Scoring Pattern

The result will consist of a score in each of the four skills (Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking) which is then arranged to give the Overall Band Score or final mark. Performance is rated in each skill on a scale of 9 to 1. The nine overall Bands are as follows:

Pass Mark
There is no fixed pass mark in IELTS. The acceptability of a score is totally at the discretion of the institute-applied or govt. body (immigration). However, as a general rule, scores below Band 5 are considered to be too low and above Band 6 are deemed to be adequate to good. Band 5 to 6 Band scores are borderline. An overall score of Band 6.5 is mostly accepted as a good score. The individual module's Band score is considered as per the requirement.

For example, an Engineering Institute will emphasise on a good Band Score (6.5 or above) in Listening Module, as the institute's mode of teaching is lecture-oriented, whereas if a person is seeking a job in public - relations, then more weightage is given for a good Band Score (6.5 or more) in the Speaking Module.

In the Listening module and the Reading module, each question carries one mark and there is no negative marking for incorrect answers. Then the overall score is converted into a Band score from 9 to 1. The other two modules (Writing and Speaking) are rated as per the effectiveness, language skills, communication ability, clarity, fluency and spontaneity of the candidate. The same in these two modules can be developed by referring to the assessments made in various books. The candidate must gauge and try to comply with the examiner's assessment method.