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  1. #1
    andy49's Avatar
    andy49 is offline VIP
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    To save or not to save

    I need some advice guys. My database currently stores exam results for students at the school where I work along with their grades. Since I’ve only started recently each student has one exam score but by the time they leave school they will have 15 grades (3 from each calendar year) and I’d like to show this progress on a continuous form for each class to indicate progression through a students time at school.

    my question is once scores are entered and the database has calculated which grade they have attained, should I store the grades of each test for easy reference down the line with a table similar to:

    StudentId
    Test (eg year 7 Christmas exam)
    Grade






    Or write a complicated query to calculate all the grades then display them on a form.

    I know storing calculated fields is usually frowned upon but I really see it as a more simple route.

    Many thanks

    Andy

  2. #2
    davegri's Avatar
    davegri is offline Excess Access
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    I think calculated fields are frowned upon because it's hard to guarantee that the calculated field would be updated properly, if at a later date, any of the fields involved in the calculation changed. If you are confident that no changes will occur after the calculation is stored, go for it.

  3. #3
    andy49's Avatar
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    Thanks dave. I think the grades will remain fixed but in my job you never know. I think I’ll try the query route first and see what happens. If it proves to difficult, I’ll be back!!

  4. #4
    Micron is offline Virtually Inert Person
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    I find the details a bit confusing because you seem to intermix the usage of scores and grades. If a score is 95 out of 100, then 95 could be the test score or test grade. Maybe you're referring storing an average grade? In that case I think the general rule would apply - that would be a calculation that can be performed by a form since the stored value would be incorrect if a test score were to change. Test retakes are sometimes granted or resulting scores are sometimes altered on appeal.
    The more we hear silence, the more we begin to think about our value in this universe.
    Paraphrase of Professor Brian Cox.

  5. #5
    andy49's Avatar
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    Thanks micron. The students papers are marked out of 240 and they are given a grade of 0-9 depending on how well they do

  6. #6
    Micron is offline Virtually Inert Person
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    240 marks for one test must be a grade of 9? While it wouldn't be exactly proper design to calculate and store 9, it may not be that crucial to the function of the database to do so. I don't suppose the system is designed akin to an A B C vs percentage grade (like A is 93% to 100%) or grade point average (as in 4.0)? I wonder because 9 seems like an odd grade for a score of 240.

  7. #7
    andy49's Avatar
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    The uk has swapped a grading letter to a grading number in its school exams. So it is similar to the letter system but has numbers instead. But 215-240 is a 9. And so on. Thanks for the advice.

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