IELTS Band Score

IELTS reports results on a 9-band scale, from Band 1 (non-user) to Band 9 (expert user), in half-band increments. Here's how the number on your results page is actually calculated.

Each module is scored separately

Reading and Listening are scored on the number of correct answers (out of 40) converted to a band using a published conversion table — the table differs slightly between Academic Reading, General Training Reading, and Listening, because General Training Reading is calibrated to be slightly more forgiving to make results comparable across the two tracks.

Writing and Speaking are scored against four criteria each, assessed by a trained examiner (or, on this platform, estimated using the same four criteria):

• Writing: Task Achievement/Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy.
• Speaking: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, Pronunciation.

How the overall band is calculated

Your Overall Band Score is the average of your four module bands (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking), rounded according to a specific rule:

• If the average ends in .25, it rounds up to the next half band.
• If the average ends in .75, it rounds up to the next whole band.
• Any other average rounds to the nearest whole or half band normally.

For example, an average of 6.25 becomes 6.5, and an average of 6.75 becomes 7.0 — both round up, never down. This is the same rounding rule the real IELTS test uses, and it's exactly what this platform's own scoring engine applies to your mock test results.

What this platform can and can't tell you

Our Reading and Listening scoring uses the same published conversion tables as the real test, so those band estimates are calculated the same way an official one would be. Our Writing and Speaking scoring applies the same four criteria examiners use, but — like any automated or self-assessed estimate — it can't fully replace a certified examiner, especially for Speaking, where roughly a quarter of your real band depends on pronunciation, something a text transcript can't evaluate. Use these estimates to track your progress and find weak areas, not as a guarantee of your result on test day.

Curious where you stand right now? Take a full mock test to get a real band estimate across all four modules, or check My Study Plan for a breakdown of your weakest areas based on your own attempt history.