Whether you enroll for IELTS Academic or IELTS General, both the tests grade you in terms of Bands which range from 0-9
Band 9.0 is the highest score you can achieve in an IELTS Exam
How IELTS Bands work?
Each module - Listening, Writing, Reading and Speaking - awards you individual bands.
A sample score would look like this.
Listening |
Reading |
Writing |
Speaking |
7 |
8 |
7 |
7 |
Your overall score is just an average of the total these scores
Overall Band Score |
7.5 |
Can I get Band 7.25 as the average ?
Your scores are rounded off to nearest whole number or .5
To put this to example,
-
7.25 is rounded off to 7.5
-
7.1 is rounded off to 7.0
-
6.75 is rounded off to 7.0
What IELTS Bands mean?
Each band describes your level your English proficiency. These are described below for your reference.
Band ScoreEnglish Level
Band Score | English Level | English Level |
9 | Expert User | You have a full operational command of the language. Your use of English is appropriate, accurate and fluent, and you show complete understanding. |
8 | Very Good User | You have a fully operational command of the language with only occasional unsystematic inaccuracies and inappropriate usage. You may misunderstand some things in unfamiliar situations. You handle complex detailed argumentation well. |
7 | Good User | You have an operational command of the language, though with occasional inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings in some situations. Generally you handle complex language well and understand detailed reasoning. |
6 | Competent User | Generally you have an effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies, inappropriate usage and misunderstandings. You can use and understand fairly complex language, particularly in familiar situations. |
5 | Modest User | You have a partial command of the language, and cope with overall meaning in most situations, although you are likely to make many mistakes. You should be able to handle basic communication in your own field. |
Calculation of Bands in IELTS Reading and Listening
The bands in IELTS Listening and IELTS Reading are calculated based on the Raw Score (total out of 40)
Calculation of Bands in IELTS Writing
The IELTS Writing Task 1 & 2 are marked out of 9 according to the following criteria:
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Task Achievement
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Coherence and Cohesion
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Lexical Resource
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Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Feeling Confused ?
Since there is a lot of information to absorb, the information on IELTS can be confusing sometimes. But, you do not need to worry, we're there to answer all your queries.
Calculation of Bands in IELTS Speaking
The IELTS Speaking is marked out of 9 according to the following criteria:
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Fluency and coherence
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Lexical resource
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Grammatical range and accuracy
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Pronunciation