Report cards and grading
How many papers does each subject have, and why it matters
The number of papers changes the arithmetic of the average weight. Most subjects are two; some are not.
Irumba Sharif · 30 August 2026 · 2 min read
The grade in a subject is the average weight across its papers. So the number of papers is not administrative detail. It changes how much any single paper is worth.
Most subjects: two papers
Biology, Chemistry, Economics, History and most others follow the standard two-paper format. Each paper is half the average, which is what makes the system forgiving of one weak paper and unforgiving of two.
Subsidiary Mathematics: one paper
There is only one paper, so the single weight is the average. There is nothing to balance it against and nothing to rescue it.
This is worth saying to learners plainly. In a two-paper subject a weak paper can be compensated. In Subsidiary Mathematics it cannot, because there is no second paper to compensate with. Whatever weight that paper earns is the grade.
Technical Drawing and Music: three papers
The average is taken across three papers. That means each individual paper carries less of the grade, and a learner has more opportunity to balance an uneven performance.
It also means consistency matters more than a single peak. One Exceptional paper among three ordinary ones moves the average less than it would in a two-paper subject.
What this means when you are advising a learner
Before you tell a learner how much a paper matters, check how many papers the subject has. The same advice is wrong in different directions:
- In a three-paper subject, "this paper decides everything" is untrue and demoralising
- In Subsidiary Mathematics, "you can make it up in the next paper" is untrue and dangerous
What it means for your records
Your subject records need to hold a weight for every paper the subject has, and the count has to be right. An average taken over two papers when the subject has three is simply the wrong number, and nothing downstream will notice.