IELTS Prep · Quick Reference

Lesson 1 — How IELTS is Scored Cheat Sheet

IELTS

In one line: IELTS scores 0–9 per module and averages the four into an overall band; Writing/Speaking are graded on four equally-weighted criteria.

Key Ideas

1Band scale. 9 Expert, 8 Very good, 7 Good (university target), 6.5 Competent.

2Overall band. Average of the four module scores, rounded to nearest 0.5.

3University bands. Oxbridge/Ivy League 7.5–8.0; Russell Group/Australia 6.5–7.0.

4Writing & Speaking are marked on four criteria, 25% each — not on correct answers.

5Balance matters. No single criterion can be over-polished to compensate for a weak one.

Four Scoring Criteria

Task Achievement/Response

25%

Coherence & Cohesion

25%

Lexical Resource

25%

Grammatical Range & Accuracy

25%

Overall band = (L + R + W + S) / 4, rounded to nearest 0.5