How to Calculate IELTS Speaking Score

This article will help you understand how to calculate your IELTS speaking score. The International English Language Testing System, or IELTS, assesses candidates’ ability to communicate in English. To study abroad, you will need to take the IELTS test and decode your IELTS speaking score. Speaking abilities are assessed, and band scores are assigned depending on those abilities.

During the test, the candidate and the IELTS examiner have a face-to-face formal discussion or interaction. The speaking band score on the IELTS goes from 0 to 9. It is critical to have a decent band to meet the qualifying requirements set out by organizations, countries, and educational institutions.

To do better on the IELTS speaking band, applicants must first comprehend the format. The band score is determined by several criteria, and it is critical to comprehend these factors to achieve a decent result. 

​​IELTS Scoring Classification

Before understanding how the IELTS speaking score is calculated, you need to understand the scoring classification of IELTS. The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) has provided explanations of the ability levels associated with each full-point band score. Students who “did not attempt the test” and “did not answer any questions” receive a 0 band score.

Test takers who earn a 1 on the band scale are classified as “non-users,” meaning they have “no capacity to utilize the language.” Students who have “severe difficulties comprehending spoken and written English” have a band score of 2 and utilize it “intermittently.” Students in Band 3 are “very restricted” users who can “communicate and grasp the only general meaning in relatively familiar settings.”

“Basic competency” in “familiar circumstances” is possessed by Band 4 (“limited” users), but “regular issues in comprehension and expression” are present. Band 5 scores, or “moderate” users, are defined as “partial command of the language,” the capacity to “cope with general meaning in most instances,” and “basic communication in [one’s] own area,” but with “many blunders.”

A person with a band 6 is considered “capable,” having “effective command of the language notwithstanding certain errors, incorrect use, and misunderstandings.” Band 7 users, also known as “good” users, demonstrate “effective command” but with “occasional mistakes, incorrect language, and misunderstandings in specific contexts.”

Users in Band 8 (“excellent”) have “completely operational command,” with just “occasional unsystematic errors and incorrect use.” “Full operational command” and “perfect knowledge” of written and spoken English describe Band 9 (“expert”).

How to Calculate IELTS Speaking Score

The IELTS Speaking section assesses a candidate’s ability to communicate in English orally. Learn how examiners plan the test and how the IELTS Speaking Score is calculated in the sections below.

1.  Introduction & Interview

The first half of the Speaking section is structured like an interview. The examiner will first introduce himself to the student before asking a few generic questions. To guarantee consistency, the questions are read from a script. Work, home life, hobbies, and family are all possible topics.

The goal of the interview is to see if candidates can express themselves and answer questions in English about ordinary events and situations. The amount of questions fluctuates from year to year, but this portion should take around four to five minutes to complete.

2. Long Turn

Candidates will be handed a card that gives information on a certain topic in this segment. The card offers key talking points and instructs the applicant to explain a specific element of the card’s theme. Students will be assessed in this section depending on their ability to explain a topic in depth. The order and consistency of thoughts must be given special consideration.

This segment should take between three and four minutes to complete. Candidates will have one minute to prepare a response before speaking about the topic for one to two minutes. This segment is especially important to those who give marks in the IELTS speaking test.

3. Discussion

If the first component of the Speaking exam can be compared to an interview, this section of the Speaking test is compared to a conversation. The substance of this segment is primarily decided by the exchanges between the examiner and the candidate, hence it is the least well specified. Part 3 builds on the topic presented in Part 2, with the examiner and applicant disputing and discussing more abstract notions.

Students are graded on their abilities to explain themselves and construct arguments in this area. This section of the exam should take no more than four or five minutes. The quantity of questions depends largely on the conversation.

4. Scoring

The following four domains are used to determine the IELTS Speaking score:

• Fluency and coherence:

Fluency means your ability to communicate easily and at a natural pace, with no awkward pauses. This is an aspect where students frequently misinterpret it to imply that you must talk as rapidly as you can or without halting. When you listen to native speakers, you will notice that they don’t generally speak quickly and there are a lot of pauses. This is perfectly okay; you simply don’t want to pause any longer than necessary. 

Being rational and consistent is what coherence entails. This relates to how you extend and clarify your responses with explanations and examples, respond to the question, tie sentences together, and use discourse markers and tenses for the IELTS speaking criteria. Simply put, it implies that when the examiner asks a question, you have answered the question completely and comprehensively.

Discourse markers, also known as connecting words or coherent devices, are words that tell the audience what you’re talking about. If you wish to add another point, for example, you will use a discourse marker such as ‘As well as that’ or ‘On top of that.’ You should say ‘For instance’ or ‘For example’ if you want to provide an example.

