Filtering Macro Alternative - looking to count how many times X appears

Okay,

So I know the title didn't explain myself very well, so I'll try again...

I'm looking for a formula that will count the number of cells marked as "complete" (which is noted in Col J) But only for students who are working on a either of a number of projects, lets say either "project 1", "project 2", or "project 3" (which is noted in Col E).

Currently I'm filtering Col E to include only the above three projects, copy pasting the results of Col J, naming the range and then using an =countif on the new range to find the "complete".

I want to move away from Macros and increase my knowledge of formulas, but i can't find one that works. If you can suggest one, and briefly explain the syntax that would be awesome!

many thanks in advance even if you can't help!

Si

Have you tried it with COUNTIFS? This allows you to set up multiple criteria, the syntax being:

COUNTIFS(range_1,criterion_1,range_2,criterion_2 ...)

and so on, where you have pairs of parameters, the first of which is the range that the criterion applies to and the second is the criterion itself.

Hope this helps.

Pete