How this calculator works
IELTS reports each of the four skills as a band from 1 to 9 in half-band steps. The overall band is their mean rounded to the nearest half band: a mean ending in .25 rounds up to .5, and a mean ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band. Listening and reading are marked from 40 raw questions, and the band they produce depends on the test version; General Training reading needs more correct answers than Academic reading for the same band. Writing and speaking are scored by examiners against published criteria and cannot be derived from a raw count.
Formula
overall band = round to the nearest 0.5 of (listening + reading + writing + speaking) / 4. Rounding rule: .25 rounds up to .5 and .75 rounds up to the next whole band. Raw-score tables convert correct answers out of 40 to a band; the published average benchmarks start at 10 correct for listening and academic reading, and 15 for General Training reading.
Worked example
Bands of 6.5 listening, 6.5 reading, 6.0 speaking and 7.0 writing average to 6.5, so the overall band is 6.5. Bands of 6.5, 6.0, 6.0 and 6.5 average to 6.25, which rounds up to 6.5. In raw mode, 30 correct in listening gives 7.0, and 30 correct in Academic reading also gives 7.0, but 30 correct in General Training reading gives 6.0 because that paper requires more correct answers per band.
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Frequently asked questions
How is the overall band rounded?
The mean of the four section bands is rounded to the nearest half band. A mean ending in .25 goes up to .5 and a mean ending in .75 goes up to the next whole band. A mean of 6.25 is therefore 6.5, not 6.0, and a mean of 6.75 is 7.0.
Why do Academic and General Training reading differ?
The two reading papers have different difficulty and text types, so the same number of correct answers maps to a different band. General Training reading generally needs two to four more correct answers for the same band. Listening is the same for both versions.
Can I predict writing and speaking bands from raw scores?
No. Writing and speaking are assessed against descriptors for task response, coherence, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, not a count of correct answers. The raw-score mode therefore reports only listening and reading; you need examiner scores for the other two sections.
Are the raw-score conversions exact?
They are average benchmarks. The cut-offs can shift slightly between test versions and test centres. Use them to estimate a practice test result, not to challenge an official score. The band average and rounding rule, by contrast, are exact.