How to use this percentile calculator
Paste your dataset above, type the percentile you want (75 means the 75th percentile), and press Calculate. The calculator sorts your data, interpolates the position using the standard method (the same one Excel's PERCENTILE.INC uses), and returns the value.
What is a percentile?
The p-th percentile is the value below which p% of the data falls. The 75th percentile of exam scores is the score that three-quarters of students matched or fell below: equivalently, the score you needed to be in the top quarter. Percentiles describe position within a group, which makes them the natural language of growth charts, admissions cut-offs and salary benchmarks.
Twenty exam scores (already the calculator's example data): the 75th percentile is 83.5 and the 25th percentile is 65.25. A student scoring 81 beat 13 of the 20 scores, about the 65th percentile by count. Notice that 81 sits below the interpolated 75th percentile of 83.5: with small datasets, interpolation smooths between two neighbouring scores (83 and 85), rather than picking one student's actual paper.
Percentile vs percentage: do not mix them
A percentage is a share of marks: 81% means 81 of 100 possible marks. A percentile is a share of people: the 81st percentile means you outperformed 81% of candidates. A student can score 60% and still sit at the 95th percentile on a brutal paper. Confusing the two is one of the most common reporting errors in education.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 75th percentile?
The value below which 75% of the data falls. It is also the third quartile, Q3.
What is the difference between percentile and percentage?
A percentage is a proportion of a total (marks out of 100). A percentile is a rank position: the percentage of values in the dataset below yours.
Which percentile method does this calculator use?
Linear interpolation on the sorted data, the method behind Excel's PERCENTILE.INC, the most common convention in software.