British Dressage Test calculator.
Pick your British Dressage test, enter the marks, and get the percentage. Coefficients, collective marks and errors of course are all counted properly, and any other sheet can be set up by hand. Free, no signup, and it keeps working at a showground with no signal.
Movements
| No. | Mark | Coeff | Total |
|---|
Collectives
| Collective | Mark | Coeff | Total |
|---|
How a dressage score is worked out.
The arithmetic is simple once you have seen it done. It is the bookkeeping that catches people out: a coefficient missed here, a collective forgotten there, and the percentage comes out wrong.
The percentage is a fraction of what was available
Every movement is marked out of 10. Add up what you were awarded, divide by the most the sheet could have given you, and multiply by 100. A sheet with 24 marks available has a maximum of 240, so a total of 168.5 is 70.21%.
A coefficient movement counts twice
Some movements matter more, so the sheet doubles them. A 7 on a coefficient movement is worth 14, and it also raises the maximum for that line from 10 to 20. Doubling the mark but forgetting the maximum is the commonest mistake there is, and it flatters the score.
Collective marks come at the end
Collectives judge the test as a whole rather than any single movement. How many there are depends on which sheet you are riding, and the number has changed over the years, so count them on the paper in front of you rather than assuming.
Going wrong costs marks before it costs the test
Under British Dressage rules the first error of course costs 2 marks and the second costs a further 4, making 6 in total. A third error is elimination, and an eliminated test has no percentage. Rules get revised, so check the current rule book where a placing depends on it.
What counts as a good percentage
As a rough guide, 60% is a sound test, 65% is a good one and above 70% is strong. Treat those as landmarks rather than thresholds. What counts as good moves with the level, the judge and the day, and a 62% at a higher level can be a far better ride than a 68% lower down.
Half marks count
Judges mark from 0 to 10 and half marks are allowed throughout, so 6.5 and 7.5 are ordinary scores. This calculator snaps anything else to the nearest half, so a mistyped 7.3 becomes 7.5 and the box updates to show you.
The scale of marks
| Mark | What it means |
|---|---|
| 10 | Excellent |
| 9 | Very good |
| 8 | Good |
| 7 | Fairly good |
| 6 | Satisfactory |
| 5 | Sufficient |
| 4 | Insufficient |
| 3 | Fairly bad |
| 2 | Bad |
| 1 | Very bad |
| 0 | Not executed |
Questions people ask about dressage scores.
Does it know the British Dressage tests?
The 2024 tests are built in, Introductory to Advanced. Pick one and the movement count, the doubles and the collectives are set for you, with the maximum shown so you can check it against your sheet. The movements themselves are not shown, because that wording is British Dressage copyright. Any other sheet you set up by hand.
How do you calculate a dressage percentage?
Add up every mark you were awarded, including the collectives and counting any coefficient movement twice. Divide by the highest score the sheet could have given you, then multiply by 100. If your sheet has 24 marks available the maximum is 240, so a total of 168.5 comes out at 70.21%.
What does a coefficient or ×2 mean?
It marks a movement the sheet counts twice because it matters more. A 7 becomes 14, and the maximum for that line goes from 10 to 20. Tick the ×2 box on those rows and the calculator handles both halves of that.
How many marks is an error of course?
The first costs 2 marks and the second a further 4, so 6 in total, and a third error is elimination with no percentage recorded. Check the current British Dressage rule book where it matters.
Do half marks count?
Yes. Marks run 0 to 10 and halves are allowed throughout, so 6.5 and 7.5 are ordinary scores.
What is a good dressage score?
Roughly: 60% is a sound test, 65% a good one, above 70% strong. It shifts with the level and the judge, so a 62% at a higher level can beat a 68% lower down as a piece of riding.
Why is my percentage different from the score sheet?
Almost always one of four things: a coefficient not counted twice, the wrong number of collectives, an error of course not deducted, or a rounding difference in the last decimal place. Check the movement and collective counts against the paper first, because that sets the maximum everything else is measured against.
Is it free, and does it work without a signal?
Free, with no account and no sign-up. Every sum happens in your browser, so once the page has opened it keeps working with no signal at all. Your marks are never uploaded, and they are not saved either, so reloading clears the sheet.
Can I put it on my phone's home screen?
Yes. Your browser's "Add to home screen" or "Install" option will pin it like an app, which is the quickest way to have it ready in a lorry park with one bar of signal.
What this calculator is doing, so you can check it.
Nothing here is a secret, and a calculator you cannot check is not much use when a placing depends on it.
- The 2024 British Dressage tests are built in. Choosing one sets the movements, the doubles and the collectives, and prints the maximum so you can check it against the sheet in your hand. Only structure is held here, never the wording of a test.
- Marks run 0 to 10 in half marks. Anything else is snapped to the nearest half, so 7.3 counts as 7.5 and the box updates to show you that.
- A coefficient movement counts twice. Tick ×2 on the rows your sheet marks as double, and the row total and the maximum both double with it.
- The maximum comes from your sheet. It is the sum of every coefficient, multiplied by ten, so it changes as you set the sheet up.
- Errors of course cost 2 marks for the first and 6 in total for the second. A third error is elimination, and an eliminated test has no percentage.
- The percentage is the total over the maximum, to two decimal places. It only appears once every mark is in, because a part-marked sheet does not have a score yet.
- Every total is held in half marks as whole numbers. Decimals are worked out only at the last step, so nothing drifts in the second decimal place against the paper sheet.
- Row colours match the marks. Red through amber and green to blue at 7.5 and above, so a sheet reads at a glance.
Where your marks go, why it works offline, and what this is not.
Your marks stay with you
Every calculation happens in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is saved, and there is no account to make. That also means a reload clears the sheet, so finish a test before you refresh.
It works without a signal
Your browser keeps a copy of this page and the files it needs, so it opens again on a dead connection. Those are our own files only: no marks, no identifiers, nothing about you. Add it to your home screen and it behaves like an app.
Pick your test, or build any sheet
The 2024 British Dressage tests are built in, so choosing one sets the movements, the doubles and the collectives for you. Anything else, including unaffiliated classes and other disciplines, you set up by hand. The wording of a test is British Dressage copyright and is not reproduced here, only the structure the arithmetic needs, so you keep the paper sheet in front of you either way.
It counts, it does not judge
This works out a percentage from marks you have already been given. It has no opinion on whether a movement deserved a 6 or a 7, and where its answer differs from the sheet in your hand, the sheet is right.
This is one small part of a much bigger job.
Working out one percentage is easy. Running a whole class, ranking a league across a season, and keeping the accounts straight is the hard part, and that is what Members Hub does for a club. Latchpost does the equivalent for the people who look after the horses.
British Dressage is a trademark of British Dressage. BitLith is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to British Dressage, and this calculator is not an official tool. It works out arithmetic from marks you enter; it does not judge, and where its answer differs from the score sheet in your hand, the sheet is right.