Introduction

This article explains how to create a grade method that uses percentages instead of grades. This will let you upload the percentages you have collected for your qualifications and analyse them in the reports.

This method should only be used for KS3 cohorts. Use official grades with Attainment 8 points to produce Headline measures for KS4 cohorts.

Prerequisites

You must be an administrator.

Instructions

To create a new grade method that uses percentages:

1. Select CONFIG.
2. Select Grade Methods.
3. Select KS3/4 Methods to open the Grades Method List:
   
4. Select Create KS3/4 Grade Method
5. From the Step 1 of 7 - Set up Grades Method window:
   
   1. Enter a Method Name, for example, Percentage Grades.
   2. Check Points (Check None for no points, or check Custom for custom points. Custom Points lets you set up points for subgrades, meaning that a grade of 99, for example, can be worth 99 points).
   3. Check Yes to include Subgrades.
   4. Select Next.
6. From the Step 2 of 7 - Define Whole Grades window:
   1. Enter the Whole Grades, Points (up to 3dp), and Entries shown below. Optionally, replace Abs (for absent) with a similar grade of your choice:
      
   2. Select Next.
7. From the Step 3 of 7 - Define Sub Grades window:
   1. Enter the Sub Grades 9 to 0, from highest to lowest, as shown below:
      
   2. Select Next.
8. From the Step 4 of 7 - Define Master Grades window:
   1. Check all relevant grades and uncheck those that won't be uploaded, for example, uncheck the sub grades for 'Abs'. For the '100' row, you will need to leave the '1000' subgrade checked in order to proceed to the next step. (This won't have any impact on functionality, as a grade of 100 uploaded will still appear as 100 in the reports):
      
   2. Select Next.
9. From the Step 5 of 7 - Define Sub Grade Equivalencies window:
   1. Set the whole grade equivalences, for example, select the equivalent of 100 to be 1000, 9 to be 90, 8 to be 80 and so on, as shown in the screenshot below:
      
   2. Select Next.
10. From the Step 6 of 7 - Define Sub Grade Points window, if you checked Custom Points from the Step 2 of 7 - Define Whole Grades window:
    
    1. Check This method uses custom points for subgrades, and enter points for the individual percentages as required, for example, if you want 88 to be worth 88 points (instead of the default whole grade points of 80).
    2. Select Next.
11. From the Step 7 of 7 - Confirmation window, select Finish:
    

Outcome

The grade method is created. In the example above, whole grades are set up as 1-9, with another grade for students achieving 100%.

By entering subgrades as 9 to 0, you have created the Master Grades, for example, 99, 98 and 97, letting you upload percentages. Additionally, if you entered subgrades, extra functionality is available in reports, for example, average points show how the students’ average percentage changes over time.

If you use whole grade points, each subgrade matches the whole grade; for example, both 50 and 59 equal 50 points. However, with subgrade points, 50 is worth 50 points and 59 is worth 59 points, leading to a more accurate average.

Please note that for any percentage scores between 1% and 9%, these need to be uploaded with a lead 0 in front of them, e.g. 01, 02 etc.

Expand the sections below to view examples of how reports look when using percentages for analysis: 

• The following shows the Grades > Overview > Qualifications report. The 9 column includes values from 90-99, and the 8 column includes values from 80-89. This lets you view the count of students within the range for each qualification. To see the specific values, for example, 90% - 99%, you must drill down to students with a 9, then drill down into a class. 

  

• The following shows the Grades > Overview > Qualifications report with cumulative percentages enabled. The 100-8% column, for example, shows the percentage of students within the qualification who scored between 80% and 100%.

  

• The following shows all students with grades in a specific qualification, along with their actual percentage achieved. Columns for student expectations are provided where EAPs have been fully set up.

  

• The Average Points column lets you see a qualification/class/student’s average percentage. In the example below, KS3 Art, has Average Points of 46.82, which equates to 46.82%.

  

Updated 29 May 2025 09:31