Dear Candidates,

Before you take any test you should take the time to find out exactly what is expected of you. Find out exactly what you have to do and then you can begin to focus on the areas you need to practice most. It’s also a good idea to have a general knowledge of the examiner’s criteria - understand what the examiner’s are looking for in all areas of the test and what is required to achieve the score you need.

You can find this information by looking on our About IELTS page which has all the relevant links.

Also, make sure you know what the entry requirements are of the academic institution you are applying to or the course you are hoping to do. It’s very important to know the band score that you are attaining for so that you can have a realistic approach to your exam preparation.

Best of luck!

Jenny
The iPASS Team

Hi Manibal

Since July last year the scores for the writing and speaking tests can now be given as half bands, the same way as with the listening and reading. For example, you might be awarded a band score of 3.5 for your writing and 5.5 for your speaking.

The important thing to know is that the tests are still assessed in exactly the same way as before using the same marking criteria. It just means that the assessors can give a more accurate reflection of your level, which is helpful for academic institutions and employers who are looking for very specific language skills.

The results are still calculated in the same way so that your overall band score will be a whole number between 1 and 9.

For more information and example half band writing scripts follow this link to the official IELTS website:

http://www.ielts.org/general_pages/media_centre/half_band_scores.aspx

Hope this helps to answer your question.

Best wishes and good luck in the exam.

Jenny
The iPASS Team

what is the average of (5 5 4 4.5) in IELTS exam?

Hi infinity,

First of all I need to correct the information I gave in my previous post which stated that overall band scores were reported as whole scores. This is incorrect. They can also be half bands the same way as the individual test results for speaking, listening, reading and writing can now be half bands.

Overall band scores are rounded to the nearest half band or whole band score. So the example you have given which gives a total of 18.5 would be divided by 4 to give an average of 4.625 and this would be rounded down to 4.5.

An average of 4.85 would be rounded UP to 5 but if the average is less than 4.75 it is rounded DOWN to 4.5

For more information on IELTS score processing follow this link:

http://www.ielts.org/teachers_and_researchers/score_processing_and_reporting.aspx

I hope this answers your question satisfactorily.

Best wishes,

Jenny
The iPass Team

Hello.
I want to ask that if a single question is wrong in reading n listening tasks what score do i get in these tasks.

You’ll get 8.5. I got 8.5 in reading section.

I have checked the band scores of IELTS on ielts official web site. It does not give any information about half scores. it just says that 5 band score : 16,
                      6 band score:  23,
                      7 band score : 30,
                      8 band score : 35 for listening and reading parts.

one of my friends told me that her overall band score was 6.5, however she got 6.0 in reading, writing and speaking, just only she got 6.5 in listening. I am wondering about how she got 6.5!  (6.0x3= 18.0+6.5=24.5,
24.5 / 4 = 6.125)

Hi Ceyda,

I don’t think your friend’s overall band score can be correct based on the 4 individual scores that you gave because an average of 6.125 would be rounded down to an overall score of 6.

Basically the average of all 4 scores gets rounded up or down to the nearest half band or nearest whole band.

Therefore ...

an average of 6.25 would be rounded up to an overall score of 6.5.
an average of 6.75 would be rounded up to an overall score of 7.

But ...

an average of 6.15 would be rounded down to an overall score of 6.
an average of 6.65 would be rounded down to an overall score of 6.5.

For official confirmation of this information go to:

http://www.ielts.org/researchers/score_processing_and_reporting.aspx

I hope this answers your question.

Best wishes,

Jenny

Thank you for your response, Jenny.