Every IELTS result is built the same way: four skill scores, averaged. Understanding the mechanics helps you plan — especially when one weak skill is quietly pulling your overall band down.
Listening and Reading — right answers become bands
Both tests have 40 questions, each worth one mark. Your raw score out of 40 is converted to a band. The exact conversion changes slightly from test to test, and Academic and General Training Reading use different conversion tables — General Training typically requires more correct answers for the same band. Spelling matters in Listening: a misspelled answer is a wrong answer.
Writing and Speaking — four criteria each
- Writing: task achievement/response, coherence and cohesion, vocabulary, and grammar — each worth 25%. Task 2 carries about double the weight of Task 1 in the final Writing band.
- Speaking: fluency and coherence, vocabulary, grammar range and accuracy, and pronunciation — each worth 25%.
The overall band — and the rounding rule
Your overall band is the average of the four skills, rounded to the nearest half band. An average of 6.25 rounds up to 6.5; 6.125 rounds down to 6.0. This is why raising your weakest skill by half a band is often worth more than pushing your strongest — try it yourself in the Band Calculator: move each slider and watch the overall band change.
What this means for your preparation
- Balanced scores beat spiky ones — institutions often set a minimum per skill.
- Your lowest skill is your highest-value study time.
- Half a band in one skill moves the average by 0.125 — sometimes exactly the rounding boundary you need.