Drop the Lowest Score

Excel Formulas › Education & Grading

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Many courses drop each student’s worst grade. Subtract the minimum from the total and average over one fewer item — or use the difference of SUM and MIN. No manual deleting.

Quick formula: average after dropping the lowest of N scores:
=(SUM(scores) - MIN(scores)) / (COUNT(scores) - 1)
Total minus the lowest, divided by the count minus one, gives the average with the worst score removed.

Functions used (tap for the full reference guide):

SUMMIN

The example

Drop the 70 from 90,85,70,95.

AB
1ScoresAvg (drop 1)
290,85,70,9590.0

The formula

The formula:

=(SUM(B2:B5) - MIN(B2:B5)) / (COUNT(B2:B5) - 1) // total − lowest, ÷ (n−1)

How it works

How it works:

  1. SUM(scores) - MIN(scores) removes the single lowest score from the total.
  2. Divide by COUNT(scores) - 1 — one fewer score now counts.
  3. The lowest grade is gone without deleting it from the sheet.
  4. To drop the two lowest, subtract the two smallest: SUM - SMALL(r,1) - SMALL(r,2) over n−2.

Drop several with SMALL: SMALL(range, k) returns the k-th smallest value. To drop the lowest three, subtract SMALL(r,1)+SMALL(r,2)+SMALL(r,3) and divide by COUNT - 3. For dropping the highest instead, swap in MAX or LARGE.

Try it: interactive demo

Live demo

Scores (comma-separated).

All · Drop lowest

Variations

Drop two lowest

Subtract both:

=(SUM(r) - SMALL(r,1) - SMALL(r,2)) / (COUNT(r) - 2)

Drop the highest

Remove the best:

=(SUM(r) - MAX(r)) / (COUNT(r) - 1)

Keep best N

Average top N:

=AVERAGE(LARGE(r, {1,2,3}))

Pitfalls & errors

Count must drop too. Divide by n−1 (or n−k), not the original count.

Ties. MIN removes one instance of the lowest value; identical low scores leave one behind.

Blanks. COUNT ignores blanks — make sure missing scores are handled as you intend.

Practice workbook

📊
Download the free Drop the Lowest Score practice workbook
A drop-lowest sheet with the drop-two, drop-highest, and keep-best variants, plus 4 challenges with answers. No sign-up required.

Frequently asked questions

How do I drop the lowest score in Excel?
Use =(SUM(scores) - MIN(scores)) / (COUNT(scores) - 1) to average after removing the single lowest grade.
How do I drop the two lowest scores?
Subtract the two smallest: =(SUM(r) - SMALL(r,1) - SMALL(r,2)) / (COUNT(r) - 2).
How do I keep only the best few scores?
Average the largest: =AVERAGE(LARGE(range, {1,2,3})) keeps the top three.

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Related formulas: Average top N · Min if criteria · Nth largest value

Function references: SUMMIN