IELTS Reading Raw Score to Band Score: Academic and General Training

The Reading test has 40 questions, and each correct answer gets 1 mark. You have 60 minutes source: ielts.org.

Your mark out of 40 is your raw score, and it is then converted to a band from 0 to 9. Academic and General Training convert the same raw score to different bands. So check which test's marks you are using.

How Reading is marked

Three rules decide whether an answer earns its mark.

• A word limit is given in the instructions, such as "NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER". You lose the mark if you write more than the limit source: ielts.org.
• A hyphenated word such as "check-in" counts as one word source: ielts.org.
• A word with a spelling error is marked incorrect in Reading, on both tests source: IDP. On General Training, grammar errors can also lose marks source: ielts.org.

Marks come only from correct answers. So a guess may earn a mark, and a blank cannot. Write an answer for every question.

The published marks for each band

These two figures show the average marks IELTS publishes for four bands on each Reading test.

These are averages. The exact number varies a little between test versions. Between the pins there is no official figure.

Source: ielts.org, IELTS scoring in detail

Show the data

Academic Reading: average marks out of 40 for each band

Band	Average marks out of 40
8	35
7	30
6	23
5	15

These are averages. The exact number varies a little between test versions. Between the pins there is no official figure.

Source: ielts.org, IELTS scoring in detail

Show the data

General Training Reading: average marks out of 40 for each band

Band	Average marks out of 40
7	35
6	30
5	23
4	15

IELTS gives no mark for the half bands. So a score between two published marks can be either band. For example, 27 on Academic sits between band 6 at 23 and band 7 at 30, so it could be a 6 or a 6.5.

Why General Training needs more correct answers

Hover, tap or use the arrow keys to read values

30 correct answers is band 7 on Academic and band 6 on General Training. The other averages shift the same way.

Source: ielts.org, IELTS scoring in detail

Show the data

Reading: the same marks on Academic and General Training

Marks out of 40	Academic band	General Training band
35	8	7
30	7	6
23	6	5
15	5	4

Both Reading tests use the same band scale. The Academic test may have texts with more difficult vocabulary or a more complex style. So General Training usually needs more correct answers for the same band source: ielts.org.

Academic texts come from books, journals, magazines, newspapers and online sources. They are written for a non-specialist reader source: ielts.org.

General Training starts with everyday texts, such as notices, advertisements and timetables. Section 2 is about work, and Section 3 is one longer text on a topic of general interest source: ielts.org.

So compare a raw score only with scores from the same test. 32 is above the band 7 mark on Academic. On General Training, 32 is between the marks for band 6 and band 7.

Full tables on other sites

Many prep sites publish a full table with a mark for every half band. IELTS publishes only the averages above. Be careful with any table that says 33 is always a 7.5.

Setting a raw score target

Work back from the band you need. This table shows how many questions you can miss and still reach each published mark.

Use the table to plan your practice. Suppose one question type costs you four marks a test. For band 7 on General Training, that is most of the five questions you can miss. Reading question types links a guide for each type.

The Reading improvement plan takes these gaps one band step at a time. At each step, it names the question types to check first.

Your Reading band then counts as one of the four in your overall average, which the band score calculator shows. If Reading is your lowest section, how to get band 7 when you are stuck at 6.5 sets it beside the other three.

The published marks, the reason the two tests differ and the averaging rule come from the IELTS scoring in detail page on ielts.org. The marking rules and text types come from its Academic Reading format and General Training Reading format pages. The spelling rule comes from IDP's guide to spelling in IELTS. Last checked September 2026.