With all aggregation methods except Natural, Moodle calculates grades in three steps - 1) normalization of individual grade items, 2) aggregation of all grades, and 3) calculation of the final grade. This page explains the three steps and how to customize settings in the gradebook to produce different types of grade calculations.
Moodle normalizes items that are graded on different point scales so that all grades are rendered to a common base value. Normalization is done by dividing the earned grade value by the maximum possible points.
For example:
| Grade Item | Points Earned | Maximum Possible Points | Calculation | Normalized Grade |
| Assignment 1 | 70 | 100 | 70 ÷ 100 = | 0.7 |
| Assignment 2 | 20 | 80 | 20 ÷ 80 = | 0.25 |
| Assignment 3 | 10 | 10 | 10 ÷ 10 = | 1.0 |
Aggregation involves bringing individual grades together and performing some calculation. Aggregation types can be configured for a single gradebook category or for an entire gradebook. Moodle offers several types of aggregation. For more information on how to use different aggregation types in Moodle, see the page in this guide called Aggregation types.
Configure an aggregation type
Aggregate only non-empty grades (default setting) - generates a category or course grade that does not include grade items with missing or empty grades.
The final category or course grade is calculated by multiplying the aggregated value (Step 2) to the category or course total.
Example (using Mean of grades aggregation)
A1 = 70/100, A2 = 20/50, A3 = 90/100, A4 = 100/100 with a category total of 100
(0.7 + 0.4 + 0.9 + 1.0) / 4 = 0.75
Final grade calculation = 0.75 x the category total
Final grade calculation = 0.75 x 100 = 75
Note: If the category total equaled 50, then the final grade calculation would be 0.75 x 50 = 37.5
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