On this page:

• Edit Grade Letter Boundaries
• Display letter grades for numerical scores
• Add a manual letter grade item
• Use a manual letter grade item as the course total

 

Moodle only supports input of letter grades into manual grade items that have been set to the Letter grade type. However, it is also possible to enter numerical scores and set them to display as letter grades.

This page explains how to adjust the numerical values that correspond to the letters in your grading scale (e.g., A, B, C, etc.), how to add a letter grade column, and how to configure the Moodle gradebook to display letter grades for numeric columns.

Please note:

• It is only possible to import letter grades from a spreadsheet (e.g., Excel) into an existing Letter grade column. You must create the Grade item before importing letter grades.
• Numeric grades calculated outside of Moodle will appear as letters if imported into a numeric grade item set to display letters.
• There can only be one points-to-letter grade scheme in a Moodle course. Individual grade items cannot have different conversion schemes. Once a scheme is set, it will be used for all items set to display as letter grades.
• If you Import Grades from Moodle to SPIRE at the end of the semester, the points-to-letter grade conversion scheme set up in your course is used to convert the values in the Course Total column to a letter grade in SPIRE. For more information, see Import Grades from Moodle or Blackboard Learn to SPIRE.

Edit Grade Letter Boundaries

If you are entering numeric values, you can customize the numeric-to-letter conversion scheme in your course.

Important: Once a Letter Grade item is added to a gradebook, you cannot adjust Grade Letter Boundaries unless you delete all letter grade items. Be sure to set the grading scheme before adding any Letter Grade items.

1. On the Course page, in the Navigation tray toggle (hamburger menu , top left) select Grades. The Grader report page opens. 
   Note: You can also get to the Grader report page by selecting the Course Management button (black gear icon , top right). The Course Management panel opens. Under the Grading heading, select Grader report. The Grader report page opens. 
2. In the navigation tabs (at top), click Letters. The Grade letters page opens, showing the values currently being used to convert scores to letter grades.
3. Select Edit grade letters at the top of the scores summary. The Edit grade letters page opens.
   Note: You can also open the Edit grade letters page by selecting the Edit tab (second row, at top). 
4. To edit the grade boundary values, select the check box to Override site defaults. The fields for Grade letters and Letter grade boundaries will unlock and become editable.
   Note: Letters A and F must correspond to maximum and minimum, respectively. 
5. Enter new grade letters and/or boundary values as required.
   Note: Numerical values display as rounded to the second decimal place, but Letter grade boundaries can have up to 5 decimal places.
6. At the bottom of the page, select Save changes.

Display letter grades for numerical scores

Setting a numeric grade item to display a letter grade will not "lock" your Grade Letter Boundary scheme (as happens if you add a manual Letter grade item). However, since there is only one grading scheme allowed for the entire course, adjusting the scheme will affect the letter grades displayed for all grade items.

Note: Even if a numerical column is set to display letter grades, when editing is turned on in the Grader report, you must read and input numerical values.

To have numerical grade items and category totals display letter grades:

1. On the course page, in the Navigation tray toggle (hamburger menu , top left) select Grade. The Grader report opens.
   Note: You can also get to the Grader report by selecting the Course Management button (black gear icon , top right), under Grading, select Grader report. The Grader report page opens. 
2. In the Navigation tabs (at top), select Setup. The Gradebook setup page opens. 
   Note: You can also access the Gradebook setup by selecting the Course Management button (black gear icon , top right), under Grading, select Gradebook setup. The Gradebook setup page opens. 
3. On the Gradebook setup page, under the Actions column, in the row for a grade item or category title, select Edit. The Edit drop-down menu opens. From the Edit drop-down menu, click Edit settings (). The Edit page for this item opens.
4. Depending on which item you selected, click either the Grade item or Category total heading to expand the page.
5. Below the list of settings, select Show more....
6. In the Grade display type drop-down menu, select Letter.
   Note: This setting allows up to two grade display types (e.g., by selecting Letter (percentage), the grade will display as "B (85%)").
   
7. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Save changes. You will be returned to the Gradebook setup page. Your new settings will change to how the grade displays on the User report and the Grader report when editing is turned off.

Add a manual letter grade item

When you add a graded Activity to a course (e.g., Assignment or Quiz), Moodle will automatically add a column (grade item) to the gradebook for the activity. You can also create grade items that are not linked to Moodle activities by adding them manually on the Gradebook setup page of the gradebook and setting the grade item to allow you to enter or upload letter grades rather than numeric scores.

Note: You cannot edit grade letter boundaries while Letter grade items exist in your gradebook.

To add a grade item that allows you to enter Letter grades:

1. On the Course page, select the Course Management button (black gear icon , top right). The Course Management panel opens. Under the Grading heading, select Gradebook setup. The Gradebook setup page opens. 
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select Add grade item. The New grade item page opens.
3. In the Item name field, enter a name in the text entry box. Try to use short names and do not use special characters, commas, ampersands, or quotes.
4. In the Grade type drop-down menu, select Letter. When selected, you will not be able to change the Maxium grade and Minimum grade options. However, the letter grade displayed in the Maximum grade will always be A, and for Minimum grade will always be F.
   Note: This option cannot be changed after the grade item is saved. When the Grade type is changed to Letter, Moodle may not include/calculate this letter grade in the course total because it does not have a single numerical value but represents a range of numerical values. If you want the Grade item to contribute to the course total, see Display letter grades for numerical scores above.
5. Select Save changes to finish. 

Use a manual letter grade item as the course total

If you have added a Letter grade column for the purpose of importing Course total grades, you need to give the Course total column a formula to pull the grades from the Letter grade item into the Course total column:

1. After adding your Letter grade item to the gradebook as described above, navigate to the Gradebook setup page. To do so, from any page in your Moodle course, select the Course Management button (black gear icon, top right). The Course Management panel opens. Under the Grading heading, select Gradebook setup. The Gradebook setup page opens.
2.  In the row for Course total, select Edit. The Edit drop-down will menu opens. From the Edit drop-down menu, select Edit calculation (). The Edit calculation page opens.
3. Scroll down to ID numbers and locate the Letter grade column you want to use for your course total.
4. In the text entry box for your Letter grade item, enter an ID name or number (e.g., FinalLetterGrade).
5. Select Add ID numbers. The ID will show on the page after your Letter grade item surrounded by double-brackets (e.g., [[FinalLetterGrade]]).
6. Stay on the Edit Calculation page and scroll up to the top of the page. In the Calculation entry box, enter the formula:  = [[ID Number]] (e.g., = [[FinalLetterGrade]]).
7. Select Save changes. A Recalculating grades page opens. Select Continue. You will be returned to the Gradebook setup page.
8. Check to ensure that the grades from your Letter grade item are appearing in the Course total column.
9. To display the Course total as a letter, see Grade Category Options in the Moodle Gradebook and under Category Total Settings refer to Grade type.