How is the IELTS Score Calculated?

For applicants from non-English-speaking countries, a threshold for entering world-renowned universities is a qualified IELTS score.

Since the IELTS score is not the sum of the scores of each part , it is important for candidates to know the calculation rules of the IELTS score.

IELTS Exam contains 4 sections: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking

IELTS Band Score Descriptor

Candidates will receive IELTS scores ranging from 1 to 9 in the listening, reading, writing, and speaking sections. The overall IELTS score is the average of these 4 scores, rounded to the nearest whole or half band.

For example:

Listening 6.5, Reading 7.0, Writing 6.0, Speaking 6.0 - the total score of the four parts is 25.5, the average score is 6.375, then the IELTS band is 6.5

Listening 7.0, Reading 8.0, Writing 7.0, Speaking 7.0 – the total score of the four parts is 29, the average score is 7.25, then the IELTS band is 7.5

Read the IELTS band score chart to understand the description of each band score:

IELTS Listening and Reading Band Scores

Listening and reading band scores are calculated based on the number of correct answers out if the given 40 questions. Candidates will not lose any points for incorrect answers.

Each correct answer is worth one point. The original score of the full score is 40 points, and it will be converted into a band score of 1-9.

Listening

Reading

IELTS Writing Band Score

Examiners use assessment criteria to award a score for each of the following four criteria:

• Task achievement (for task 1) and task response (for task 2)
• Coherence and cohesion
• Lexical resource
• Grammatical range and accuracy.

Each task is assessed independently. The criteria are weighted equally and the score on the task is the average. The assessment of Task 2 carries more weight in marking than Task 1.

For Example:

The score of Task 1 is 7.5 and the score of Task 2 is 6.5. The score of the writing part is (2*6.5+7.5)/3 = 6.8333. According to the principle of IELTS, the final score of the writing part is 7.0.

4 criteria:

Writing Task 1 Band Descriptors

Writing Task 2 Band Descriptors

IELTS Reading Band Score
Examiners use assessment criteria to award a score for each of the following four areas:

• Fluency and coherence
• Lexical resource
• Grammatical range and accuracy
• Pronunciation

Each of the criteria carries equal weighting and the overall average gives the IELTS score for Speaking.

Speaking Band Descriptors