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This free IELTS band calculator turns your practice-test scores into IELTS bands. Enter your raw scores (correct answers out of 40) or band scores for Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking, and it works out your overall band instantly, using IELTS’s own rounding rules.
Below the calculator you’ll find the raw score to band score charts for Listening and Reading, how the overall band is worked out (and why an average of 6.75 becomes 7.0), and how Writing and Speaking are marked.
Your overall IELTS band is the average of your four skill bands, rounded: an average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band, and one ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band, so 6.75 becomes 7.0. In Listening, about 30 correct answers out of 40 is Band 7 on average.
IELTS Band Calculator
For Listening and Reading, enter either your raw score (correct answers out of 40) or your band score. For Reading, choose Academic or General Training, because their raw scores convert differently. For Writing and Speaking, enter the band you were given.
The overall-band maths is exact. The raw-score conversion is an estimate: IELTS publishes the average number of correct answers for some bands, and says the exact number needed changes slightly from one test version to another. Use the result to plan your preparation, not as an official score. See IELTS scoring in detail.
How Your Overall IELTS Band Score Is Calculated
Your overall band is the average of your four skill bands, rounded to the nearest half or whole band. IELTS’s rule for the in-between cases is simple: 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.
| Your average ends in | What happens | Example |
|---|---|---|
| .0 | It stays as it is | 6.0 → 6.0 |
| .125 | Rounds down to the whole band | 6.125 → 6.0 |
| .25 | Rounds up to the half band | 6.25 → 6.5 |
| .375 | Rounds up to the half band | 6.375 → 6.5 |
| .5 | It stays as it is | 6.5 → 6.5 |
| .625 | Rounds down to the half band | 6.625 → 6.5 |
| .75 | Rounds up to the next whole band | 6.75 → 7.0 |
| .875 | Rounds up to the next whole band | 6.875 → 7.0 |
Four scores in half bands can only average out to these eight endings.
Listening 7.0 · Reading 6.5 · Writing 6.5 · Speaking 6.5
Total 26.5 ÷ 4 = 6.625, which rounds to 6.5 overall
Raise Writing to 7.0: total 27.0 ÷ 4 = 6.75, which rounds up to 7.0 overall
So if you need 7.0 overall and you’re averaging 6.625, you don’t have to improve every skill. Half a band in your weakest one is enough. Preparation aimed at that one skill is far more efficient than trying to raise all four at once.
IELTS Listening Score Chart: Raw Score to Band
The Listening test has 40 questions, each worth 1 mark. The same conversion applies to Academic and General Training.
| Correct answers | Band | Correct answers | Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| 39–40 | 9.0 | 20–22 | 5.5 |
| 37–38 | 8.5 | 16–19 | 5.0 |
| 35–36 | 8.0 | 13–15 | 4.5 |
| 33–34 | 7.5 | 10–12 | 4.0 |
| 30–32 | 7.0 | 6–9 | 3.5 |
| 26–29 | 6.5 | 4–5 | 3.0 |
| 23–25 | 6.0 | 2–3 | 2.5 |
IELTS’s published averages: 16 correct is Band 5, 23 is Band 6, 30 is Band 7 and 35 is Band 8. The exact number varies slightly by test version.
IELTS Reading Score Chart: Raw Score to Band
Reading also has 40 questions worth 1 mark each, but Academic and General Training convert differently. General Training texts are easier to read, so you need more correct answers for the same band.
Academic Reading
| Correct answers | Band | Correct answers | Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| 39–40 | 9.0 | 19–22 | 5.5 |
| 37–38 | 8.5 | 15–18 | 5.0 |
| 35–36 | 8.0 | 13–14 | 4.5 |
| 33–34 | 7.5 | 10–12 | 4.0 |
| 30–32 | 7.0 | 8–9 | 3.5 |
| 27–29 | 6.5 | 5–7 | 3.0 |
| 23–26 | 6.0 | 3–4 | 2.5 |
IELTS’s published averages: 15 correct is Band 5, 23 is Band 6, 30 is Band 7 and 35 is Band 8.
General Training Reading
| Correct answers | Band | Correct answers | Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 9.0 | 27–29 | 5.5 |
| 39 | 8.5 | 23–26 | 5.0 |
| 37–38 | 8.0 | 19–22 | 4.5 |
| 36 | 7.5 | 15–18 | 4.0 |
| 34–35 | 7.0 | 12–14 | 3.5 |
| 32–33 | 6.5 | 9–11 | 3.0 |
| 30–31 | 6.0 | 6–8 | 2.5 |
IELTS’s published averages: 15 correct is Band 4, 23 is Band 5, 30 is Band 6 and 35 is Band 7.
Compare the two at Band 7: about 30 correct answers in Academic Reading, but about 35 in General Training.
How Writing and Speaking Are Scored
Writing and Speaking have no correct-answer count. Trained IELTS examiners mark them against published criteria and give whole or half bands.
Writing
Four criteria: Task Achievement (Task 1) or Task Response (Task 2), Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. They’re equally weighted within each task, but Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1 in your Writing band. See the official Writing format.
Speaking
Four equally weighted criteria: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, and Pronunciation. Fluency alone is a quarter of your Speaking band.
Only enter a Writing or Speaking band from an official result or a practice test marked by someone who knows the criteria. Need one? Our free IELTS level check marks your Writing and Speaking and estimates all four bands, with a reply within 24 hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Live IELTS Preparation, Built Around Your Target Band
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