Band scores: from marks to an overall band
You can turn a mark into a band, and four paper bands into one overall band.
Your result has five numbers on it: a band for each of the four papers, and an overall band made from those four.
Universities, employers and visa rules ask for a band, and some also set a minimum for each paper. So you need to know how each number is made, and how far you are from the next one.
Warm-up
A real band?
Every IELTS band sits on one scale. Only one of these could be printed on a result.
Which of these is a possible band?
How it works
Listening and Reading: marks out of 40
Each paper has 40 questions, and each correct answer earns one mark. A wrong answer loses nothing, so answer every question, with a guess if you have to.
Your mark out of 40 is then turned into a band. The table shows what three marks are worth in each paper.
| Correct answers | Listening | Academic Reading | General Training Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
| 30 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| 23 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
Approximate. The exact numbers vary slightly from one version of the test to another.
Lower down, band 5 needs about 16 correct in Listening and about 15 in Academic Reading. In General Training Reading, about 15 correct gives band 4.
So the same mark gives a lower band in General Training Reading. The two Reading tests use different texts, and each has its own scale. When you mark a practice test yourself, use the scale for your test.
Writing and Speaking: four criteria each
Examiners mark Writing and Speaking against the band descriptors, which are public: they describe the writing or speaking expected at each band. Each paper has four criteria, and they are equally weighted: each one counts the same.
Writing
How fully you do what the task asks. In Task 2, that includes a clear position that you develop.
How easy your answer is to follow: paragraphs, the order of ideas, and the links between them.
Your vocabulary: how wide it is, and how accurately you use it, spelling included.
The variety of your sentence structures, and how free of errors they are.
Speaking
Talking at length without long pauses, with your ideas in a clear order.
The range of words you use, and how precisely you use them.
The variety and accuracy of your sentences, as you speak them.
How easily the examiner understands you. An accent only matters if it makes you harder to understand.
In Writing, Task 2 carries more weight than Task 1, so your essay counts for more of the Writing band. In both papers, one weak criterion holds the band down. Work on all four, starting with your weakest.
Working out your overall band
- 1Add your four bands
The example on ielts.org: 6.5 + 6.5 + 5 + 7 = 25.
- 2Divide by four
25 ÷ 4 = 6.25. This is your average.
- 3Round to the nearest half band
6.25 is exactly halfway between 6 and 6.5. The rule on ielts.org: an average ending in .25 goes up to the next half band, and one ending in .75 goes up to the next whole band. So the overall band is 6.5.
| Average | Overall band | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 6.125 | 6 | nearer to 6 than to 6.5 |
| 6.25 | 6.5 | halfway, and halfway goes up |
| 6.375 | 6.5 | nearer to 6.5 than to 6 |
| 6.625 | 6.5 | nearer to 6.5 than to 7 |
| 6.75 | 7 | halfway, and halfway goes up |
| 6.875 | 7 | nearer to 7 than to 6.5 |
An average of four bands can only end in these ways, or in .0 or .5, which need no rounding.
Watch me do one
I'll work out one overall band from start to finish. The bands: Listening 7.5, Reading 7, Writing 6 and Speaking 6.
First I add them. 7.5 and 7 make 14.5, and the two 6s make 12, so the total is 26.5.
Then I divide by four: 26.5 ÷ 4 = 6.625.
Now the rounding. 6.625 sits between 6.5 and 7. It is 0.125 above 6.5 and 0.375 below 7, so it is nearer to 6.5.
The overall band is 6.5. It is easy to see an average above 6.5 and expect 7, but only 6.75 or more rounds up to 7.
With 6.5 in Writing, the total would have been 27 and the average 6.75, which gives 7. Half a band in one paper made that difference.
Practice with Elita8 questions
Eight questions. The first four check marks and criteria, and in the last four you work out the bands.
Which criterion counts most?
Think about how the four Speaking criteria are weighted.
Which criterion counts most towards your Speaking band?
Listening: 30 correct
Use the table in the lesson. Write the band as a number.
30 correct answers out of 40 in Listening gives about band .
Write no more than 1 word.
The same mark in General Training
Now take the same 30 correct answers, in General Training Reading.
About which band does 30 out of 40 give in General Training Reading?
Criteria and what they judge
Match each criterion to what the examiner looks at.
Four bands, one overall band
Add the four bands, divide by four and round. Write the overall band as a number.
Listening 8, Reading 7.5, Writing 6.5, Speaking 7. Overall band:
Write no more than 1 word.
Another four bands
Same steps again. Write the overall band as a number.
Listening 6, Reading 5.5, Writing 5.5, Speaking 6. Overall band:
Write no more than 1 word.
Nearer to which band?
Work out the average before you choose.
Listening 7.5, Reading 7, Writing 7, Speaking 7. What is the overall band?
What do you need in Speaking?
You need 7 overall, and you already know your other three bands.
Listening 7.5, Reading 7.5, Writing 6. What is the lowest Speaking band that still gives 7 overall?
Words to keep
A score on the IELTS scale from 0 to 9. She needs band 7 in Writing for her course.
One band for the whole test, made from your four paper bands. His overall band was 6.5, with 6 in Writing.
One of the things an examiner judges. Pronunciation is one of the four Speaking criteria.
Counting the same amount as each other. The four Writing criteria are equally weighted.
Move a number up or down to a whole or half band. An average of 5.75 is rounded up to 6.
Close to the real figure, but not exact. The marks for each band in the table are approximate.
The official description of writing or speaking at one band. The band descriptors are public, so you can read them yourself.
Before you go
Answer every Listening and Reading question. A wrong answer loses nothing.
Mark your practice tests out of 40, and read the band from the scale for your test.
In Writing and Speaking, work on all four criteria, starting with your weakest. Each one counts the same.
For the overall band, add the four bands, divide by four and round to the nearest half band. Averages ending in .25 or .75 go up.
Next: The last starter lesson: setting your learning path, using Daily drills, Full tests and Progress, and planning your week.