Band scores
Work out your overall band from four skill scores, or convert a practice test result. Free, no signup.
This IELTS band score calculator does two things. It works out your overall band from your four skill scores, and it converts a raw practice test score out of forty into an approximate band for reading and listening.
Both are worth understanding rather than just using, because the rounding rule surprises people. An average of 6.25 becomes 6.5, but an average of 6.24 becomes 6.0, and that difference has stopped applications.
Work out your overall band
Choose your band for each of the four skills. Your overall band is the average, rounded to the nearest half band.
Raw score to band
Enter how many of the forty questions you answered correctly. Reading and listening are marked out of forty; writing and speaking are marked by an examiner and cannot be converted this way.
These conversions are indicative. The official band boundaries vary slightly from one test version to another, so treat the result as a guide rather than a prediction.
How it works
Four skills, one average, and a rounding rule that matters.
Listening, reading, writing and speaking each produce a band from 0 to 9. Your overall band is the average of the four, and no skill counts for more than another.
If the average ends in .25, it rounds up to the next half band. An average of 6.25 is reported as 6.5.
If the average ends in .75, it rounds up to the next whole band. An average of 6.75 is reported as 7.0.
Anything below .25 rounds down. An average of 6.1 is reported as 6.0, which is why a single weak skill is expensive.
Forty questions each, one mark per question, converted to a band using a table that varies slightly between test versions.
An examiner scores each against four criteria and averages them. There is no raw score, which is why no calculator can predict these two.
Method
Six limits worth knowing before you rely on the number.
The conversion tables here are indicative. Official boundaries vary slightly between test versions to keep the difficulty consistent.
The texts are easier, so you need more correct answers for the same band. Thirty out of forty is Band 6 in General Training and Band 7 in Academic.
A score at home, untimed or with a familiar passage, is usually higher than the score you would get on the day.
No table converts an essay into a band. It is judged by a trained examiner against four criteria, and self-assessment is unreliable.
The same applies. Recording yourself tells you how you sound, not what you would score.
An overall 7.0 with a 6.0 in writing fails many requirements. Check whether your target sets per-skill minimums as well as an overall band.
Practice
Test whether you have the rounding rule right.
Add the four skill bands and divide by four.
If the result ends in .25, round up to the next half band. If it ends in .75, round up to the next whole band. Anything lower rounds down.
1Listening 7.0, Reading 6.5, Writing 6.0, Speaking 6.0. What is the overall band?
6.5. The four add up to 25.5, which averages 6.375. That ends above .25, so it rounds up to 6.5.
2Listening 6.5, Reading 6.0, Writing 6.0, Speaking 6.0. What is the overall band?
6.0. The average is 6.125, which is below .25, so it rounds down. A single half band in one skill was not enough.
3Listening 8.0, Reading 7.5, Writing 6.5, Speaking 7.0. What is the overall band?
7.5. The average is 7.25, which rounds up to 7.5. Bands are never reported as 7.25.
4You need 7.0 in every skill and you score 8.0, 8.0, 7.0, 6.5. Have you met the requirement?
No. The overall band is 7.5, but the requirement was 7.0 in every skill. Per-skill minimums are common and catch a lot of candidates.
5Thirty correct answers out of forty. Which gives the higher band?
Academic reading. Thirty out of forty is approximately Band 7 in Academic and Band 6 in General Training, because the General Training texts are easier.
Most candidates are. The difference between an average of 6.24 and 6.25 is a half band on your certificate, and it has stopped visa applications.
The complete IELTS course on IELTStestONLINE has video lessons on every question type, many more exercises like this one, and your own support tutor you can ask when an answer does not make sense. Take a look at the complete course
This calculator handles the arithmetic. What it cannot do is tell you what band your writing or speaking would actually receive.
IELTStestONLINE keeps every score you get in one place, gives you an estimated band as you work, and assesses your writing and speaking against the four criteria so you can see where you stand before test day. See what full membership includes
It is the average of your four skill bands. If the average ends in .25 it rounds up to the next half band, and if it ends in .75 it rounds up to the next whole band.
No. Bands are reported in whole and half bands only, so 6.25 is reported as 6.5 and 6.75 is reported as 7.0.
Roughly 30 out of 40 in Academic reading, 34 in General Training reading, and 30 in listening. Boundaries vary slightly between test versions.
Because the texts are easier. You need more correct answers for the same band, which keeps the two modules comparable.
No. Writing and speaking are judged by an examiner against four criteria, with no raw score to convert. Only a trained assessor can tell you.
Full membership
Reading and listening you can score yourself. Writing and speaking have to be judged against four criteria, and those are the two that most often hold a candidate below the band they need.
IELTStestONLINE assesses your writing and speaking against the four IELTS criteria, instantly and as often as you like, using a system built by a former IELTS examiner and examiner trainer. It keeps every score in one place with an estimated band, and it carries no advertising.
See what membership includes