Free IELTS band score calculator (2026)
How is the IELTS overall band score calculated?
Your overall IELTS band is the average of your four section bands, rounded to the nearest half band. Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking each get a band from 0 to 9, and all four count equally. Add them together and divide by four. 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. For example, 6.5, 6.5, 5.5 and 6.0 average 6.125, which gives an overall band of 6.0. Listening and Reading bands come from your raw score out of 40. In the real test, about 30 correct answers is roughly Band 7, although the exact cut-off changes slightly between test versions. Use a calculator to plan which section to improve, and check the official scoring guide on ielts.org.
This page converts Listening and Reading raw scores (correct answers out of 40) into an indicative IELTS band. It matches the “free IELTS band score estimate” calculator intent. Writing and Speaking are not raw-score skills — for those, use a criterion diagnostic.
Calculate your band
Indicative planning tool only. Exact official cut-offs can shift slightly by test version. Confirm with IELTS scoring in detail.
Listening (indicative)
| Raw /40 | Band |
|---|---|
| 39–40 | 9.0 |
| 37–38 | 8.5 |
| 35–36 | 8.0 |
| 32–34 | 7.5 |
| 30–31 | 7.0 |
| 26–29 | 6.5 |
| 23–25 | 6.0 |
| 18–22 | 5.5 |
| 16–17 | 5.0 |
| 13–15 | 4.5 |
| 10–12 | 4.0 |
Academic Reading (indicative)
| Raw /40 | Band |
|---|---|
| 39–40 | 9.0 |
| 37–38 | 8.5 |
| 35–36 | 8.0 |
| 33–34 | 7.5 |
| 30–32 | 7.0 |
| 27–29 | 6.5 |
| 23–26 | 6.0 |
| 19–22 | 5.5 |
| 15–18 | 5.0 |
| 13–14 | 4.5 |
| 10–12 | 4.0 |
General Training Reading (indicative)
| Raw /40 | Band |
|---|---|
| 40 | 9.0 |
| 39 | 8.5 |
| 37–38 | 8.0 |
| 36 | 7.5 |
| 34–35 | 7.0 |
| 32–33 | 6.5 |
| 30–31 | 6.0 |
| 27–29 | 5.5 |
| 23–26 | 5.0 |
| 19–22 | 4.5 |
| 15–18 | 4.0 |
What this calculator does not do
The overall IELTS band is the average of Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking, then rounded to the nearest half band. This page converts only Listening and Reading raw marks out of 40. It cannot score Writing or Speaking, because those are criterion-marked: task response, coherence, lexical resource, and grammar for writing; fluency, vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation for speaking.
A raw score of 30 out of 40 is often around band 7 for Listening, but the same number of correct answers is not the same band for Academic Reading and General Training Reading. Use the matching table. If a university or visa office asks for a minimum in every skill, the weak skill decides, not the average of old papers. After you have a Listening or Reading band, use a timed diagnostic for the skill this table cannot see.
Have your Listening/Reading band? Next: find which Writing or Speaking criterion is capping you.
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