Posted By:
Ken W.David,
Agree with your first paragraph that the half-grade is just a premium bump (like A+), but not your second paragraph. If the precision of the grading measurement technique is only 0.5, then the overall grade can only be determined that precisely - to the nearest half of a whole number. This is the way it is done in analytical science. If I measure something between 7.5 and 8.0, but my precision is only 0.5, I have to make a judgement as to which number the result is closer to and go with it. Often, an uncertainty value would follow the result, but that doesn't really apply here.