How the IELTS band score is calculated, with worked examples
Your IELTS band score is an average of four skills, rounded by a rule that surprises many candidates. How the overall band, and the Writing band inside it, are worked out.
Every IELTS candidate gets five numbers: a band for each of the four skills, and an overall IELTS band score. The overall band is not decided by an examiner. It is arithmetic, and once you know the rule you can work out exactly what you need in each skill to reach your target.
How the overall IELTS band score is worked out
Add your four skill bands together and divide by four. If the result is a whole or half band, that is your overall score. If it is not, it is rounded to the nearest half or whole band, with one rule that catches people out: an exact quarter always rounds up.
- An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band: 6.25 becomes 6.5.
- An average ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band: 6.75 becomes 7.0.
- Any other average goes to the nearest half or whole band: 6.125 becomes 6.0, and 6.375 becomes 6.5.
- Candidate A
- Listening 6.5, Reading 6.5, Writing 5.0, Speaking 7.0. The average is 6.25, so the overall band is 6.5.
- Candidate B
- Listening 4.0, Reading 3.5, Writing 4.0, Speaking 4.0. The average is 3.875, so the overall band is 4.0.
- Candidate C
- Listening 6.5, Reading 6.5, Writing 5.5, Speaking 6.0. The average is 6.125, so the overall band is 6.0.
- Candidate D
- Listening 7.5, Reading 7.0, Writing 6.5, Speaking 7.0. The average is 7.0, so the overall band is 7.0.
Candidate C is the one to study. With 6.0 in Writing instead of 5.5, the average would have been 6.25, and the overall band 6.5. A single half band in one skill decided the result. When a target is close, the weakest skill usually decides it.
Listening and Reading: 40 questions each
Listening and Reading have 40 questions each, and every correct answer is worth one mark. Your raw score out of 40 is converted to a band with a conversion table. The table is adjusted slightly between versions of the test, so that a harder paper does not punish you, which is why nobody can promise an exact number of answers for a band. As a rough guide, the figures IELTS publishes look like this:
- Listening: about 23 correct answers for Band 6, 30 for Band 7 and 35 for Band 8.
- Academic Reading: about 23 for Band 6, 30 for Band 7 and 35 for Band 8.
- General Training Reading: about 30 for Band 6, 34 for Band 7 and 38 for Band 8.
General Training Reading asks for more correct answers for the same band, because its texts come from everyday sources rather than academic ones.
The Writing band: two tasks, four criteria
Writing is marked by a trained examiner, not against a key. Each task is assessed on four criteria, and each criterion counts for a quarter of that task's mark:
- Task Achievement (Task 1) or Task Response (Task 2): whether you did what the question asked, fully and relevantly.
- Coherence and Cohesion: how clearly the answer is organised and linked.
- Lexical Resource: the range and accuracy of your vocabulary.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy: the range and accuracy of your grammar.
The two tasks are not equal: Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1 in the Writing band. That has a practical consequence on exam day. Twenty minutes on Task 1 and forty on Task 2 is not only advice about length; it follows the way the marks are weighted. Overrunning on Task 1 spends your most valuable minutes on the task worth less. For what each criterion rewards, read the four IELTS Writing criteria explained.
Speaking: four criteria, equally weighted
Speaking is marked against four equal criteria too: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation. The Speaking test is the same for Academic and General Training candidates, and it lasts 11 to 14 minutes.
Using the arithmetic to plan your preparation
Because the overall band is an average, a strong skill can carry a weaker one, but only so far. Many universities and employers also set a minimum for each skill. Read the requirement carefully: 6.5 overall, with no skill below 6.0 is a common shape, and it means a 5.5 in Writing fails the requirement even when the overall band is 6.5.
If one skill is the only thing between you and your target, you may not need to sit the whole test again. See One Skill Retake: when resitting a single IELTS skill makes sense.
Find out your Writing band before exam day
Listening and Reading are easy to self-mark against an answer key. Writing is not, and it is the skill most candidates misjudge. EngProgress's free IELTS writing checker grades a Task 1 or Task 2 answer on the four official criteria and shows what is holding each band back. When an answer sits between two bands it gives the lower one, so the number you see is one to build on rather than a flattering guess.
Questions readers ask
How is the IELTS overall band score calculated?
The four skill bands are added together and divided by four, and the result is rounded to the nearest half or whole band. An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band, and one ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band.
Does Writing Task 2 count more than Task 1?
Yes. Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1 towards the IELTS Writing band, so it deserves about 40 of the 60 minutes.
How many correct answers do I need for Band 7 in IELTS Listening?
Around 30 correct answers out of 40 is usually Band 7 in Listening. The exact conversion varies slightly between versions of the test, so treat it as a guide rather than a guarantee.
Is the IELTS overall band rounded up or down?
It is rounded to the nearest half or whole band, and exact quarters round up: 6.25 becomes 6.5 and 6.75 becomes 7.0. An average of 6.125 rounds down to 6.0.
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