Yes. Overall and individual module scores can be whole or half bands (…, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, …). Speaking and Writing are reported in half bands too.
IELTS Band Score & Marking Explained
IELTS results are reported as band scores from 1 (non-user) to 9 (expert), including half bands such as 6.5 or 7.5. You receive a band for each of the four modules — Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking — and an overall band score. There is no “pass” or “fail”; institutions set their own required band.
IELTS band descriptors (0–9 scale)
| Band | Skill level | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Expert user | Full operational command; fluent, accurate and complete. |
| 8 | Very good user | Fully operational command with only occasional unsystematic errors. |
| 7 | Good user | Operational command; handles complex language well in most situations. |
| 6 | Competent user | Effective command despite some inaccuracies and misunderstandings. |
| 5 | Modest user | Partial command; copes with overall meaning in most situations. |
| 4 | Limited user | Basic competence limited to familiar situations. |
| 3 | Extremely limited user | Conveys and understands only general meaning in very familiar situations. |
| 2 | Intermittent user | Great difficulty understanding spoken and written English. |
| 1 | Non-user | No ability to use the language beyond a few isolated words. |
| 0 | Did not attempt | No assessable information provided. |
How the overall band score is calculated
Your overall band is the mean (average) of the four module scores, rounded to the nearest whole or half band. The rounding rule: if the average ends in .25 it rounds up to the next half band, and if it ends in .75 it rounds up to the next whole band.
| Listening | Reading | Writing | Speaking | Average | Overall band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.5 | 6.5 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 6.25 | 6.5 |
| 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.875 | 4.0 |
| 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.0 | 6.375 | 6.5 |
| 7.0 | 8.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.25 | 7.5 |
Listening & Reading: raw score to band (out of 40)
Listening and Reading each have 40 questions; one mark per correct answer, with no penalty for wrong answers. Your raw score out of 40 is converted to a band. These are the widely used approximate conversions (the exact boundaries can vary slightly by test):
| Band | Listening (raw /40) | Academic Reading (raw /40) |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | 39–40 | 39–40 |
| 8 | 35–36 | 35–36 |
| 7 | 30–31 | 30–32 |
| 6 | 23–25 | 23–26 |
| 5 | 16–17 | 15–18 |
| 4 | 10–12 | 10–12 |
Note: General Training Reading requires a higher raw score for the same band (for example, about 34/40 for Band 6 vs ~30/40 in some tests), because the texts are less academic.
Writing & Speaking: marked on four criteria
Writing and Speaking are marked by certified examiners against four equally-weighted criteria:
| Writing criteria | Speaking criteria |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | Fluency & Coherence |
| Coherence & Cohesion | Lexical Resource (vocabulary) |
| Lexical Resource (vocabulary) | Grammatical Range & Accuracy |
| Grammatical Range & Accuracy | Pronunciation |
For Writing, Task 2 carries more weight than Task 1 in the final Writing band. Each criterion is scored 0–9 and averaged. See our Writing guide and Speaking guide for exactly what examiners reward at each band.
Roughly 30–31 out of 40 for Listening and 30–32 out of 40 for Academic Reading.
Yes — Task 2 is weighted more heavily in your overall Writing band, so never leave it unfinished to polish Task 1.
Since 2024, if you take IELTS on computer at participating centres you can retake a single module (Listening, Reading, Writing or Speaking) without sitting the whole test again, and receive an updated Test Report Form.
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