Syntax
QUARTILE(array, quart)
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| array | Parameter of the QUARTILE function. |
| quart | Parameter of the QUARTILE function. |
Examples
First quartile of scores
Formula
=QUARTILE(B2:B200, 1)
Returns the 25th percentile score — 25% of students scored at or below this value.
Interquartile range (IQR)
Formula
=QUARTILE(B2:B200, 3) - QUARTILE(B2:B200, 1)
Returns Q3 minus Q1, which measures the spread of the middle 50% of the data. A key metric for box plots.
Five-number summary
Formula
=QUARTILE(A1:A100, {0,1,2,3,4})
Returns min, Q1, median, Q3, and max as an array — the complete five-number summary for descriptive statistics.
Common Errors
#NUM!
Returned when quart is not 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4, or when the array is empty.
#VALUE!
Occurs if quart is not a number.
Tips
Quick box plot data
Use QUARTILE with quart values 0 through 4 to get all five values needed for a box-and-whisker plot.
Same as PERCENTILE at specific points
QUARTILE(data,1) equals PERCENTILE(data,0.25), QUARTILE(data,2) equals MEDIAN(data), and QUARTILE(data,3) equals PERCENTILE(data,0.75).
Outlier detection with IQR
Calculate IQR = Q3 - Q1, then flag values below Q1 - 1.5*IQR or above Q3 + 1.5*IQR as outliers. This is the standard Tukey fence method.
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