How IELTS band scores are calculated (with calculator)

IELTS gives you a band from 0 to 9 for each of the four skills: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. A band can be whole or half, such as 6.0 or 6.5. You also get one overall band on the same scale.

Each band has a name. Band 9 is “Expert”, 8 is “Very good”, 7 is “Good”, 6 is “Competent” and 5 is “Modest”. Band 0 means the person did not attempt the test.

To find your overall band, add your four bands and divide by 4. This gives your average, also called the mean. Then round the average to the nearest half band. All four skills count the same.

An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band, so 6.25 becomes 6.5. An average ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band, so 6.75 becomes 7.0. Other averages go to the closest half band: 6.125 becomes 6.0, and 6.375 becomes 6.5.

The table works through five examples. The first two are the examples IELTS gives on its own scoring page.

The Listening test has 40 questions, and each correct answer gets 1 mark. Your number of correct answers is called your raw score. IELTS then changes this raw score into a band. You do not lose marks for wrong answers.

Listening is the same test for Academic and General Training, so there is one table for everyone. IELTS publishes average marks for four bands: 16 for band 5, 23 for band 6, 30 for band 7 and 35 for band 8. The table below matches all four.

The table is indicative: a close guide, not an exact rule. IELTS says the marks needed “will vary slightly” from one test version to another.

IELTS has two versions. Academic is for university study and for registering to work in a profession. General Training is for migration, and for training or study below degree level. Each has its own Reading test, with 40 questions and 1 mark for each correct answer.

Both Reading tests use the same band scale. But Academic texts can have harder words and a more complex style. So, IELTS says, General Training usually needs more correct answers for the same band.

IELTS’s own average marks show the gap. Band 6 needs about 23 in Academic but about 30 in General Training. For band 7, the averages are 30 and 35. Our indicative table starts General Training band 7 at 34, one mark lower, so aim for one or two extra answers.

The table and chart below compare the two.

Writing and Speaking have no raw score. Examiners mark your work against four criteria, which are the areas they judge. They use the IELTS band descriptors, which describe what each band looks like.

Writing has four criteria, and they count equally. Task Achievement (Task 1) or Task Response (Task 2) is how fully you answer the task. Coherence and Cohesion is how clearly your ideas connect. Lexical Resource is your vocabulary, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy is your grammar.

Writing has two tasks, and Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1. So give Task 2 more of your time: IDP (one of the companies that runs IELTS) suggests about 40 minutes. Read how IELTS Writing is scored to see what each criterion means at each band.

Speaking also has four criteria that count equally: Fluency and Coherence (speaking smoothly, with linked ideas), Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation. Their average gives your Speaking band.

Count your mistakes as 40 minus your correct answers. A blank answer earns no mark, so it counts as a mistake too.

The table shows the most mistakes you can make and still reach each band, using the indicative tables above. General Training Reading allows the fewest. Because conversions change a little between test versions, plan for one or two more correct answers than the table shows.

Not sure which band you need? Read is band 7 a good IELTS score? to see what different bands open up.