Implementation of the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) Method for Identifying High-Achieving Students at SMA 11 in Bengkulu City

Abstract

In schools, high-achieving students are typically selected based solely on their final grades, and this is also the case at SMAN 11 in Bengkulu City. The selection of high-achieving students at SMAN 11 in Bengkulu City is based solely on report card grades and the top three students in the 11th grade for the 2025–2026 academic year. This selection process leaves ample room for error because it relies solely on a single aspect—final grades—while students’ conduct and achievements outside of school are not considered as additional criteria for determining which students are deemed high-achieving and eligible for scholarships. This means there is a high likelihood that the selected high-achieving students do not meet the desired standards, resulting in the school failing to identify the best candidates. The purpose of this study is to provide an alternative method for schools to identify high-achieving students so that the selection is not based solely on academic grades and to prevent fraud in the selection process. The method used in this study is the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method. The results of this study indicate that the SAW method can produce the best results based on the predetermined criteria and weights, with a maximum score of 0.8775.