Last Updated: February 24, 2023
I am getting asked this question very often, which is why we created an IELTS Overall Score Calculator you can use.
For those who need to understand the process in detail – here is how the IELTS test centre calculates your overall band score:
Total score = (Listening score + Reading score + Writing score + Speaking score) / 4
For example, if you’ve received Listening 6, Reading 7, Writing 8, Speaking 7, your total score will be (6+7+8+7) / 4 = 7.
Your score can be either a whole band or a band and a half – for example 7 or 7.5. No other fractions are allowed, for example no 7.25 or 7.75.
So what do they do in such cases, when the total score is neither whole nor half band?
There is a rule: if it ends with .25, round up to the nearest half score, and if it ends with .75, round up to the nearest whole band score.
To demonstrate, if you’ve received Listening 6, Reading 7, Writing 8, Speaking 6, your overall score will be (6+7+8+6)/4 = 6.75 – the rule says round up – which means you get 7.
Another example: if your scores were Listening 6 Reading 7 Writing 8 Speaking 8, the overall score will be (6+7+8+8)/4 = 7.25 – the rule says round up to half score – which means you get 7.5.
However, if you’ve received Listening 6, Reading 6.5, Writing 6, Speaking 6, your overall score will be (6+6.5+6+6)/4 = 6.125 – the rule says round down to the nearest whole band score – which means you get 6.
Similarly, if you received Listening 6.5, Reading 6.5, Writing 6.5, Speaking 7, your overall score will be (6.5+6.5+6.5+7)/4 = 6.625 – the rule says round down to the nearest half band score – which means you get 6.5.
It’s not too difficult – just remember to apply the rule of rounding.
Hi Nafii, if you have reasons to believe that your writing and speaking deserve Band 6, and your EOR comes back with a Band 6 for both of these skills, your overall score will go up to 6 as well.
R=6,L=6,W=6,S=7
The overall score for this would be 6.5, calculated as follows: (6+6+6+7)/4=6.25 and it would then be rounded up to 6.5
S-6,W-5.5,L-5.5,R-5.5
What is my overall band score? I got 5.5 overall, should I appeal for recheck?
Hi Abdullah, do you feel that your writing or speaking were scored unfairly? Did you have a reason to expect a higher score?
I got L-7.5,R-6.5, W-6.0 while S-5.5 which was totally unexpected. I expected speaking bands to be 6.5 or higher. I need an honest suggestion. What should I do? Go for EOR or should re- appear?
Hi Atya, when you say you expected 6.5 for speaking, was it because your tutor estimated your speaking level to be IELTS 6.5, or some other reason? You need an experienced person to assess your speaking to tell you what score you would get in the test and WHY – the reason why is just as important as the score. Some things are easy to fix and you can get a higher score in your next test, other things such as pronunciation may take longer to improve, so it won’t help if you take another test straight away. You can get a speaking assessment on our website, and we will provide you with a detailed report listing all the issues and you will also get suggestions how to raise your score by a whole Band.
5.66 means how much
Do you mean 5.625? Then you would round it down to Band 5.5, because 5.625 is closer to 5.5 than to 6.
Hello sir, what would be the final score if I get 6.375?
Hi Yashwanth, your score ends with ’75’ so you should round it UP to the nearest whole or half band score. In your case that is 6.5.
If I get 6+6+6.5+6.5/4= 6.25, is it will 6.5, or will it count as 6?
Hi Afrose, 6.25 will be rounded up to 6.5. Hope this helps!
Hi, if my L=8 R=6.5 W=6 S=6.5 it will be 6.5 or 7?
Hi Mohhamed, your overall score will be 7.
Pls answer me.
Overall band is 5.5, I scored reading 4.0, L 5.5, s 6.5 and writing 6.0. My question is what may I hve scored on Reading that will make me get 4.0. Can I get visa if I applied for skill work in uk
If my score is L-8 R-8 W-7.5 and S- 6.5
What is my overall band score
To get Band 4 in Reading you need 10-15 correct answers (you can use this calculator to check). So you must have had at least 25 wrong answers.
Your overall score will be 7.5.
R:3.5 w:3.5 L:6.0 S:6.0 what’s my over All
The average of your scores is (3.5+3.5+6+6) = 4.75 and that gets rounded up to 5, so your Overall Band Score is 5.
Listening 5.5
Reading 5.0
Writing 4.0
Speaking 5.0
Whats my overall plz
Your Overall score is Band 5.0 – hope this helps.
L=4.0
S=4.5
W=3.5
R=5.0
Whats my overall score
(4.0+4.5+3.5+5.0)=17/4=4.25 so your overall score is 4.5 because it gets rounded up.
Listening 8,5
Speaking 7
Writing 6
Reading 6
Woowww thats good i think 7.0
Yes, you’re right, that is an Overall Band 7.
L-8.5
S-7.5
W-7.5
R-7.5
Listening 6 , Reading 5, writing 5.5, speaking 6 . Overall = ?
Your overall score will is 5.5 because the average of your individual scores is 5.625 and it gets rounded to 5.5.
Hi, if i get L-9, R-7. 0, W-6. 0, S-6.5 then what will be the overall band score?
The average of your 4 scores is 7.125 and that is rounded down to Band 7.
5,5
7 w,7,s,7l,7r
Can you please clarify, Prabhjot? I’m not sure I understand your question / comment.
L = 5.5
S= 5.5
W= 3.5
R= 2.5
Total = 17÷4
= 4.25
How much overall band score i had obtained?
Your score of 4.25 will be rounded up to 4.5
5.75 go to 6 or decline to 5.5?
Band 5.75 is rounded up to 6.
I calculated my predicted overall band and it came out 8,375. Is it 8,5 or 8?
Hi Guldana, 8.375 will get rounded up to 8.5 because it is closer to 8.5 than 8. Hope that helps 🙂
Please can you help me calculate this, for example,My w is 5.0 L 5.0 S 6.R 4.5 . what will my overall be.
Please help me
If for example My scores are
👇
W 5.0
L 6.0
R 4.5
Speaking 6.0
What will my overall be?
Please help me
Hi Faith, your overall score would be calculated as follows: (5+6+4.5+6)/4 = 5.25 and that would be rounded up to 5.5. Hope this help!
Hi Faith, in this case your overall score would be (5+5+6+4.5)/4 = 5.125 and that would be rounded down to 5.0
Hello. Pls if I have a S-6, L-8, R-6, and W-3 in General Training, I know my total band score will be 5.5 but my question is can I apply with it for a Care Assistant Job in the UK, Canada or Australia or should I resit because of the W-3?
Hi Gloria, I wish I could tell you, but this falls outside of my knowledge. A migration agent would be able to answer this question for you.
if it is 7.75 will my score be 8 or not
Yes, your overall score will get rounded up to Band 8.