• Lexical resource:

The term “lexical resource” refers to one’s use of vocabulary. To succeed in this domain, you must have a broad vocabulary and be able to utilize it correctly. But what exactly does that imply? Let’s imagine you are asked to discuss your smartphone. ‘Advanced’, ‘cutting-edge’, ‘outdated’,’modern’, ‘useful’, ‘features’, ‘apps’,’screen’,’resolution’, ‘operating system’, ‘user-interface’, and so on are some of the phrases you could use.

The majority of these terms are quite particular to the issues of mobile phones and technology, allowing candidates to provide a very precise response to the examiner. Students will have a difficult time providing a full answer concerning mobile phones if they do not know these words. Is it possible to memorize vocabulary lists and attain a band 9? It is a little more complex than that.

Many students memorize lengthy lists of terminology and attempt to apply it to the test. The difficulty with this method is pupils frequently misuse these terms. For example, people are familiar with the term ‘cutting-edge,’ but apply it to a person or a location when it should only be used to technology.

• Grammatical Range and Accuracy:

This section of the IELTS Speaking Assessment assesses your ability to avoid grammatical errors. You should also have a broad understanding of grammar to be able to discuss a variety of topics and construct complicated phrases. If you’re not familiar with complicated sentences, have a look at our instructions on how to compose them.

For instance, the examiner may ask you to discuss the past and future, in which case you will need to know how to employ past tenses and future constructions. However, it is not only about tenses, though they are crucial. You’ll also need to know how to express yourself, explain something, discuss theoretically, and compare and contrast ideas using various sorts of functional language.

• Pronunciation:

You don’t need to be concerned about having an American or British accent; the most important thing is your speech is clear and understandable. To earn a good grade, you must strive to employ a variety of features of pronunciation. The most crucial is at the word level: can the examiner comprehend each word you say? You should look at phonemes and the phonemic chart if you are unfamiliar with them.

Different tongue, jaw, and lip motions are used in different languages, and some of the ones used in English can be unusual in other languages. If you have trouble making a certain sound in English, the examiner will find it difficult to comprehend what you are saying. Each word in English has its stress pattern, which will affect your ability to understand it.

• IELTS speaking band score calculator

A student obtains a band score for each of the four domains outlined above in the Speaking portion, and the final result is the average of these four values. For instance, if a student receives a 7, 8, 5, and 9 on each unit, the average of those scores is 7.25 (7+8+5+9=29, 29 divided by 4=7.25).

Scores that finish in .25 or .75 are rounded up to the next band, so the candidate’s IELTS Speaking score is 7.5. The final score is the average of the four sections: Listening, Speaking, Writing, and Reading.

How to calculate IELTS reading score

The IELTS Reading test consists of 40 multiple-choice questions based on three lengthy readings. Multiple-choice, identifying information and a writer’s opinions or assertions, matching information, headers, features, and sentence ends, sentence, summary, note, table, diagram label, or flow-chart completion, and short response questions are among the questions.

In the Reading test, you will receive one mark for every correct answer. The total number of right answers will define your raw score, which will be used to calculate your band score. It is critical to attempt to answer each question, as a blank response will result in zero points. The Academic and General Training examinations will have distinct reading sections from the  IELTS. For IELTS test types, the number of questions and the sorts of questions stay the same.

The Reading test will consist of 40 questions based on three lengthy readings. There is just one right answer to each question. Each accurate answer will get you one point. Your IELTS Reading score is determined by the total number of marks you receive. Your total band score is calculated using this score.

The IELTS reading band score runs from 0 to 9, comparable to the IELTS speaking band score, although the IELTS reading exam is more demanding than the overall IELTS assessment. The raw score out of 40 is translated to an IELTS score on a 9-band scale. Both the Reading and General Training IELTS band score charts are distinct.

IELTS reading score calculator

IELTS academic reading and listening band scores are based on the principle that no points are deducted for wrong answers. The aggregate median of the various scores produced in each area is the IELTS band score. The IELTS academic reading score is based on a computation of 40 questions, with each correct answer receiving one mark. The IELTS reading band score is calculated using the overall reading academic score out of 40. Points to remember regarding the IELTS academic reading score:

• The candidate can receive a .5 score like 5.5 or 6.5;
• A ‘.25’ score will be raised to ‘.5’. for instance, a 6.25 score will be rounded to 6.5;
• A ‘.75’ score will be rounded to the nearest whole number like – 6.75 will be rounded to 7;
• A ‘.1’ IELTS academic reading score will be rounded to a score lesser like – 6.1 will become 6.

What is a good IELTS reading score?

An IELTS reading score of 8 indicates that the candidate has a very excellent competence level, according to IELTS reading band score descriptors. An IELTS score of 6 indicates that the candidate is a competent user, while a score of 7 indicates that they are a proficient user. The cutoff for the university to which the individual wishes to apply determines a high IELTS reading score.

