Buzz
Using the VLOOKUP function to calculate letter grades is quite simple. You are invited to continue reading for the formula and examples of calculating letter grades using the VLOOKUP function in the article below.
General Formula
=VLOOKUP(score,key,2,TRUE)
Explanation
Using the VLOOKUP function to calculate letter grades is quite straightforward. Just set up a small spreadsheet with the score range on the left and the corresponding letter grades on the right.
This table should be sorted in ascending order, and the VLOOKUP function must be configured to perform 'approximate match'.
In the example below, the VLOOKUP formula looks like this:
=VLOOKUP(B3,B7:C11,2,TRUE)
How does this formula work?
In this scenario, B3 represents the column containing numerical scores to convert into letter grades (in this example, 88), B7:C11 represents the letter grade range, consisting of 2 columns. The number 2 instructs VLOOKUP to retrieve data from the 2nd column (the letter grade column), and TRUE directs VLOOKUP to perform an 'approximate match'.
In the 'approximate match' mode, VLOOKUP assumes the table is sorted by the first column. When VLOOKUP finds a value greater than the lookup value, it returns the value from the previous row.
In other words, VLOOKUP matches the last value less than or equal to the lookup value.
If the first value in the table is less than the lookup value, VLOOKUP will return an #N/A error.
Note: By default, VLOOKUP performs an approximate match, so you don't need to provide the 4th argument, which defaults to TRUE. However, it's advisable to still provide the last argument for a more intuitive value match.
From now on, you can apply the VLOOKUP method to calculate and classify academic grades of your members or students quickly and easily.
When using the VLOOKUP function for problem-solving, users can combine VLOOKUP and SUMIF functions to search and calculate values in Excel spreadsheets more efficiently. The combination of VLOOKUP and SUMIF has been detailedly introduced by Mytour in previous Excel tricks. We wish you successful implementation!
