What grade is 16 out of 20? 16 ÷ 20 = 80%, letter grade B− (plus/minus) or B (plain 10-point scale).
| Letter | Percentage | Grade points |
|---|---|---|
| A+ | 97–100% | 4.0 |
| A | 93–96% | 4.0 |
| A− | 90–92% | 3.7 |
| B+ | 87–89% | 3.3 |
| B | 83–86% | 3.0 |
| B− | 80–82% | 2.7 |
| C+ | 77–79% | 2.3 |
| C | 73–76% | 2.0 |
| C− | 70–72% | 1.7 |
| D+ | 67–69% | 1.3 |
| D | 63–66% | 1.0 |
| D− | 60–62% | 0.7 |
| F | below 60% | 0.0 |
Two points either side of your score, so you can see how narrow the bands are at this level. Your row is highlighted.
| Score | Percentage | Letter (plus/minus) | Plain letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 out of 20 | 70% | C− | C |
| 15 out of 20 | 75% | C | C |
| 16 out of 20 | 80% | B− | B |
| 17 out of 20 | 85% | B | B |
| 18 out of 20 | 90% | A− | A |
Worked out exactly for a test out of 20: the score required, and whether 16 already clears it.
| Target grade | Score needed out of 20 |
|---|---|
| A (90%) | 18 out of 20, 2 more points |
| B (80%) | Already reached, 16 out of 20 is enough |
| C (70%) | Already reached, 14 out of 20 is enough |
| D (60%) | Already reached, 12 out of 20 is enough |
A score of 16 out of 20 means you earned 16 of the 20 available points. Dividing 16 by 20 gives 0.8, and multiplying by 100 gives 80%. Nothing else is involved, no curve, no weighting, no penalty for the 4 points you missed. That is why a percentage grade and a "points out of points possible" grade always agree.
The letter grade is a separate judgement layered on top. On the plain 10-point scale used by many schools, 80% is a B. On a plus/minus scale it is a B− (2.7 grade points), because those scales slice the same percentage range into narrower bands. Both are correct, which one your transcript shows depends on your school's policy, not on the arithmetic.
A score out of 20 is only as informative as the number of points behind it. With 20 points available, each single point is worth about 5.0 percentage points, so a single point moves the percentage noticeably here. That is why a score of 16 out of 20 should be read together with the table above rather than in isolation: the distance to the next letter grade is a fixed number of points, and it is usually small.
If this is a single test and you want the effect on your course grade, you need the test's weight in the syllabus, use the weighted grade calculator. If you are counting up several scores into one average, the grade calculator does that, and the test grade calculator handles a one-off points-out-of-points conversion.
16 out of 20 is 80%, letter grade B− with plus/minus grading, or B on the plain 10-point scale.
On the standard plus/minus scale, 80% corresponds to B− (2.7 grade points).
Yes, 80% is comfortably above the usual 60% pass threshold.
Ask the table above: it lists the exact score out of 20 that reaches each letter grade. Anything you have already passed is marked as achieved, so you only have to look at the rows that are still short.
Divide the points earned by the points possible: 16 ÷ 20 = 0.8, then multiply by 100 to get 80%. There is no weighting and no penalty for a wrong answer, this is a straight proportion.