Understanding the test, lesson 2 of 9
How band scores work
From raw scores to your overall band, and why .25 matters.
Each of the four skills receives a band from 0 to 9, in steps of 0.5. Your overall band is the average of the four, rounded to the nearest half band.
The rounding rule
If the average ends in .25, it rounds up to the next half band. If it ends in .75, it rounds up to the next whole band. For example:
Listening | Reading | Writing | Speaking | Average | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6.5 | 6.5 | 5.5 | 6.5 | 6.25 | 6.5 |
7.0 | 7.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.75 | 7.0 |
6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 6.125 | 6.0 |
Listening and Reading
These are marked out of 40 and converted to a band. In Listening, around 30 correct answers usually gives band 7; in Academic Reading you typically need about 30 as well.
Writing and Speaking
Examiners score four criteria, each worth 25%. For Writing: Task Achievement/Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy. For Speaking, Pronunciation replaces Task Achievement.
Try the band score calculator to see how different combinations work out.
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