How is the overall IELTS band score calculated?

Average the four section bands, then round to the nearest half band — with one twist most people miss. An average ending in .25 rounds UP to the next half band, and an average ending in .75 rounds UP to the next whole band. So 6.5, 6.5, 6 and 6 average 6.25 and are reported as 6.5, not 6.

How many correct answers do I need for IELTS band 7?

In Academic Reading you need 30 correct out of 40 for band 7. In Listening you also need 30 out of 40. Band 8 needs 35 in both, and band 6 needs 23 in both.

Is IELTS General Training Reading scored the same as Academic?

No. General Training Reading is marked on a harder scale: 30 correct answers is band 6 on General Training but band 7 on Academic. This calculator covers Academic Reading only, so it never applies the wrong table to a General Training score.

IELTS Band Score Calculator — Reading, Listening & Overall Band

Overall band

Your four bands average 6.75. An average ending in .75 rounds UP to the next whole band, so that is 7.

The overall band rule everyone gets wrong

Your overall band is the average of the four section bands, rounded — but not the way a calculator normally rounds.

An average ending in .25 rounds UP to the next half band.
An average ending in .75 rounds UP to the next whole band.

So 6.5, 6.5, 6 and 6 average 6.25 — and that is reported as 6.5, not 6. And 7, 7, 6.5 and 6.5 average 6.75, reported as 7. That second one is often the difference between meeting a university requirement and missing it, which is why it is worth checking rather than estimating.

IELTS Academic Reading — raw score to band

Correct out of 40	Band
39–40	9
37–38	8.5
35–36	8
33–34	7.5
30–32	7
27–29	6.5
23–26	6
19–22	5.5
15–18	5
13–14	4.5
10–12	4

IELTS Listening — raw score to band

Correct out of 40	Band
39–40	9
37–38	8.5
35–36	8
32–34	7.5
30–31	7
26–29	6.5
23–25	6
18–22	5.5
16–17	5
13–15	4.5
10–12	4

Reading and Listening are close but not identical — 26 correct is band 6.5 in Listening and only band 6 in Reading. Using one table for both costs you half a band.

A note on General Training

This page covers Academic Reading. General Training Reading is marked on a harder scale — 30 correct is band 6 there against band 7 on Academic — so applying the Academic table to a General Training score would flatter you by a band and a half. We would rather leave it out than get it wrong.

What a calculator cannot tell you

Which questions you got wrong, and why. If you have already sat a few practice papers, the number that changes your preparation is not your band — it is that you get 82% of multiple choice and 41% of matching headings. That takes a history to work out, so nothing that scores a single paper can do it.

Examling keeps that history and reads it back to you: which question type is costing you marks, across every paper you have sat, and the papers to practise it on.

Find out why your band is where it is

Free to start — 3 practice sessions a day, no card.

Other exams

Working out a TOEFL iBT total and its 1–6 band or a PTE Academic score? Those have their own pages.