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How to Calculate Your CWA at KNUST
The Cumulative Weighted Average is the only average KNUST classifies your degree on, and its definition is printed in the appendix to the University's Regulations. Three steps, no grade points, no conversion — here is the method, worked with KNUST's own published example first.
The method: for each course, multiply the percentage mark by the credit hours (the weighted marks). Add the weighted marks for every semester; add the credit hours; divide. First semester alone = your WA; everything together = your CWA.
Step 1 — KNUST's own worked example (from the Regulations)
The Regulations themselves print a student's first year. Semester 1: ARC 151 (3 credits, 58), ARC 153 (3, 51), ARC 155 (2, 42), ARC 157 (3, 30), ARC 159 (3, 35), ARC 161 (3, 38). Weighted marks: 174 + 153 + 84 + 90 + 105 + 114 = 720, over 17 credits → WA = 720 ÷ 17 = 42.35.
Semester 2 adds weighted marks of 883 over another 17 credits. Cumulative: (720 + 883) ÷ (17 + 17) = 1,603 ÷ 34 = 47.15. That climb — from a 42.35 start to a 47.15 CWA — is the University's own illustration of how the running average moves. If a calculator cannot reproduce these two figures from these marks, it is not calculating the CWA.
Step 2 — a two-semester example of your own
Semester 1: marks 78, 65, 82, 71, 58, 69 on 3, 3, 2, 2, 3, 3 credits → weighted marks 1,116 over 16 credits → WA 69.75. Semester 2: 1,292 weighted marks over 16 credits → WA 80.75. The CWA is not the average of 69.75 and 80.75 by semester count — it is (1,116 + 1,292) ÷ (16 + 16) = 75.25, because the CWA is one running total. (Here the two methods happen to agree, because the semesters carry equal credits; when they differ in size, only the running total is right.) The band moves from Second Class Upper to First Class across the year — try it in the CWA calculator, where both semesters are loaded.
Step 3 — read your band
First Class 70.00+ · Second Class Upper 60.00–69.99 · Second Class Lower 50.00–59.99 · Pass 45.00–49.99. Below 45.00 you are under the graduation minimum — see the grading system guide for the probation band and what sits below it.
The mistakes to avoid
- Averaging semester WAs of different sizes. The CWA is a running total of weighted marks and credits, never a mean of semester figures.
- Converting marks to a 4.0 scale first. KNUST has no grade points; a GPA-style detour changes the answer and classifies on a system the University does not use.
- Counting a deferred course. Deferred credits are not loaded against you — leave the course out entirely until it is completed.
- Dropping a trailed course. A mark below 40 still counts in the average; trailing is about re-sitting the course, not erasing its mark.