📅 How to Improve Your Attendance Percentage (and Meet the 75% Rule)

Most colleges require a minimum attendance — often 75% — to sit for exams. The good news: attendance is just arithmetic, so you can always work out exactly where you stand and what you need to do.

How attendance percentage is calculated

Attendance % = (classes attended ÷ classes held) × 100. If you have attended 60 out of 80 classes, that is 60 ÷ 80 × 100 = 75%.

How many classes must you attend to recover?

If you are below the target, every future class you attend pulls your percentage up. To find how many classes in a row you need to attend to reach a target T%, use: classes needed = (T × held − 100 × attended) ÷ (100 − T), rounded up.

Say you have attended 40 of 60 classes (66.7%) and need 75%. You would need to attend roughly the next 24 classes without missing any to get back on track.

How many classes can you safely skip?

• ▸Work out your current percentage first.
• ▸If you are comfortably above the target, calculate your buffer before booking that trip.
• ▸Remember: future classes count too, so missing one now costs more when few classes remain.