Here are some alternatives:

For numbers listed in A1:A52

B1: =(SUM(A1:A52)-SUM(SMALL(A1:A52,{1,2,3,4})))/48

OR
B1: =AVERAGE(LARGE(A1:A52,ROW(1:48)))
Note: for that array formula, hold down [Ctrl] and [Shift] when you press
[Enter].

Does that help?
***********
Regards,
Ron

XL2002, WinXP-Pro


"LCB" wrote:

I must determine out of 52 radom numbers the average of the 48 highest even
if one or more of the lowest numbers is repeated 7 times without exempting
the 3 out of the 7 that must be included in the 48 to extract the average.