How IELTS Is Scored: Raw Scores to Band Conversion

Understanding how your answers become a band score gives you a strategic advantage. You can calculate exactly how many marks you need, identify which components offer the most room for improvement, and make informed decisions about where to focus your preparation time.

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The Band Score Scale

IELTS uses a 9-band scale with half-band increments:

Band	Description	CEFR
9	Expert user	C2
8.5	Very good user	C2
8	Very good user	C1/C2
7.5	Good user	C1
7	Good user	C1
6.5	Competent user	B2/C1
6	Competent user	B2
5.5	Modest user	B1/B2
5	Modest user	B1

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Listening: Raw Score to Band

The Listening test has 40 questions, each worth 1 mark. There is no negative marking.

Conversion Table

Correct Answers	Band Score
39–40	9.0
37–38	8.5
35–36	8.0
33–34	7.5
30–32	7.0
27–29	6.5
23–26	6.0
20–22	5.5
16–19	5.0

Note: These thresholds vary slightly between test versions to account for difficulty differences. The figures above are approximate guides based on published data.

Strategic Implications

• For Band 7.0: You need approximately 30/40 — you can afford 10 wrong answers.
• Sections 1 and 2 are easier. Aim for near-perfect scores (18–20 out of 20) to create a buffer for the harder Sections 3 and 4.
• Section 4 is the hardest — even losing 4–5 marks here keeps you at Band 7 if you aced the earlier sections.

Listening: Where to Invest Your Study Time
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If you consistently score:
  Section 1: 9–10  → No extra work needed
  Section 2: 8–10  → Minor refinement
  Section 3: 6–8   → Focus here — academic dialogues
  Section 4: 5–7   → Focus here — academic monologues

The biggest gains come from improving Sections 3–4.

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Reading: Raw Score to Band

Reading also has 40 questions, each worth 1 mark, with no negative marking.

Academic Conversion Table

Correct Answers	Band Score
39–40	9.0
37–38	8.5
35–36	8.0
33–34	7.5
30–32	7.0
27–29	6.5
23–26	6.0
19–22	5.5
15–18	5.0

General Training Conversion Table

Correct Answers	Band Score
40	9.0
39	8.5
38	8.0
36–37	7.5
34–35	7.0
32–33	6.5
30–31	6.0
27–29	5.5
23–26	5.0

The GT Penalty Explained

The reason GT requires more correct answers is straightforward: GT Sections 1 and 2 are easier than Academic passages. To ensure that Band 7 represents the same ability regardless of which test you took, the GT threshold is raised.

Practical impact for GT Band 7:

• You need 34/40 — only 6 wrong answers allowed.
• Sections 1 and 2 must be near-perfect (aim for 26–27 out of ~27).
• Section 3 allows for some errors — but not many.

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Writing: Examiner Assessment to Band

Writing is not based on a raw score. Instead, a trained examiner assesses your work against band descriptors on four criteria:

The Four Criteria (equal weighting: 25% each)

1. Task Achievement (Task 1) / Task Response (Task 2)
2. Coherence and Cohesion
3. Lexical Resource
4. Grammatical Range and Accuracy

How the Writing Band is Calculated

Each criterion is scored on the 0–9 band scale. The four scores are averaged to produce the band for that task.

Then: Writing Band = (Task 1 Band + Task 2 Band + Task 2 Band) ÷ 3

Task 2 is counted twice because it is worth double Task 1.

Band 7 Descriptors — What Examiners Look For