Using Mround in Excel

When I am marking student's work, I use an Excel spreadsheet to record my impressions. I have written more fully why this is elsewhere (here), but largely it is because Excel, once set up and tested, consistently totals well, and I can use formulas to further simplify the process.

One of the simplifications is using MROUND. This is a function in Excel where the product of a cell is rounded to a particular number. A number of schools where I teach prefer results to be either half or quarter mark increments: so I use Excel to very slightly adjust marking sheet totals to fit with this schema by using MROUND in marking sheet total cells. We need the cell that we want to adjust, then how much to adjust to; for example:

• where a quarter mark is required, use =MROUND(G18),0.25)
• where a half mark is required, use =MROUND(G18),0.5)

We can combine a sum, or another function with MROUND. Take a simple subtraction, for example: 

• Where a quarter mark is required, use =MROUND(G17-G18),0.25)
• Where a half mark is required, use =MROUND(G17-G18),0.5)

Or a sum and an addition: 

• =MROUND((SUM(G5:G18)+L10),"0.25")

The function MROUND uses Swedish rounding (though Microsoft Support notes a known bug where the products of 6.1 and 7.1 are treated differently; 2024).

We can even MROUND time (Bruns, 2013), which is handy:

• =MROUND(G20,"0:15")

In addition, there is also a great list of Excel tips and tricks from Susan Harkins (2023), a power user who writes for TechRepublic. Check it out: we are bound to learn something new.

I hope this is useful!

Sam

References:

Bruns, D. (2013, January 18). MROUND Function. Excel Jet. https://exceljet.net/functions/mround-function

Harkins, S. (2023, November 28). 87 Excel Tips and Tricks: From Beginners to Pros. TechRepublic. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/excel-tips-every-user-should-master/

Microsoft Support. (2024). MROUND function. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/mround-function-c299c3b0-15a5-426d-aa4b-d2d5b3baf427