SpeakMetry
    Start free

    IELTS Reading Band Score Calculator

    Convert raw Reading scores to bands, with separate Academic and General Training tables.

    • Free and unlimited
    • No sign-up
    • Instant result

    Academic Reading texts are harder, so the conversion is more generous per raw mark than General Training.

    Band score

    —

    How it works

    1. 1

      Choose your module, Academic or General Training. The tables differ.

    2. 2

      Select your raw score out of 40 from a practice test.

    3. 3

      Read your band and note the next threshold.

    4. 4

      If you're switching modules, re-run your score, because the same raw total can drop half a band moving to GT.

    Good to know

    Why the two modules convert differently

    Academic Reading uses denser, more abstract texts (journal-style passages), while General Training draws on everyday materials (notices, advertisements and workplace documents) before one longer passage. To keep bands comparable across modules, GT's easier questions demand more correct answers per band: Band 6 costs 23 raw marks in Academic but 30 in GT. Candidates switching from GT practice to Academic tests (or vice versa) routinely misread their readiness by ignoring this.

    Where Reading marks actually go missing

    Three culprits dominate: time (Passage 3 deserves a full 20 minutes; bank it by capping Passage 1), the True/False/Not Given trap (Not Given means the text doesn't say, and candidates infer answers the text never states), and transfer errors, since answers must be on the answer sheet within the hour with correct spelling; there is no extra transfer time in Reading, unlike Listening on paper.

    Questions

    How many correct answers for Band 7 in Reading?
    About 30 of 40 in Academic, but about 34 in General Training. The GT table is stricter throughout because its texts are easier, so the same band needs more raw marks.
    Are Academic and GT Reading the same test?
    No. Different texts and different conversion tables, though the same 40-question, 60-minute format and largely the same question types. Listening, Speaking, and Writing Task 2 are shared; Reading and Writing Task 1 differ by module.
    Is there extra time to transfer answers in Reading?
    No. The 60 minutes includes transferring answers to the sheet (on paper) or entering them (on computer). Budget the final minutes for it; unmarked answers score zero regardless of what's written in the question booklet.
    Which question types should I practise most?
    Matching headings and True/False/Not Given cause the most dropped marks for most candidates, and both punish reading for words instead of meaning. Time yourself by passage, not by test, to find whether your losses are skill or clock.