How is the overall IELTS band score calculated?

Add your Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking bands together and divide by four, then round the result to the nearest whole or half band. An average ending in .25 is rounded up to the next half band, and one ending in .75 is rounded up to the next whole band.

Does IELTS round up or down?

Both. The average is rounded to whichever whole or half band is nearest. An average of 6.25 goes up to 6.5, but an average of 6.125 goes down to 6.0. Only averages of .25 and above within a half band move upward.

How many correct answers do I need for band 7?

On Listening you need roughly 30 out of 40, on Academic Reading roughly 30 out of 40, and on General Training Reading roughly 34 out of 40. General Training Reading is marked more strictly because the texts are easier.

Is Writing Task 2 worth more than Task 1?

Yes. Task 2 carries roughly twice the weight of Task 1 in your Writing band, so a weak Task 2 pulls the whole Writing score down much faster than a weak Task 1.

Can I get a half band in my overall score?

Yes. Each of the four skills and the overall score are all reported in whole and half bands, from band 1 to band 9.

Are these raw score conversions official?

They are the widely published indicative tables. The exact number of correct answers needed for each band shifts slightly between test versions to account for difficulty, so treat any raw score conversion as an estimate rather than a guaranteed result.

IELTS Band Score Calculator

Work out your overall IELTS band score from your four skill bands, or turn your Listening and Reading marks out of 40 into bands first. Works for both Academic and General Training.

Listening

Reading

Writing

Speaking

Overall band score

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Enter all four skills to see your overall band. (0 of 4 done)

Writing is the score most candidates need to lift. Get an essay marked against all four criteria in seconds.

How your overall band score is calculated

Your overall band is the average of your Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking bands, rounded to the nearest whole or half band. The rounding is where most people are caught out:

An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band.
An average ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band.
Anything below .25 within a band rounds down.

Listening 6.5, Reading 6.5, Writing 5.0, Speaking 7.0

25 ÷ 4 = 6.25

6.5

An average ending in .25 is rounded up to the next half band.

Listening 4.0, Reading 3.5, Writing 4.0, Speaking 4.0

15.5 ÷ 4 = 3.875

4.0

An average ending in .75 or above is rounded up to the next whole band.

Listening 6.5, Reading 6.5, Writing 5.5, Speaking 6.0

24.5 ÷ 4 = 6.125

6.0

An average below .25 is rounded down, which is why one weak skill can cost you half a band.

Raw score to band score conversion tables

Listening and Reading are both marked out of 40. There is no deduction for a wrong answer, so always guess. The tables below are the standard published conversions used by the calculator above — the exact marks needed shift slightly between test versions, so treat them as an estimate.

Listening (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
8–9	3.5
6–7	3.0
4–5	2.5

Academic Reading
Correct answers	Band
39–40	9.0
37–38	8.5
35–36	8.0
33–34	7.5
30–32	7.0
27–29	6.5
23–26	6.0
19–22	5.5
15–18	5.0
13–14	4.5
10–12	4.0
8–9	3.5
6–7	3.0
4–5	2.5

General Training Reading
Correct answers	Band
40	9.0
39	8.5
37–38	8.0
36	7.5
34–35	7.0
32–33	6.5
30–31	6.0
27–29	5.5
23–26	5.0
19–22	4.5
15–18	4.0
12–14	3.5
9–11	3.0
6–8	2.5

General Training Reading needs noticeably more correct answers for the same band because its texts are easier than the Academic ones.

How Writing and Speaking are marked

There is no raw score for Writing and Speaking. An examiner awards a band for each of four criteria, and those four are averaged. Every criterion is worth 25%, so a single weak area caps the whole score.

Writing — four criteria

Task Achievement / Task Response: Whether you actually answered the question, covered every part of it and hit the word count.
Coherence and Cohesion: Paragraphing, logical order and linking — without overusing connectives.
Lexical Resource: Range and precision of vocabulary, including collocation and spelling.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Variety of sentence structures and how many of them are error free.

Your two tasks are then combined, with Task 2 worth roughly twice as much as Task 1. Use the From Task 1 and 2 option in the calculator to see what that does to your Writing band.

Speaking — four criteria

Fluency and Coherence
Lexical Resource
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Pronunciation

Speaking is the only skill where pronunciation is assessed directly. Writing swaps it for Task Achievement.

Frequently asked questions

How is the overall IELTS band score calculated?: Add your Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking bands together and divide by four, then round the result to the nearest whole or half band. An average ending in .25 is rounded up to the next half band, and one ending in .75 is rounded up to the next whole band.
Does IELTS round up or down?: Both. The average is rounded to whichever whole or half band is nearest. An average of 6.25 goes up to 6.5, but an average of 6.125 goes down to 6.0. Only averages of .25 and above within a half band move upward.
How many correct answers do I need for band 7?: On Listening you need roughly 30 out of 40, on Academic Reading roughly 30 out of 40, and on General Training Reading roughly 34 out of 40. General Training Reading is marked more strictly because the texts are easier.
Is Writing Task 2 worth more than Task 1?: Yes. Task 2 carries roughly twice the weight of Task 1 in your Writing band, so a weak Task 2 pulls the whole Writing score down much faster than a weak Task 1.
Can I get a half band in my overall score?: Yes. Each of the four skills and the overall score are all reported in whole and half bands, from band 1 to band 9.
Are these raw score conversions official?: They are the widely published indicative tables. The exact number of correct answers needed for each band shifts slightly between test versions to account for difficulty, so treat any raw score conversion as an estimate rather than a guaranteed result.

Know your Writing band before test day

The calculator tells you what you need. Writing is usually the score holding people back, and it is the one skill you cannot mark yourself. Paste in a Task 1 or Task 2 answer and get a band for all four criteria, with the specific corrections that would raise it.

This calculator is an unofficial study tool. It applies the published rounding rules and the standard raw score conversion tables, but only a Test Report Form from the British Council, IDP or Cambridge is an official IELTS result.