IELTS band score calculator
Turn a Listening or Reading score out of 40 into a band, or work out your overall band from the band for each part of the test.
Score out of 40 to band
For a Listening or Reading test you have marked.
Listening band
7.0
30 to 31 correct answers give 7.0.
Overall band
From your band in each of the four parts.
Choose a band for each part to see your overall band.
How the overall band is worked out
Your overall band is the average of your four section bands, rounded to the nearest whole or half band. 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.
| Listening | Reading | Writing | Speaking | Average | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.5 | 6.5 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 6.25 | 6.5 |
| 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.875 | 4.0 |
| 6.5 | 6.5 | 5.5 | 6.0 | 6.125 | 6.0 |
The rule and the examples are from IELTS scoring in detail on ielts.org.
Listening and Reading scores to bands
Listening and Reading each have 40 questions, one mark for each, and nothing is taken off for a wrong answer. Your score out of 40 is turned into a band with a table. Listening has one table for everyone. Reading has two, because General Training needs more correct answers than Academic for the same band.
The tables are the ones IDP, one of the three organisations that own IELTS, publishes for Listening and Reading. Anglai's mock tests use the same tables. They show the usual number of correct answers for each band. The exact number varies slightly from one version of the test to another, so a band worked out from a practice test is an estimate.
Listening
| Correct | Band |
|---|---|
| 39 to 40 | 9.0 |
| 37 to 38 | 8.5 |
| 35 to 36 | 8.0 |
| 32 to 34 | 7.5 |
| 30 to 31 | 7.0 |
| 26 to 29 | 6.5 |
| 23 to 25 | 6.0 |
| 18 to 22 | 5.5 |
| 16 to 17 | 5.0 |
| 13 to 15 | 4.5 |
| 11 to 12 | 4.0 |
| 0 to 10 | Below 4.0 |
Academic Reading
| Correct | Band |
|---|---|
| 39 to 40 | 9.0 |
| 37 to 38 | 8.5 |
| 35 to 36 | 8.0 |
| 33 to 34 | 7.5 |
| 30 to 32 | 7.0 |
| 27 to 29 | 6.5 |
| 23 to 26 | 6.0 |
| 19 to 22 | 5.5 |
| 15 to 18 | 5.0 |
| 13 to 14 | 4.5 |
| 10 to 12 | 4.0 |
| 8 to 9 | 3.5 |
| 6 to 7 | 3.0 |
| 4 to 5 | 2.5 |
| 0 to 3 | Below 2.5 |
General Training Reading
| Correct | Band |
|---|---|
| 40 | 9.0 |
| 39 | 8.5 |
| 37 to 38 | 8.0 |
| 36 | 7.5 |
| 34 to 35 | 7.0 |
| 32 to 33 | 6.5 |
| 30 to 31 | 6.0 |
| 27 to 29 | 5.5 |
| 23 to 26 | 5.0 |
| 19 to 22 | 4.5 |
| 15 to 18 | 4.0 |
| 12 to 14 | 3.5 |
| 9 to 11 | 3.0 |
| 0 to 8 | Below 3.0 |
Writing and Speaking bands
Writing and Speaking have no score out of 40. An examiner gives a band for each of four criteria, and the four count equally. In Writing they are Task Achievement (Task 1) or Task Response (Task 2), Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1. In Speaking they are Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation.
IELTS does not publish how those criteria bands are rounded into a Writing or Speaking band, so this calculator does not work one out from them.
To get a Writing or Speaking band to put in the calculator, sit a Writing mock test or a Speaking mock test. Each is marked on the four criteria, with feedback on each. For a single essay, report or letter, the free writing checker gives an estimated band without an account.