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How many correct answers do you need for Band 7? How is the writing score calculated? Here is the math behind your IELTS certificate.
Overall Band Score
Your Overall Band Score is the average of the 4 skills (L, R, W, S), rounded to the nearest half-band.
Rounding Rules
- Average ends in .25 → Rounds up to .5 (e.g., 6.25 → 6.5)
- Average ends in .75 → Rounds up to next whole number (e.g., 6.75 → 7.0)
- Average ends in .125 → Rounds down (e.g., 6.125 → 6.0)
Reading & Listening (Raw Scores)
Both Reading and Listening have 40 questions. Each correct answer is 1 point. There is no penalty for wrong answers.
| Band Score | Listening (/40) | Reading (Academic) (/40) |
|---|---|---|
| 9.0 | 39-40 | 39-40 |
| 8.5 | 37-38 | 37-38 |
| 8.0 | 35-36 | 35-36 |
| 7.5 | 32-34 | 33-34 |
| 7.0 | 30-31 | 30-32 |
| 6.5 | 26-29 | 27-29 |
| 6.0 | 23-25 | 23-26 |
| 5.5 | 18-22 | 19-22 |
| 5.0 | 16-17 | 15-18 |
Writing & Speaking Calculation
These are graded by examiners based on 4 criteria, each worth 25%.
Writing Criteria
- Task Achievement (Task 1) / Response (Task 2)
- Coherence & Cohesion
- Lexical Resource (Vocabulary)
- Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Speaking Criteria
- Fluency & Coherence
- Lexical Resource
- Grammatical Range & Accuracy
- Pronunciation
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