An IELTS result travels through two stages: each skill produces a band, then the four bands are averaged into an overall. The short answer to the most common question: Listening needs 30 correct answers out of 40 for band 7, Academic Reading also needs 30, and General Training Reading needs 35.
Listening and Reading: count, then convert
Both papers have 40 questions. Each correct answer scores one mark and there is no penalty for a wrong answer. The raw score out of 40 is then converted to the nine-band scale. According to the conversion table published in IELTS scoring in detail:
- Listening: 16 marks for band 5, 23 for band 6, 30 for band 7, 35 for band 8.
- Academic Reading: 15 marks for band 5, 23 for band 6, 30 for band 7, 35 for band 8.
- General Training Reading: 15 marks for band 4, 23 for band 5, 30 for band 6, 35 for band 7.
Read that last line again: the same 35 correct answers give band 8 in Academic Reading and band 7 in General Training. This is where candidates who practise with the wrong test type end up with a comfortable but false picture. See Academic vs General Training.
IELTS also notes that the exact number of marks needed shifts slightly between test versions, because difficulty varies. Treat the table as a landmark, not a contract.
Writing and Speaking: four criteria, no answer key
These skills are not counted. Examiners apply four published criteria.
Writing: Task achievement (Task 1) or Task response (Task 2), Coherence and cohesion, Lexical resource, Grammatical range and accuracy. The criteria are weighted equally within a task, but Task 2 carries more weight than Task 1 in the Writing band.
Speaking: Fluency and coherence, Lexical resource, Grammatical range and accuracy, Pronunciation. All four are weighted equally and averaged.
Both criteria sets are covered in detail in IELTS Writing assessment criteria and IELTS Speaking assessment criteria.
The rounding rule most candidates miss
The overall band is the average of the four skill bands, rounded to the nearest half band, with two special cases:
- An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band, so 6.25 becomes 6.5.
- An average ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band, so 6.75 becomes 7.0.
In practice: 6.5 / 6.5 / 6.0 / 6.5 averages 6.375 and reports as 6.5. But 7.0 / 7.0 / 6.5 / 6.5 averages 6.75 and reports as 7.0. Half a band in one skill can decide the whole result.
Which skill to work on first
Because the overall is an average, your weakest skill holds the rest down. For most candidates the widest gap sits in Writing and Speaking — the two skills you cannot improve by doing more papers and checking an answer key, because there is no key.
The cheapest diagnostic is one full four-skill test under real timing. Record each skill band, then apply the rounding rule above. The half band worth buying becomes obvious.
Frequently asked questions
Do spelling mistakes count as wrong in Listening?
Yes. A misspelled answer is marked wrong even if you heard the word correctly.
How many questions separate band 6.5 from band 7.0?
In Listening, band 7 starts at 30 marks while 6.5 sits between 23 and 30. The real distance is only a few questions, usually gap-fill items in Part 4.
Are individual skill scores rounded too?
Skill scores are reported in whole and half bands. The .25 / .75 rule applies only to the overall.