IELTS band score calculator: how many correct for each band?
Enter your Listening and Reading marks and your Writing and Speaking bands; your section bands and overall band appear at once.
Wrong answers cost nothing; each correct answer is one mark, so answer every question.
Overall band (estimate)
6.5
An estimate: the marks needed vary by a few questions between test versions. Your official result is the band on your Test Report Form.
Marks per band: Listening and Reading table
| Band | Listening | Academic Reading | General Training Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9.0 | 39–40 | 39–40 | 40 |
| 8.5 | 37–38 | 37–38 | 39 |
| 8.0 | 35–36 | 35–36 | 37–38 |
| 7.5 | 32–34 | 33–34 | 36 |
| 7.0 | 30–31 | 30–32 | 34–35 |
| 6.5 | 26–29 | 27–29 | 32–33 |
| 6.0 | 23–25 | 23–26 | 30–31 |
| 5.5 | 18–22 | 19–22 | 27–29 |
| 5.0 | 16–17 | 15–18 | 23–26 |
| 4.5 | 13–15 | 13–14 | 19–22 |
| 4.0 | 11–12 | 10–12 | 15–18 |
General Training Reading needs more correct answers for the same band: band 7 takes 30 in Academic and 34 in General Training. Exact cut-offs move by a few questions with each test’s difficulty.
How is the IELTS score calculated?
Listening and Reading have 40 questions each; every correct answer is one mark and wrong answers cost nothing. Your marks are converted to a band from 0 to 9 with a table adjusted for each test’s difficulty. Writing and Speaking are marked directly as bands by examiners against the criteria.
The overall band is the mean of the four sections, rounded to the nearest half band: a mean ending in .25 goes up to the next half band and one ending in .75 to the next whole band. For example, sections of 6.5, 6.5, 5.5 and 6.5 average 6.25, so the overall is 6.5; a mean of 6.125 gives 6.0.
The Listening table is the one IDP publishes. For Reading, IELTS publishes only the main cut-offs (Academic: 15 marks band 5, 23 band 6, 30 band 7, 35 band 8); the half bands in between come from the widely used table that matches those cut-offs.
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Frequently asked questions
Do wrong answers lose marks in IELTS?
No. In Listening and Reading a wrong or blank answer costs nothing and each correct answer is one mark, so you should answer the questions you are unsure of too.
How many correct answers do I need for IELTS 7?
Band 7 takes about 30 correct answers in Listening, 30 in Academic Reading and 34 in General Training Reading. An overall 7 needs the mean of the four sections to be at least 6.75.
How is the IELTS overall band rounded?
The four section bands are averaged; a mean ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band and one ending in .75 to the next whole band. A mean of 6.25 gives 6.5, 6.75 gives 7.0 and 6.125 gives 6.0.
Is this calculation exact?
No, it is an estimate. IELTS can move the marks-to-band cut-offs by a few questions to match each test’s difficulty. Your official result is the band on your Test Report Form.
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