Printable gradebook template

Build a blank gradebook for one class, print it or save it as a PDF, and keep a spreadsheet copy whose averages calculate themselves.

How to make your sheet

1. Pick the weekly or semester preset and rename the columns you need.
2. Set the number of students, the paper size and the orientation.
3. Press Print or save as PDF and choose Save as PDF in the print dialog, or print on paper.
4. Optional: press Download .xlsx for a spreadsheet copy with weighted-average formulas.

Weekly or semester layout?

A paper gradebook works best when its columns match how you actually collect marks. The weekly layout gives you one column per school day plus a week average, which suits classes where you check work daily: exit tickets, reading checks, warm-ups or participation. The semester layout lists the graded pieces instead (quizzes, homework, a midterm, a project and the final) and ends with an average column. Pick the preset that is closest, then rename any column in the Columns box. Separate names with commas; the preview updates as you type.

Setting it up for your class

Set the number of rows to your class size plus two or three spare lines for students who join mid-term. Thirty rows fit on one portrait A4 or Letter page; for more columns than about ten, switch to landscape so each cell stays wide enough to write a two-digit score. Letter is the usual paper in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and A4 almost everywhere else; the page picks one from your browser language, but check it before you print, because the wrong size either crops the last column or leaves a wide empty margin.

The weight row

Under the column headings there is a Weight row. Write how much each column counts before the term starts: 1 for a homework check, 2 for a quiz, 4 for a unit test, for example. Weights are relative, so they do not have to add up to 100. A column with weight 4 simply counts four times as much as a column with weight 1. Writing the weights on the sheet itself saves an argument later, because the rule is on paper from day one.

The spreadsheet version

The Download .xlsx button builds the same layout as a spreadsheet in your browser. Row 2 holds the weights (all set to 1 to start), and the last column holds a real formula for each student: the sum of score × weight for the cells you filled in, divided by the weights of those cells only. Blank cells are skipped rather than counted as zero, so a student who missed a quiz is not punished until you decide to enter a 0. The bottom row averages each column for the whole class. The file opens in Excel, LibreOffice Calc, Google Sheets and Numbers. Nothing is sent to a server; the file is assembled on your device.

A worked example

Say a student has a quiz at 80 (weight 2), homework at 95 (weight 1) and a test at 70 (weight 4). The weighted average is (80 × 2 + 95 × 1 + 70 × 4) ÷ (2 + 1 + 4) = 535 ÷ 7 = 76.4. A plain average of the three numbers would be 81.7, which is why the weight row matters. You can check any row by hand with the weighted grade calculator.

Habits that keep a paper gradebook reliable

• Write the date and the maximum points above each column the day you give the task.
• Use a symbol for missing work (for example M) instead of leaving a blank you might forget.
• Convert raw points to a percentage before you average, or keep every column on the same scale.
• Copy the totals into the spreadsheet once a week so you have a backup if the paper gets lost.

If your school reports a GPA rather than percentages, the end-of-term letter grades can go straight into the GPA calculator.

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