How To Calculate Your A Level Rank Points (2023)

Are you taking the A Levels soon and you are still unsure about what ‘rank points’ mean? Knowing how rank points are calculated can help you plan your study goals, understand how much more you need to improve, and work towards getting grades that qualify you for your desired university courses.

Below, we provide a quick guide on how to calculate your A Level rank points. But do note: The rank points calculation will be changing from 2026 onwards (affecting those who enter JC 1 in 2024) – mainly, to exclude H1 Project Work, and include the 4^th content-based subject only if it improves the overall RP.

What are A Level rank points used for?

Rank points (RP) is an aggregated score for the A Level exams that takes into account the grades of all your subjects. It provides a gauge of your overall performance in the A Levels. Rank points are usually used when applying for universities to see if you qualify for the university course. In addition to RP, certain courses may also have specific requirements for certain subjects (for example, our earlier post highlights some requirements for medical school).

How do I calculate my rank points?

Currently, rank points are calculated upon a total of 90 points. Each subject is given a score according to the grade obtained, and the scores for all subjects are totalled and scaled to a maximum possible score of 90 points. The better the grades, the higher the score will be.

The points for each grade is shown below, and they differ based on whether the subject is H2 or H1. Example of H2 subjects are the content-based subjects like Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math, Economics, History, and Geography. H1 subjects include compulsory subjects like Project Work and General Paper, one contrasting content-based subject, and mother tongue language (not required for those who have a valid reason for exemption).

If you are taking 3 H2 and 3 H1 subjects

Assuming you get straight As for your subjects, your grades will look like this:

AAA/AAA

Here’s how you would calculate the rank points:

20 + 20 + 20 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 90

As you can see, straight As will give you the maximum possible score of 90.

Let’s say you didn’t get straight As, and your grades look something like this:

AAB/AAC

To calculate your rank points, add up all the corresponding scores for each grade:

Sum of scores = Rank points

20 + 20 + 17.5 + 10 + 10 + 7.5 = 85

Thus, the rank points for this set of grades will be 85 out of 90. 

If you are taking 3 H2 and 4 H1 including H1 MTL

If your JC subject combination includes the mother tongue subject, it get slightly trick as as you would notice that the total possible score (straight As) will give you more than 90 points:

20 + 20 + 20 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 100

In this case, you cannot simply total up the points. You need to scale down the score so that it is based on a total of 90 points. You can do that by summing your scores for all subjects, then divide by 100 and multiply by 90, as seen:

( Sum of scores / 100 ) x 90 = Rank points

If you are taking 4 H2 and 2 H1 subjects

For the purposes of rank points, the 4 main content subjects are always counted as 3 H2 and 1 H1 subject. In the case of students who are taking 4 H2 subjects, the subject with the lowest performing score will be treated as a H1 subject.

In this case, you would take the H2 subject with the lowest grade and convert it into a H1 subject (divide the score by 2).

So, if your grades look like this:

ABBC/AB

You would calculate the rank points like this:

20 + 17.5 + 17.5 + 7.5 + 10 + 8.75 = 81.25

If you are taking 4 H2 and 3 H1 including H1 MTL

In the scenario where you are taking 4 H2 subjects and 3 H1, including H1 MTL, you would have to combine two steps from the above cases. Firstly, the H2 subject with the lowest grade will be converted into a H1 subject (divide the points by two), then rebase the sum of all the points to 90 (divide by 100 then multiply by 90).

So, if your grades look like this:

AABC/AAB

Your rank points would be calculated as such:

( 20 + 20 + 17.5 + 7.5 + 10 + 10 + 8.75 ) / 100 x 90 = 84.375

The graphic below summarises the four cases of calculating your A Level rank points.

Other exceptions to calculating rank points

Most cases can be covered by the scenarios above. But there are a few other special cases:

• Mother tongue B: MTL B is not considered as an A Level subject, so its score will not be included in the rank points calculation
• H3 subjects: H3 subject scores are not included in the rank point calculation. However, it can give students an advantage to showcase their passion and abilities in a certain field, or grant them exemption from certain courses in university.

Conclusion

Now that you have a better idea of what A Level rank points are and how to calculate it, you can try calculating your own using your current subject grades! This would offer a good indication to you on your current overall performance and what improvements you need to work towards.

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