IELTS Band Score Calculator

Your overall band is the average of the four section scores, rounded to the nearest half band with a rule that favours the candidate: an average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band, and an average ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band.

Example: Listening 6.5, Reading 6.5, Writing 6.0, Speaking 6.0 gives an average of 6.25, reported as overall band 6.5. But 6.0, 6.0, 6.0, 6.5 averages 6.125, which rounds down to 6.0.

Listening has 40 questions and no penalty for wrong answers. Approximate conversion, from official practice materials:

Each real test version is calibrated separately, so treat these as close estimates rather than guarantees.

Reading also has 40 questions, but the two test types use different tables: General Training texts are easier, so more correct answers are needed for the same band. Band 7.0 needs roughly 30/40 on Academic but about 34/40 on General Training.

Writing and Speaking have no raw score. Examiners rate each from 0–9 against four equally weighted criteria. For Writing: Task Achievement, Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range & Accuracy. The four criterion scores average to the section band.

If you want to know where your Writing or Speaking stands before test day, IELTSLab scores real essays and speaking sessions against those same criteria in seconds, free to try.