IELTS Band Score Calculator: Overall, Listening and Reading

Work out your overall IELTS band from your four section scores, or turn a Listening or Reading practice test score out of 40 into a band. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere.

How the overall band is rounded

Your overall band is the mean of the four section bands, rounded to the nearest half band. The two cases people get wrong are the quarters:

An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band, so 6.25 becomes 6.5.
An average ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band, so 6.75 becomes 7.0.
Anything else goes to whichever half band is nearer, so 6.125 becomes 6.0 and 6.875 becomes 7.0.

Worked examples

Listening	Reading	Writing	Speaking	Average	Overall
6.5	6.5	5.5	6.0	6.125	6.0
6.5	6.5	6.0	6.0	6.25	6.5
7.0	7.0	6.5	6.5	6.75	7.0
7.0	7.0	7.0	6.5	6.875	7.0
7.5	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.125	7.0

The first two rows differ by half a band in Writing alone, and that half band moves the overall result from 6.0 to 6.5. If you are a quarter short of a target, the cheapest half band to find is usually in the section where you are weakest. For a lot of candidates that is Writing; the guide to how the overall band is calculated goes through more cases.

IELTS band score chart

Correct answers out of 40 for each band, from the widely published conversion tables. These are approximate: official conversions can shift slightly between test versions, and no consistent table is published below band 4.0.

Band	Listening (both tests)	Academic Reading	General Training Reading
9.0	39 to 40	39 to 40	40
8.5	37 to 38	37 to 38	39
8.0	35 to 36	35 to 36	37 to 38
7.5	32 to 34	33 to 34	36
7.0	30 to 31	30 to 32	34 to 35
6.5	26 to 29	27 to 29	32 to 33
6.0	23 to 25	23 to 26	30 to 31
5.5	18 to 22	19 to 22	27 to 29
5.0	16 to 17	15 to 18	23 to 26
4.5	13 to 15	13 to 14	19 to 22
4.0	10 to 12	10 to 12	15 to 18

What raw score do common targets need?

The lowest raw score that reaches each band, read off the same tables. Many universities and visa routes set an overall band plus a minimum for each section (for example 6.5 overall with no section below 6.0), so check the exact rule your institution or authority publishes.

Target band	Listening	Academic Reading	General Training Reading
6.0	23 / 40	23 / 40	30 / 40
6.5	26 / 40	27 / 40	32 / 40
7.0	30 / 40	30 / 40	34 / 40
7.5	32 / 40	33 / 40	36 / 40
8.0	35 / 40	35 / 40	37 / 40

Listening and Reading are counted answers, so a practice test tells you roughly where you stand. Writing and Speaking are judged against band descriptors, which is why they are harder to predict on your own. If Writing is the section holding you back, read the Writing band descriptors explained or browse sample answers by band.

Questions

How is the IELTS overall band score calculated?

Add the four section bands (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking), divide by four, then round to the nearest half band. An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band and an average ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band.

What is 6.25 in IELTS overall?

An average of 6.25 is reported as 6.5. An average of 6.125 is reported as 6.0, because it is closer to 6.0 than to 6.5.

How many correct answers do I need for band 7 in IELTS Listening?

On the widely published table, 30 out of 40 in Listening is band 7.0. Academic Reading needs about 30 and General Training Reading about 34. Official conversions can shift slightly between test versions.

Is the Listening conversion different for Academic and General Training?

No. Both tests take the same Listening paper and use the same conversion. Only Reading differs, because the General Training Reading paper uses different texts.

IELTS band score calculator

Overall band score calculator

Listening and Reading score to band