is quietly helping. Penalty mode with its defaults: 5 absences against 2 free at 2 points each is 6 points off the final grade. Notice the two shapes price absences on different curves: the weighted category bills every miss from the first (10 ÷ 28 ≈ 0.36 points each here), while the penalty policy is free for two absences and then charges 2 points a miss — nothing, nothing, then steep. Which curve you are on is the entire reason to read the syllabus.
Questions
Which attendance policy does this tool assume?
Neither — it computes both common shapes and lets your syllabus pick. The rate mode treats attendance as a weighted category (attendance percent times the category weight). The penalty mode charges points per absence beyond a free allowance, with an optional automatic-failure line. Enter whichever numbers your syllabus publishes.
Where do these two policy shapes come from?
Both come from university teaching guides. DePaul's course-design guide covers grading participation as part of the course grade and gives a sample policy that marks the attendance grade down for each absence past the first; Montclair State's teaching resources suggest a penalty-free allowance, then an incremental penalty per additional absence. Automatic-failure lines come from individual syllabi rather than from those guides, and the specific numbers vary by instructor, which is why every field here is an input.
What does the automatic-failure line do?
If you enter a threshold and your absences exceed it, the tool reports the automatic F instead of a points deduction, because under such a policy the arithmetic stops mattering. Whether absences are excused, and what counts as one, is instructor policy the tool cannot judge.
Does the tool handle excused absences?
Not as a category. Enter only the absences your syllabus counts against you. Excuse rules — illness, athletics, religious observance — are policy questions between you and the instructor, and most schools publish separate rules for them.
What does the overall-grade line mean in rate mode?
If you enter your average on the rest of the course, the tool combines it with your attendance contribution: attendance percent times its weight, plus the rest average times the remaining weight. It is the same weighted-category math as the weighted grade calculator, specialized to one category.