GeneralGuide
IELTS Band Scores Explained: What Your Score Actually Means
IELTS reports each section and your overall result as a band from 0 to 9. This guide explains what each band means and how the overall band is calculated. It also covers pass marks and CEFR levels.
Your Test Report Form lists all five bands source: ielts.org. They share one scale, so a 7 in Reading and a 7 in Speaking mean the same level.
What each band means
- 9Expert user
- 8Very good user
- 7Good user
- 6Competent user
- 5Modest user
- 4Limited user
- 3Extremely limited user
- 2Intermittent user
- 1Non-user
- 0Did not attempt the test
Half bands such as 6.5 sit on the short ticks between the rungs.
Every whole band has a skill level and a short description source: ielts.org.
| Band | Skill level | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Expert | Fully operational command. Appropriate, accurate and fluent, with complete understanding. |
| 8 | Very good | Fully operational command, with only occasional unsystematic inaccuracies. Handles complex and detailed argument well. |
| 7 | Good | Operational command, with occasional inaccuracies and misunderstandings in some situations. |
| 6 | Competent | Effective command despite some inaccuracies. Uses and understands reasonably complex language, particularly in familiar situations. |
| 5 | Modest | Partial command. Copes with overall meaning in most situations, but likely to make many mistakes. |
| 4 | Limited | Basic competence limited to familiar situations. Frequent problems in understanding and expression. |
| 3 | Extremely limited | Only general meaning, in very familiar situations. Frequent breakdowns in communication. |
| 2 | Intermittent | Great difficulty understanding spoken and written English. |
| 1 | Non-user | No ability beyond a few isolated words. |
| 0 | Did not attempt the test | Did not answer the questions. |
A half band, such as 6.5, has no name or description of its own.
How the overall band is calculated
Your overall band is the average of your four section bands, rounded to the nearest half band. For example, scores of 6.5, 6.5, 5.0 and 7.0 average 6.25, and the overall band is 6.5 source: ielts.org.
The band score calculator shows the rounding rule. Enter your own four scores there to see the overall band they give.
How each section gets its band
Listening and Reading each have 40 questions, and each correct answer gets 1 mark. Your mark out of 40 is then converted to a band source: ielts.org. Reading raw scores and Listening raw scores give the published marks for each band.
Academic and General Training Reading use the same band scale. General Training usually needs more correct answers for the same band source: ielts.org. Academic or General Training helps you choose between the two tests.
In Writing and Speaking, examiners give a score for each of four criteria. The criteria carry equal weight source: ielts.org.
Each criterion has band descriptors, which describe what writing or speaking at each band does. How IELTS Writing is marked and how IELTS Speaking is marked take the criteria one by one.
Is there a pass mark?
There is no pass or fail in IELTS Academic or General Training. Each institution or organisation sets the scores it needs source: IDP.
IELTS for UKVI Life Skills is the exception. Its results are given as a pass or a fail source: IDP.
If you are unsure how hard a band is to reach, read Is IELTS hard?.
What score do you need?
Many universities ask for an overall band between 6.0 and 7.5. They often set a minimum for each section too. That range is common, but it is not a rule.
Read the overall band and the section minimum as two separate checks. A good average can still miss one section. Some routes use a different scale, such as the CLB levels used in Canada. Check what your course, employer or visa route asks for before you set a target.
If you are half a band short, how to get band 7 when you are stuck at 6.5 shows which section to work on first.
Bands and CEFR levels
The CEFR is the Common European Framework of Reference, a scale of language levels from A1 to C2.
IELTS is not a level-based test, and it covers a much wider range of ability source: ielts.org.
The bands have never lined up exactly with the CEFR levels, so three bands sit on a border. This maps overall bands only, never a section band.
Source: ielts.org, IELTS and the CEFR
Show the data
| Overall band | CEFR level |
|---|---|
| 9 | C2 |
| 8.5 | C2 |
| 8 | C2 or C1, on the border |
| 7.5 | C1 |
| 7 | C1 |
| 6.5 | C1 or B2, on the border |
| 6 | B2 |
| 5.5 | B2 |
| 5 | B2 or B1, on the border |
| 4.5 | B1 |
| 4 | B1 |
A C1 minimum falls between band 6.5 and band 7. Many test takers at 6.5 are at C1, but some are just below it. So an institution that wants to be confident of C1 may ask for 7. Bands 8.5 and above are recognised as C2, and band 8 is borderline source: ielts.org.
If a university asks for a CEFR level, ask it which IELTS band it accepts. Converting the level yourself can give the wrong band.
After your result arrives
A result should be treated as valid for two years after the test. The advice is based on research into how people lose a second language. Organisations may choose to accept older results source: ielts.org.
How long results take covers the wait, and what to do if you think a score is wrong. How long results are valid covers the two-year advice in more detail.
The band skill levels, the averaging rule and its example, the Reading conversion difference, the Writing and Speaking criteria and the validity advice come from the IELTS scoring in detail page on ielts.org. The CEFR statements come from the IELTS and the CEFR page on the same site. The pass mark answer comes from IDP's guide to understanding IELTS scores. Last checked September 2026.
- Written by
- Compass IELTS Editorial Team, the team behind the Compass IELTS band score tools and practice tests
- Published
- Updated
- Sources
- Words in a quote box, and sentences just before a source link such as ielts.org, come from the test owners. Everything else is our explanation. Facts about the test come from official sources, linked where we use them. Read our editorial policy.
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