How to use the Excel RANK function

We can use the RANK function to RANK VALUES from the highest to the lowest. The highest value is assigned as 1. The steps below will walk through the process.

Figure 1: How to use the Excel RANK function

Syntax

=RANK(value,data)

• Value is the number we want to rank
• Data is the named range of the values

Formula

=RANK(C4,Marks)

Setting up the Data

We have subjects offered by a student in a semester. We will rank the marks obtained from the highest to the lowest.

• We will input the SUBJECTS in Column B
• We will input the MARKS into Column C
• Column D is where we want the RANK FUNCTION to return the result
• Note– We must highlight Cell C4 to Cell C11 and click on the drop-down arrow where there is C3 in figure 2. We will name the range as “Marks” and press enter

Figure 2: Setting up the Data

RANK Function

• We will click on Cell D4
• We will insert the formula below into the cell
  =RANK(C4,Marks)
• We will press the enter key

Figure 3: Output for Cell D4 with the RANK Function

• We will click on Cell D4 again
• We will double-click on the fill handle (the small plus sign at the bottom right of Cell D4) and drag down to copy the formula into the other cells

Figure 4: Result for Column D with the RANK function

Explanation

• The RANK Function checks the Marks in Column C and assigns numbers to them beginning with 1 from the highest to the lowest mark.

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