How Do I Choose Between Points and Percentages for Grading?

Canvas can calculate final course grades in two ways: by total points, or by weighted percentages for each assignment group. This article explains how each method works, how to choose between them, and how to set up weighting in your Canvas course.

Before You Start: Preparation Checklist

• Have your syllabus grading breakdown in hand, so you know which categories of work count and how much each should matter.
• Check whether your syllabus describes grades in points (e.g., “Exam 1: 100 points”) or percentages (e.g., “Exams: 40%”). Your Canvas setup should match.
• Create your assignment groups in Canvas (Assignments > + Group). You need them for weighting, and they help organize your gradebook either way.
• Plan to set this up before you enter any grades. Changing the method mid-term recalculates every student’s total.

How the Two Methods Work

Total points (Canvas default)

Each assignment has a point value. The final grade is the points a student earned divided by the points possible. For example, a student who earns 879 of 1,019 possible points has 86.3%. Each assignment counts according to its share of the total points, so a 200-point exam counts twice as much as a 100-point exam.

Weighted percentages

You give each assignment group a percentage of the final grade. Canvas first finds the student’s percentage within each group (points earned ÷ points possible in that group). It then multiplies that by the group’s weight and adds the groups together. For example, with Quizzes at 20%, Exams at 50%, and Labs at 30%, a student scoring 75%, 98%, and 87% earns (.20 × .75) + (.50 × .98) + (.30 × .87) = 90.1%. Point values only matter within a group.

Which Should I Choose?

Choose total points when:

• You want the simplest, most transparent setup, where students can add up their own scores.
• Your assignments and their point values are set at the start of the term and won’t change.

Choose weighted percentages when:

• Your syllabus describes grading categories as percentages.
• Your categories have very different point totals (e.g., many small quizzes and a few large exams).
• You may add or remove assignments during the term without wanting to change how much each category counts.

How Do I Set Up Weighted Percentages in Canvas?

1. In Course Navigation, click Assignments.
2. If you haven’t already, click + Group to create your assignment groups, then drag each assignment into its group.
3. Click the Options icon (three dots) and select Assignment Groups Weight.
4. Check Weight final grade based on assignment groups.
5. Enter a percentage for each group (decimals are allowed).
6. Click Save.
7. Confirm that the weights now appear next to each group and add up to 100%.

To switch back to total points, uncheck Weight final grade based on assignment groups and save.

Best Practices

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Issue: A category with no grades yet isn’t counting toward the total.

Solution: This is by design. When a weighted group has no graded items (and Treat Ungraded as 0 is off), Canvas leaves that group out and recalculates using only the groups that have grades. Early-term totals can therefore look higher or lower than final grades will.

Issue: Grades shifted after I added assignments mid-term.

Solution: Under total points, every new assignment adds to the total possible points and shrinks the share of everything else, including exams. Adjust the point values, or consider switching to weighted groups before more grades are entered.

Issue: I changed an assignment’s “Display Grade as” setting to Percentage, but the course total didn’t change.

Solution: Display Grade as only changes how that one assignment’s score appears. How the course total is calculated is controlled by the Assignment Groups Weight setting.

Issue: I can’t edit my assignment group weights.

Solution: If your course uses Multiple Grading Periods, Canvas locks the weights once a group contains assignments in a closed grading period. Create separate assignment groups for each grading period to avoid this.

Self-Check Questions

• Does your Canvas grading setup match the breakdown in your syllabus?
• If you’re using weights, do your group weights add up to exactly 100%?
• Within each weighted group, do the point values reflect how much you want each item to count?
• Could a student work out their own grade from the information in your syllabus?

Additional Resources

• Canvas | How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups?
• Comparing Weighted & Point-Based Grading (University of Detroit Mercy CETL)

Need Extra Support?

If you have questions about setting up grading in your course, the TLC team is happy to help.