IELTS Band Score Calculator
Average your four section scores into an overall band with the official IELTS rounding rule.
Exact average: 6.25 (Listening 6.5, Reading 6.5, Writing 5.0, Speaking 7.0).
Your overall IELTS band is the average of your four section scores — Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking — rounded to the nearest half band. For example, 6.5, 6.5, 5.0 and 7.0 average 6.25, which rounds up to 6.5. An average ending in .25 rounds up to a half band; .75 rounds to the next whole band.
How the IELTS overall band is calculated
Each of the four IELTS sections — Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking — is reported on the same 0-to-9 scale in whole or half bands (0, 0.5, 1.0 … 9.0). Your overall band score is simply the mean of those four numbers, then rounded to the nearest half band. No section counts for more than any other.
The one detail that trips people up is the rounding. An average can land on a quarter — like 6.25 or 6.75 — that is not itself a valid band. IELTS resolves these with a fixed rule rather than ordinary rounding, and this calculator applies it for you.
The official rounding rule
Average the four sections, then round to the nearest half band. When the average ends in .25, round up to the next half band (6.25 → 6.5). When it ends in .75, round up to the next whole band (6.75 → 7.0). Everything else rounds to the nearest half band as usual — so 6.125 rounds down to 6.0 and 6.375 rounds up to 6.5.
- 1 Note your four section scores. For example: Listening 6.5, Reading 6.5, Writing 5.0 and Speaking 7.0 — each a whole or half band from 0 to 9.
- 2 Add them together. 6.5 + 6.5 + 5.0 + 7.0 = 25.
- 3 Divide the total by four. 25 ÷ 4 = 6.25 — this is your exact average.
- 4 Round to the nearest half band. 6.25 ends in .25, so it rounds up to 6.5. Your overall band is 6.5.
How averages round to a band
The official IELTS rule: averages ending in .25 round up to a half band; those ending in .75 round up to a whole band.
| Exact average | Overall band | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 6.125 | 6.0 | below .25 → rounds down to the nearest half |
| 6.25 | 6.5 | ends in .25 → rounds up to the next half band |
| 6.375 | 6.5 | above .25 → rounds up to the nearest half |
| 6.75 | 7.0 | ends in .75 → rounds up to the next whole band |
| 6.875 | 7.0 | above .75 → rounds up to the next whole band |
Reading your result
Because every section carries equal weight, a strong section offsets a weaker one point-for-point, and your overall band always sits between your lowest and highest section scores — it can never beat your best section or drop below your weakest. Many universities also set a per-section minimum (often 6.0 or 6.5), so a high overall band does not always satisfy an offer on its own.
The 0–9 scale runs from Band 1 (non-user) through Band 6 (competent), Band 7 (good) and Band 8 (very good) to Band 9 (expert), with Band 0 reserved for an absent candidate. IELTS has no negative marking, so an unanswered or wrong question simply scores nothing — it is always worth attempting every item.