IELTS Academic Reading Score – Marking Criteria

Task completion, consistency, language competence, and grammatical correctness are all factors that go into the IELTS academic reading section score. It should be mentioned that to improve their IELTS reading score, students must properly answer more questions. This is because the IELTS academic reading exam has more complicated situations and language than is common in academic settings. As a result, to equal the academic, the IELTS general reading band score requires more right answers.

IELTS writing score calculator

Writing Task 1 and Writing Task 2 are the two tasks that make up the IELTS Writing exam. The questions on the Academic Writing test are not the same as the questions on the General Training Writing test. You will be provided a visual representation of information, such as a graph, table, chart, or diagram, in Academic Writing Task 1, and you will be expected to summarize, describe, or explain the information you observe.

Make sure your response is organized into three parts: an introduction, an overview, and the essential characteristics backed with diagram figures. You will be given a point of view, an argument, or an issue to write about in Academic Writing Task 2. Environment, immigration, culture, and even science are all possible subjects. Y

ou may be asked to agree or disagree with a viewpoint or argument, debate two competing viewpoints, write about the benefits and drawbacks of a topic, or describe a problem or its source and provide a remedy. Your solution to Academic Writing Task 2 must be in the form of an essay.

IELTS Writing Task 1

IELTS writing assignment 1 accounts for 33% of the overall IELTS writing score. Task Achievement, Vocabulary, Coherence and Coherence, and Grammatical Accuracy are the primary criteria used to assess IELTS writing task 1. Academic writing task 1 and General writing task 1 are the two writing problems in IELTS Writing Task 1.

Task 1 responses are assessed on:

• Delivering results
• Cohesion and coherence
• lexical repository
• Range and precision of grammatical use.

IELTS Writing Task 2

IELTS writing task 2 is more important since it accounts for 66 percent of the total score, which is double that of IELTS writing task 1. Problem response, coherence and cohesiveness, linguistic resource, and grammatical precision are the four primary criteria to follow when answering IELTS writing task 2.

Task 2 responses are assessed on:

• Task response
• Coherence and cohesion
• Lexical repository
• Range and precision of grammatical use.

IELTS Writing Score calculator

As previously mentioned, writing task 2 is worth twice as much as writing task 1. If someone gets an 8 on task 2 and a 6.5 on task 1, their overall IELTS Writing score is 8.0*(2/3)+(6.5)*1/3 = 7.5. Focus on your preparation and make reading, writing, listening, and speaking English a daily habit – this is the only way to excel in the IELTS or any other language proficiency test.

The IELTS writing score is calculated on a scale of 0 to 9. If a candidate receives a 9 on the scale, they are regarded experts; if they receive an 8 on the scale, they are considered very good. However,  top colleges often demand an IELTS score of 7 or above.

Examples of IELTS Score Requirements for Undergraduate and Graduate Study

Although many universities have a single IELTS criterion for all students, other institutions have IELTS score criteria for undergraduates in their component colleges. The minimal level at the University of Missouri is either 6.5 or 7.0, with divisional requirements ranging from 6.0 to 6.5. Missouri’s College of Education and School of Journalism have the highest mandates, with a total of 7.0 and 6.5 per section, respectively. 

The minimum prerequisites for the Colleges of Engineering and Arts and Science are 6.5 overall and 6.0 for each unit. At the graduate level, IELTS score targets are frequently defined by individual university departments, thus requirements might be even more varied. The Department of Statistics at the University of Georgia anticipates overall band scores of at least 6.5, with no section score below 6. Applicants to Georgia’s University’s full-time MBA program, on the other hand, must have total band scores of 7 or above.

Conclusion

The most widely used English language proficiency test for higher education and migration is the IELTS. Candidates can register for the IELTS test either online or offline. IELTS takes 2 hours and 45 minutes to complete. Most English-speaking institutions, including all the universities in the United Kingdom and Australia, as well as over 3400 universities in the United States, accept IELTS scores. 

Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening are all part of the IELTS exam. IELTS may be taken four times each month by candidates. As a result of the pandemic, IELTS online tests or IELTS indicators are accessible for your convenience. The results of the IELTS paper-based test are released 13 days following the test.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the Speaking exam marked?

The examiner will grade you on four factors during your speaking test: fluency and coherence, lexical capacity, grammatical range and correctness, and pronunciation. A Band Score will be assigned to each of these categories, ranging from 1 to 9.

Is IELTS Speaking part 1 graded?

The IELTS speaking test is scored based on your overall performance. For each component of the examination, the examiner will assess your English language using the four grading criteria. You will not receive a decent grade if you are strong in speaking part 1 though not in the other sections.

Is 6.5 A good score in IELTS speaking?

A score of 6.5 on the IELTS speaking score indicates that a person is ‘competent,’ indicating that they can thrive in a classroom setting despite linguistic errors or misconceptions. Many colleges provide one- to three-month English courses before the start of the degree program for students who require it.

What is coherence in IELTS speaking?

The ability to develop concepts and bring thoughts together in a logical framework without repeating oneself is what coherence is all about.