IELTS Band Score Calculator
Work out your overall band from your four skill scores — with the official rounding rule, not a guess.
IELTS reports a band from 0 to 9 for each skill and an overall band that is the average of the four, rounded to the nearest half band. Use the calculator to see your overall band, find out which single skill would lift it fastest, and convert your Listening and Reading raw scores (correct answers out of 40) into bands.
Adjust each skill in half-band steps. The tip under the result shows which skill is cheapest to improve.
How the overall IELTS band is calculated
- 1
Add the four skill bands
Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking each count equally. There is no extra weight for any skill.
- 2
Divide by four
The result is your raw average, which may end in .125, .25, .375, .5, .625, .75 or .875.
- 3
Round to the nearest half band
An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band; one ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band. Everything else rounds to the closest half or whole band.
Rounding examples
These worked examples show why two candidates with the same total can end up with different overall bands.
| Listening / Reading / Writing / Speaking | Average | Overall band |
|---|---|---|
| 6.5 / 6.5 / 5.0 / 7.0 | 6.250 | 6.5 |
| 6.0 / 6.0 / 6.0 / 6.5 | 6.125 | 6.0 |
| 7.0 / 6.5 / 6.5 / 6.5 | 6.625 | 6.5 |
| 7.5 / 7.0 / 6.5 / 6.0 | 6.750 | 7.0 |
| 8.0 / 7.5 / 7.0 / 7.5 | 7.500 | 7.5 |
Raw score to band converter
Listening and Reading are marked out of 40 and converted to bands. Enter your number of correct answers from a practice test to estimate your band.
Listening (Academic and General Training)
Reading — Academic
Reading — General Training
Listening and Reading conversion tables
The tables below are the indicative conversions published for IELTS. Each test version is calibrated separately, so the exact boundary can move by a question in either direction.
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 |
Reading — Academic
| 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 |
Reading — General Training
| 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 |
Indicative only. General Training Reading needs more correct answers for the same band because its texts are less demanding than Academic texts.
Why Writing and Speaking have no conversion table
Writing and Speaking are not scored by counting correct answers. An examiner rates four criteria — for Speaking: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, Pronunciation; for Writing: Task Achievement or Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy — and the skill band is the average of the four criteria bands. That is why a trained teacher's feedback is the only reliable way to estimate these two scores before test day.
Band score questions
Up. An average of 6.25 is reported as an overall band of 6.5. An average of 6.125, however, rounds down to 6.0.
Yes. Each skill is reported separately on your Test Report Form, together with the overall band. Institutions often set a minimum for individual skills as well as for the overall band.
Typically around 30 out of 40. In Academic Reading it is also around 30, and in General Training Reading around 34–35, because General Training texts are less demanding.
The overall band calculation is identical. Only the Reading raw-score conversion differs between the two versions, which is why the converter offers both tables.
Usually your lowest one. Half a band in the weakest skill moves the average as much as half a band anywhere else, and the gap between your weakest and strongest skill is normally the easiest to close. The tip under the calculator shows the effect for your numbers.
It uses the indicative tables published for IELTS. Real tests are calibrated individually, so treat the result as an estimate within about one question of the boundary.
Know your real band before test day
Writing and Speaking cannot be self-scored. In a free trial lesson a native English-speaking IELTS teacher assesses both and tells you honestly where you stand.
