Test type
IELTS Academic
The version universities and most professional bodies ask for. Listening and Speaking are the same test as General Training. Reading and Writing Task 1 are where Academic is its own exam.
- 2 of 4
- Sections that differ from General Training
- 3
- Reading sections from books, journals, magazines and papers
- 0 to 9
- Same band scale, same overall calculation
Who takes it, and what is different
Take Academic if you are applying for undergraduate or postgraduate study, or to a professional body that asks for it, as many medical and nursing registrations do. If you are unsure, the organisation asking for the score decides; the test centre will not choose for you. Academic can be taken at a test centre or online at home; General Training is centre only.
The Reading test uses three sections drawn from books, journals, magazines, newspapers and online sources, written for a non-specialist audience, and its conversion from raw score to band is a little more forgiving than the General Training one. Writing Task 1 asks you to describe visual information, a graph, table, chart, diagram or process, in at least 150 words. Everything else, including how the overall band is calculated, is identical.
Turn a Reading raw score into a band
Academic and General Training use different tables.
Drag to your number of correct answers out of 40. The band updates as you go.
Academic Reading band
7.0
30 out of 40 is the average IELTS publishes for band 7 in Academic Reading. 5 more marks reach the band 8 average.
- Correct answers
- 30 / 40
- Next published average
- Band 8 at 35
- Marks to reach it
- 5
Academic guides, by section
All 19 in the guides indexListening
Identical on both tests: four parts, 40 questions, one hearing. The band comes from the same conversion table whichever version you sit.
Reading
Three sections from academic and professional sources, 40 questions in 60 minutes. The Academic conversion table sits a few marks below General Training's at each band.
Writing
Task 1 describes a graph, table, chart, diagram or process in at least 150 words. Task 2 is the same essay as General Training and carries the same double weight.
Writing
Coherence and Cohesion: The Criterion Most Candidates Misread
What coherence and cohesion actually measure in IELTS Writing, why more linking words is not the fix, and what band 7 requires instead.
Published
Writing
Task Response: What Examiners Are Actually Looking For
What the task response criterion measures in IELTS Writing Task 2, how the band descriptors describe bands 5 to 8, and what separates band 6 from band 7.
Published
Writing
Lexical Resource: Why a Bigger Vocabulary Is Not the Answer
What the lexical resource criterion rewards in IELTS Writing, why precision and collocation beat rare words, and what changes between band 6 and band 7.
Published
Writing
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Range Without Errors
How grammatical range and accuracy is scored in IELTS Writing, why both playing safe and overreaching cap the band, and what band 7 asks for.
Published
Writing
How IELTS Writing Is Marked: The Four Criteria and How They Combine
What the four IELTS Writing assessment criteria measure, how Task 1 and Task 2 combine into one Writing band, and how to read the public band descriptors.
Published
Writing
How to Structure IELTS Writing Task 2 for a Band 7+
A reliable four-paragraph structure for IELTS Writing Task 2 essays, with what examiners look for in task response, coherence, vocabulary, and grammar.
Published
Speaking
Identical on both tests: three parts with an examiner, 11 to 14 minutes, four criteria with equal weight.
Speaking
Lexical Resource in Speaking: Why Paraphrase Is a Scored Skill
The criterion is not the size of your vocabulary. Paraphrase appears at almost every band, and the step from 6 to 7 turns on appropriacy rather than range.
Published
Speaking
Pronunciation: Why Band 7 Has No Descriptor of Its Own
Bands 7, 5 and 3 have no written descriptor in the Pronunciation column, and accent is assessed only through its effect on intelligibility. Four of the five indicators sit above the level of individual sounds.
Published
Speaking
Grammatical Range and Accuracy in Speaking: How Errors Are Actually Counted
A few basic errors persist at band 7 and at band 8. Accuracy is measured as error density and communicative effect, not as a count of mistakes, and range is the half most candidates neglect.
Published
Speaking
Fluency and Coherence: What Counts as Fluent, and What Does Not
The criterion is two things and most candidates prepare for one. What the descriptors actually reward is not speed, and the difference between band 6 and band 7 is not how often you hesitate.
Published
Speaking
How IELTS Speaking Is Marked: The Four Criteria Explained
What the four IELTS Speaking assessment criteria measure, how they combine into your Speaking band, and what separates band 6 from band 7.
Published
Scores and test mechanics
Guides that apply to every section: how the band scale works, what changes between 6 and 7, and the choices you make before test day.
General
IELTS Academic vs General Training: Which Test Do You Need
Listening and Speaking are identical in both versions. Only Reading and Writing differ, and the choice is settled by whoever is asking you for the score.
Published
General
Computer or Paper IELTS: What Is Changing and What It Means
IELTS stops offering the paper-based test from mid-2026 and adds a Writing on Paper option in selected countries. What changes, what does not, and what happens to a paper result you already hold.
Published
General
IELTS One Skill Retake: Who Can Use It and How It Works
You can sit one section again instead of the whole test, but only if your original was on computer, only within 60 days, only once, and only if the organisation you are applying to accepts it.
Published
General
Why You Are Stuck at Band 6.5, and What Moves You Past It
An overall 6.5 is an average, not a level. How to find which section and which criterion is holding your score, and what band 7 requires there.
Published
General
Band 6 vs 6.5 vs 7: What Actually Changes in the Descriptors
There is no band 6.5 descriptor. What the official IELTS documents change between band 6 and band 7 in each skill, and where the half band comes from.
Published
General
IELTS Band Scores Explained: What Your Score Actually Means
A clear breakdown of the IELTS 0 to 9 band scale, how the four section scores combine into an overall band, and what score you need for common goals.
Published
Format facts checked against ielts.org on 6 September 2026, including the test types page and the Academic format pages.
More hubs
Practise Academic Reading and Writing with real scoring
Timed Academic papers, per-criterion Writing feedback, and a report that shows the gap to the band you need.