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LESSON 01 OF 20
How IELTS is Scored — Band Descriptors Explained
Understanding the IELTS Band System
IELTS is scored 0–9 per module. Your overall band is the average. Knowing exactly what examiners look for at Band 7 is your first step.
Band Scores
The 0–9 Scale
9.0
Expert user
8.0
Very good user
7.0
Good user — target for most universities
6.5
Competent user — minimum for many
Your overall band is simply the average of your four module scores (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking), rounded to the nearest 0.5.
University Requirements
Writing & Speaking — Four Scoring Criteria
Unlike Listening and Reading (marked purely on correct answers), Writing and Speaking are graded against four equally-weighted criteria:
- 25% Task Achievement/Response — did you answer the actual question?
- 25% Coherence & Cohesion — logical organisation and linking
- 25% Lexical Resource — vocabulary range and precision
- 25% Grammatical Range & Accuracy — sentence variety and correctness
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Why this matters from day one
Because each of the four Writing/Speaking criteria is worth exactly 25%, no amount of impressive vocabulary can save a score if Task Achievement is weak — and vice versa. Balanced improvement across all four beats over-polishing just one.