How your IELTS band score is calculated, step by step

Your result is one overall band and four skill bands. Each is reported in whole or half bands, from 0 to 9. Here is how the numbers are made.

Listening and Reading: count and convert

Each test has 40 questions and each correct answer is one mark. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so never leave a blank. The raw score is converted to a band. Listening uses one table for both test versions. Academic and General Training Reading use different tables, and the Academic test needs more correct answers for the same band.

Writing: four criteria, equal weight

Each Writing task is marked on four criteria, and the four marks count equally.

Task 2 counts twice as much as Task 1 in the Writing band. A strong essay therefore matters more than a perfect report.

Speaking: four criteria, equal weight

Fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation. Each is worth a quarter of your Speaking band.

The overall band and the rounding rule

The overall band is the average of the four skill bands, rounded to the nearest half band. The part learners get wrong is the rounding of the in-between values.

What this means for your study

1. Rounding rewards even skills. A single weak skill drags the average more than a strong one lifts it.
2. Check what your target needs. Universities often set an overall band and a minimum in each skill.
3. Writing is where a small gain is hardest and most valuable. Task 2 carries double weight.

• Work out the four skill bands you need for your target overall
• Find the weakest skill and the gap to its target
• Give that skill the biggest share of your week

Checked against the [British Council test format](https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/take-ielts/test-format) and the [IDP score guide](https://ielts.idp.com/results/scores). Always confirm with the organisation that will read your result.