Last updated September 15, 2026
Short answer: in Listening and Reading, your raw score out of 40 is converted to a band with a fixed table, and the Reading table differs between Academic and General Training. Writing and Speaking are marked on four criteria each. Your overall band is the average of the four section bands, rounded to the nearest half band: a decimal part of .25 rounds up to the half band, .75 rounds up to the next whole band.
Enter the number of correct answers out of 40. The band appears instantly on the scale you choose.
Pick the band you got, or expect, in each section. The overall band uses the official rounding rule, and the raw average is shown so you can see how close you are to the next half band.
Listening and Reading each have 40 questions, one mark per correct answer, no negative marking. The raw score is then converted to a band with the tables below. Listening uses one table for Academic and General Training; Reading uses two.
| Correct answers (out of 40) | Band |
|---|---|
| 40 | 9.0 |
| 39 | 8.0 |
| 37 to 38 | 7.5 |
| 35 to 36 | 7.0 |
| 32 to 34 | 6.5 |
| 30 to 31 | 6.0 |
| 27 to 29 | 5.5 |
| 24 to 26 | 5.0 |
| 22 to 23 | 4.5 |
| 16 to 21 | 4.0 |
| 14 to 15 | 3.5 |
| 10 to 13 | 3.0 |
| 8 to 9 | 2.5 |
| 6 to 7 | 2.0 |
| 4 to 5 | 1.5 |
| 0 to 3 | 1.0 |
Scale used by ParrotTalk to score its Listening tests, aligned with the conversions published by the test organisers. Official scores can vary slightly from one session to another.
| Correct answers (out of 40) | Band |
|---|---|
| 39 to 40 | 9.0 |
| 37 to 38 | 8.5 |
| 35 to 36 | 8.0 |
| 33 to 34 | 7.5 |
| 30 to 32 | 7.0 |
| 27 to 29 | 6.5 |
| 23 to 26 | 6.0 |
| 19 to 22 | 5.5 |
| 15 to 18 | 5.0 |
| 13 to 14 | 4.5 |
| 10 to 12 | 4.0 |
| 8 to 9 | 3.5 |
| 6 to 7 | 3.0 |
| 4 to 5 | 2.5 |
| 2 to 3 | 2.0 |
| 0 to 1 | 1.0 |
Scale used by ParrotTalk to score its Reading tests, aligned with the Academic conversions published by the test organisers. Official scores can vary slightly from one session to another.
| Correct answers (out of 40) | Band |
|---|---|
| 40 | 9.0 |
| 39 | 8.5 |
| 37 to 38 | 8.0 |
| 36 | 7.5 |
| 34 to 35 | 7.0 |
| 32 to 33 | 6.5 |
| 30 to 31 | 6.0 |
| 27 to 29 | 5.5 |
| 23 to 26 | 5.0 |
| 19 to 22 | 4.5 |
| 15 to 18 | 4.0 |
| 12 to 14 | 3.5 |
| 9 to 11 | 3.0 |
| 6 to 8 | 2.5 |
| 4 to 5 | 2.0 |
| 2 to 3 | 1.5 |
| 0 to 1 | 1.0 |
General Training conversion as widely published by the test organisers. ParrotTalk's Reading tests are scored on the Academic scale; use this table to read your result if you sit General Training. Official scores can vary slightly from one session to another.
There is no raw score in Writing and Speaking. The examiner gives a band on four criteria (for Writing: Task Achievement or Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy; for Speaking: Fluency and Coherence, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, Pronunciation) and the section band is the average of the four, rounded to the nearest half band. In Writing, Task 2 counts double: Writing band = (Task 1 + Task 2 x 2) / 3. You can get an estimated band per criterion for free with the Writing checker and the Speaking test.
30 correct answers out of 40 in IELTS Listening converts to band 6.0, the level many universities set as their minimum. Two more correct answers (32) give band 6.5, and 35 give band 7.0.
General Training Reading passages are shorter and more everyday than Academic passages, so the test is designed to be easier. To keep the bands comparable, the General Training scale asks for more correct answers for the same band: 30 out of 40 is band 7.0 in Academic Reading but band 6.0 in General Training.
The overall band is the average of the four section bands, rounded to the nearest half band: a decimal part below .25 rounds down to the whole band, .25 to .74 rounds to the half band, .75 and above rounds up to the next whole band. For example 6.5, 6.5, 6.0 and 6.0 average 6.25, so the overall band is 6.5.
No. The tables are the ones ParrotTalk uses to score its own practice tests, aligned with the conversions published by the test organisers; official scales can vary slightly from one session to another. ParrotTalk is independent and not affiliated with IELTS, the British Council, IDP, or Cambridge English.
ParrotTalk is 100% free, with no sign-up. See also the Writing band score page and the mock test with instant results.