Can Grading on a Curve Hurt You​? What Students Should Know

Students often ask: “Can grading on a curve hurt you?” As with most things in life, the answer is not black or white. Usually, grading by curve is used to help students (and you’ll soon see why), but it can also introduce bias, confusion, and even competition.

To know more about this whole subject of bell curve grading, keep reading and discover:

• What grading on a curve is;
• How bell curve grading works;
• The disadvantages of grading on a curve for students; and
• The final answer to “Is curve grading good or bad?”

Ready? Let’s go!

To understand whether grading on a curve can hurt you, it is essential to clarify what grading on a curve is. Curve grading involves adjusting students’ grades after they have submitted an assignment or an exam. The idea of a ”curve” usually refers to a statistical pattern known as a normal distribution, where most results fall near the average, and fewer appear at the extremes, a shape commonly associated with bell curve grading.

In a typical class, most grades cluster around an average, with fewer students earning very high or very low marks. Teachers generally aim for an average between a B and a C, depending on the level and subject of the course.

If the average falls too low, professors may apply a curve to adjust the grading and raise the overall performance of the class. In rarer situations, grades may be adjusted downward, which is one reason students ask whether grading on a curve can hurt you rather than help.

If you want a more technical perspective, you may find our article “How to Grade on a Curve: Formulas and Methods” helpful.

There is no single way to implement bell curve grading. Instead, teachers adopt several different approaches.

Fixed-point adjustment and grade-level shift

One common method is to raise the class average by a fixed number of points. If the class average was 50%, for example, the teacher could increase it to 75%, giving each student an additional 25 points out of 100.

Similarly, if the average grade was a D, teachers could change all D grades to C grades. Each student would then receive a grade one notch higher than their original grade. However, teachers sometimes avoid this approach because it could mean that students at the top of the curve receive more than 100% of the grade for the assignment.

Top-score normalization

Another common approach in grading by curve is to assign a value of 100% to the highest grade on the exam. Therefore, if the student with the highest grade scored 85%, the teacher would increase all grades by 15 percentage points. However, this approach does not work well if the class has a student who consistently scores high marks. For example, suppose a student scored 96%, but the class average is 60%. In this case, adding 4% will not make much difference.

Question-based adjustment

Teachers also use other approaches. If all students missed the same question on the exam, the teacher may remove that question from the final grade calculation in order to raise the grade. Alternatively, they may allow students to retake questions they missed to partially improve their grades.

Extra credit scaling

Finally, the old standard of extra credits can help raise the class average.

For a more detailed breakdown of score distributions and class averages, see ”How Does Grading on a Bell Curve Work?”

One of the most noticeable disadvantages of grading on a curve is that in smaller classes, the distribution of grades may be sufficiently random that grading curves distort student performance. Most professors avoid applying grading curves in classes with fewer than 30 to 40 students.

Upper-level or graduate-level classes may also not fit the standard grading curve. Senior students taking courses in their area of specialization typically earn higher grades than students who are new to the subject. The grading curve for these courses can result in lower grades for students who have mastered the material, which most professors try to avoid.

Grading curves can also create tension within a class. If you are graded relative to your classmates, you may start to resent the person who gets 98% on exams for “breaking the curve.”

Similarly, if you take an exam assuming that only one person in your class will get an A because of the professor’s curve, you may be less motivated to study. This dynamic leads many to question whether curve grading is beneficial or detrimental to learning.

The broader debate around fairness and comparison is explored in our related article: “What Does It Mean to Grade on a Curve? The Philosophy of Relative Assessment”.

So, can grading on a curve hurt you, and what does grading with a curve mean if you’re a student? In general, students appreciate grading with a curve because it usually allows them to earn a better grade.

But grading with a curve can also seem arbitrary. Rather than receiving a grade based on your answers, your grade depends on a mathematical formula applied by your teacher.

The real questions lie here: Should grades reflect how you performed relative to other students in the class? Or should they reflect your mastery of the material? Even professors disagree on this point. Ultimately, each professor decides whether to use a grading curve, and students have little influence over their instructor’s grading philosophy. Whether or not to use a grading curve highlights the arbitrary nature of grading.

If you are curious about the potential benefits of curve grading, you can also read “Does Grading on a Curve Help You? What Professors Don’t Always Explain”.

So, can grading on a curve hurt you? In some cases, yes.

Although curve grading often raises scores and softens the blow of difficult exams, it can also introduce uncertainty, competition, and a feeling of biased results. When grades depend as much on the performance of classmates as on individual mastery, the system can work against even well-prepared students. Ultimately, whether grading on a curve can hurt you depends on how it is applied and the grading philosophy underlying the curve.