How to calculate attendance percentage in Excel

Q: How do I flag students below 90% attendance?

Use =H2<90%, or conditional formatting with the same rule.

Q: How do I count half days?

Give them their own code, say "H", and add half of them: =(COUNTIF(B2:G2,"P")+COUNTIF(B2:G2,"H")/2)/COUNTA(B2:G2).

Formula (Excel and Google Sheets)

=COUNTIF(B2:G2,"P")/COUNTA(B2:G2)

Divide the days present by the days recorded: =COUNTIF(B2:G2,"P")/COUNTA(B2:G2), filled down.

Result on the example: one result per row in H2, filled down to H7
Works in: Every current version
Google Sheets: Same formula

See it work

The formula is already in H2, filled down to H7. Change any input and the result updates, or edit the formula to experiment.

How it works

COUNTIF counts the P marks in the student's row and COUNTA counts the days that have any mark. Finn joined on March 4, so his two blank days are left out of his total: 3 of 4 recorded days is 75%.

Late (L) counts as not present here.

=COUNTIF(B2:G2,"P")/COUNTA(B2:G2)

Result1

B2:G21 row × 6 cols: "P", "P", "P", "P", …
A range: 6 cells in one row.
COUNTIF(B2:G2,"P")6
COUNTIF: Counts cells that meet one condition.
- rangeB2:G21 row × 6 cols: "P", "P", "P", "P", …
- criteria"P"
COUNTA(B2:G2)6
COUNTA: Counts cells that are not empty.
- value1B2:G21 row × 6 cols: "P", "P", "P", "P", …
COUNTIF(B2:G2,"P")/COUNTA(B2:G2)1
The / operator divides.

In Google Sheets

The same formula works in Google Sheets: =COUNTIF(B2:G2,"P")/COUNTA(B2:G2). We ran it in Google Sheets mode on the same data and it returns the same results.

Other ways to do it

Each one was run on the same example sheet.

Formula	Result	When to use it
=COUNTIF(B2:G2,"P")/COLUMNS(B2:G2)	100.0%, 66.7%, 66.7%…Different result	Divides by every school day, so blank days count as absences. Lowers Chloe to 66.7% and Finn to 50%.
=(COUNTIF(B2:G2,"P")+COUNTIF(B2:G2,"L"))/COUNTA(B2:G2)	100.0%, 83.3%, 80.0%…Different result	Counts late arrivals as present. Raises Ben and Eve.

Common mistakes

Pick the base on purpose: days recorded (COUNTA) or all school days (COLUMNS). Schools usually define it in their policy.
Codes typed in different ways ("p", "Present") break the count. Use a drop-down list for the marks.

Try it yourself

Same data, empty answer cell. Your formula is graded instantly, then re-checked on changed data, so a typed-in number won't pass.

Calculate attendance percentage

In H2, calculate the share of recorded days the student was present (P), then fill down to H7.

Questions

How do I flag students below 90% attendance?

Use =H2<90%, or conditional formatting with the same rule.

How do I count half days?

Give them their own code, say "H", and add half of them: =(COUNTIF(B2:G2,"P")+COUNTIF(B2:G2,"H")/2)/COUNTA(B2:G2).

Checked by running on 2026-10-30: every formula and result on this page was calculated by the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine, in both Excel and Google Sheets modes.