In this post you will see
how the points are converted into band score
how the final overall band score is calculated
where you can calculate your overall band score
Raw band score converted into band score
Listening and Reading band scores
In the Listening and Reading modules, each question will bring to you one point. These points are called raw band score. Unfortunately there is no official detailed chart explaining how the raw scores ( points ) are converted into band score. The only official chart published on www.ielts.org shows only whole band scores. Link to the chart here. The examiners will submit the raw scores and the IELTS board will determine the overall band scores on test-to-test basis. Of course the difference from one test to another is not that much bigger.
When I am having a mock exams on Listening and Reading with my students, and they want to have an idea what their band scores on these two skills are, we are using the following charts. If you look at the charts, you will see that there is a difference not only between Listening and Reading, but also between Reading for Academic Exam and Reading for General Exam.
Writing and Speaking band scores
Your writing will be scored based on four criteria. The criteria are weighted equally. The band score for writing is an average. • Task Achievement (for Task 1), Task Response (for Task 2) • Coherence and Cohesion • Lexical Resource • Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Your speaking will be scored based on four criteria. The criteria are weighted equally. The band score for writing is an average.
• Fluency and Coherence • Lexical Resource • Grammatical Range and Accuracy • Pronunciation
Overall band score calculation
Your overall band score in the IELTS exam is calculated based on your band scores of the four components: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking.
Your overall band score will be the average of your 4 band scores, which will be rounded to the nearest whole or half band score.
If the average band score is less than .25 the overall band score is rounded to the previous whole band. If the average band score ends in .25, the overall band score is rounded up to the next half band. If the average band score ends in.75, the overall band score is rounded up to the next whole band.
So, four numbers are important in the calculation: .0 / .25/ .50 /.75
Here are some examples.
It is a good idea to work with a plan during your preparation.
Once you know what overall band score you need, try to reach certain band score for each skill, so you can get the final overall band score that you desire.
You can use an IELTS online band score calculator to plan your work better. Link to the calculator here.
The charts that I shared with you are based on the official chart, provided by https://www.ielts.org/ and example charts, provided by, in my opinion, one of the best online IELTS teachers, Liz. Please, visit her website where you can find a lot of useful materials.
Happy learning.