How is the IELTS overall band score calculated?
IELTS gives you a band from 0 to 9 for each skill: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Your overall band is the average of the four, rounded to the nearest half band. All four skills count equally.
The rounding rule matters most at the edges. An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band, and one ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band. Anything below those points rounds down.
| L | R | W | S | Average | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.5 | 6.5 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 6.25 | 6.5 |
| 7.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.625 | 6.5 |
| 6.5 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 6.75 | 7.0 |
| 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 6.125 | 6.0 |
IELTS Listening band score table
Listening has 40 questions, and each correct answer is worth one mark. Your mark out of 40 is then converted to a band. The table is the same for Academic and General Training.
| Correct answers | Band |
|---|---|
| 39–40 | 9.0 |
| 37–38 | 8.5 |
| 35–36 | 8.0 |
| 32–34 | 7.5 |
| 30–31 | 7.0 |
| 26–29 | 6.5 |
| 23–25 | 6.0 |
| 18–22 | 5.5 |
| 16–17 | 5.0 |
| 13–15 | 4.5 |
| 10–12 | 4.0 |
IELTS Reading band score table
Reading also has 40 questions, but Academic and General Training use different tables. General Training texts are usually easier, so you need more correct answers for the same band.
| Band | Academic | General Training |
|---|---|---|
| 9.0 | 39–40 | 40 |
| 8.5 | 37–38 | 39 |
| 8.0 | 35–36 | 37–38 |
| 7.5 | 33–34 | 36 |
| 7.0 | 30–32 | 34–35 |
| 6.5 | 27–29 | 32–33 |
| 6.0 | 23–26 | 30–31 |
| 5.5 | 19–22 | 27–29 |
| 5.0 | 15–18 | 23–26 |
| 4.5 | 13–14 | 19–22 |
| 4.0 | 10–12 | 15–18 |
IELTS publishes these as averages, so the exact cut-offs can move by a mark or so between test versions. Practise with a full IELTS Reading test or IELTS Listening test to see your score on these tables.
How Writing and Speaking are scored
Writing and Speaking have no correct answers to count. Trained examiners mark them against four criteria, which all count equally.
Writing: Task Achievement (Task Response in Task 2), Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1. Get a band for each criterion with a free IELTS Writing practice test, and check your pace with our writing speed test.
Speaking: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation. Try an IELTS Speaking practice test to get a band estimate.
What does your band score mean?
IELTS describes each whole band with a short label. Half bands sit between the two.
- Band 9Expert user
- Band 8Very good user
- Band 7Good user
- Band 6Competent user
- Band 5Modest user
- Band 4Limited user