Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Throwing Out the Lowest Score.

Throwing Out the Lowest Score

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 21, 2022)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365


3

I remember when I was in junior high school, my algebra teacher (Mr. Jones) would periodically take pity on us and institute a grading plan that was actually quite helpful. Mr. Jones would take a look at all our quiz scores for the grading period, and then throw out the lowest score. (Sometimes I think that is all that got me through his class.)

Using Excel, Mr. Jones could easily have automated the throwing out of the lowest score. For instance, let's say that the quiz scores for the period were in cells B3:B12. Putting the following in cell B13 provides a total for the scores:

=SUM(B3:B12)

This isn't exactly what is wanted, since the lowest score is still figured into the total. To throw out the lowest score, simply change the formula in B13 to the following:

=SUM(B3:B12)-SMALL(B3:B12,1)

The SMALL worksheet function returns, in this case, the lowest score in the range. When that is subtracted from the total, the result is that the lowest score is removed from the mix. You could also use a slightly different formula to remove the lowest score:

=SUM(B3:B12)-MIN(B3:B12)

Either approach will work fine. Plus, if there are two or more identical low scores, then only one of those scores is thrown out; the others remain in the result returned. This is exactly what you would want to have happen if you are only tossing out a single low score, not all low scores.

(Mr. Jones would have been more impressed with this than he was with my algebra skills.)

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (12358) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Throwing Out the Lowest Score.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Adding Titles to a Chart

Adding titles to either an axis or the chart as a whole can make your data easier to understand. Here's how to add this ...

Discover More

Unwanted Numbering on Pasted Tables

When pasting text from another document or from the Web you can have unexpected characters sometimes show up. Many of ...

Discover More

Protecting Macros in a Corporate Environment

When you use a computer at work, that computer may be subject to periodic updating or replacement. If you want to protect ...

Discover More

Best-Selling VBA Tutorial for Beginners Take your Excel knowledge to the next level. With a little background in VBA programming, you can go well beyond basic spreadsheets and functions. Use macros to reduce errors, save time, and integrate with other Microsoft applications. Fully updated for the latest version of Office 365. Check out Microsoft 365 Excel VBA Programming For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Summing Based on Part of the Information in a Cell

Excel provides a variety of tools that allow you to perform operations on your data based upon the characteristics of ...

Discover More

Summing Filled Cells

If you have a column of data that contains color-coded cells, you may want a way to sum values in the column based on the ...

Discover More

Counting Groupings Below a Threshold

When analyzing data, you may need to distill groupings from that data. This tip examines how you can use formulas and ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is five minus 0?

2022-05-24 09:58:43

J. Woolley

@Dave Bonin
You're right. It's been a LONG time since I was in school. I was thinking of scores for the class, not for a single student. And I wondered why the teacher would throw out the lowest score for the class. Mea culpa.
Statistics depend upon your assumptions (or your point of view).


2022-05-23 10:14:48

Dave Bonin

Mr. Wooley,

It appears you may have mis-read the setup. Though not specifically stated, it appears Mr. Jones was willing to throw out ONE lowest score, not ALL lowest scores.

Consider the case where a student took five quizzes and received a grade of 70 on each.

Allen's formulas would give the student a calculated overall score of 70.

Your formula would give the student a calculated overall score of 0.


2022-05-22 14:48:07

J. Woolley

If there are two or more identical low scores, who gets the credit? This seems more fair:
=SUMIF(B3:B12,">"&MIN(B3:B12))
Mark Twain: "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.