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IELTS band score calculator

Enter your four section bands to see the overall band they make under the rounding rule IELTS publishes. Or turn a Listening or Reading mark into the band IELTS publishes for it, with nothing added that IELTS has not published.

Rules taken from “IELTS scoring in detail” on ielts.org, read 13 September 2026.

Four section bands to an overall band

ListeningReadingWritingSpeaking

Overall band

6.5

The average of the four is 6.25, which IELTS rounds up to 6.5.

Correct answers to a band

PaperCorrect answers, out of 40

30 correct reaches the mark IELTS publishes for band 7. Band 8 is published at 35.

Band	Marks out of 40
5	16
6	23
7	30
8	35

These are the only marks IELTS publishes for each paper, and it says the exact number needed varies slightly between test versions. Nothing between them is published, so this does not guess a half band.

How the overall band is worked out

The overall band is the average of the four section bands, rounded to the nearest half band. An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band, and one ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band.

IELTS's three worked examples
Example	Listening	Reading	Writing	Speaking	Average	Overall band
A	6.5	6.5	5.0	7.0	6.25	6.5
B	4.0	3.5	4.0	4.0	3.875	4.0
C	6.5	6.5	5.5	6.0	6.125	6.0

IELTS's own three worked examples, as published.

What this cannot tell you

This is arithmetic on the bands you enter. It does not issue an official result, which only an IELTS test centre does, and it cannot estimate a Writing or Speaking band, because examiners award those against published criteria. For an estimate of either, Liguastic marks Writing against the four criteria and scores Speaking from your recording, and always calls the number an estimate.

Questions about IELTS scoring

How is the IELTS overall band score calculated?

It is the average of your four section bands, Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking, rounded to the nearest half band. Each section counts equally. IELTS publishes the rule on its page “IELTS scoring in detail”.

What happens if my average ends in .25 or .75?

An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band, so 6.25 becomes 6.5. One ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band, so 6.75 becomes 7.0. Every other average rounds to the nearest half band.

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

IELTS publishes 30 marks out of 40 for band 7 in Listening, and 30 for band 7 in Academic Reading. In General Training Reading, band 7 is published at 35. IELTS says the exact number varies slightly between test versions.

Is this an official IELTS result?

No. The calculator applies the rounding rule IELTS publishes to the bands you enter. It does not issue a result, which only an IELTS test centre does, and it cannot estimate Writing or Speaking bands, which examiners award against published criteria.

The band you need

What a registration body, a visa route or a university asks for, taken from its own published page, and how each skill is prepared.

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