A lot of confusion around IELTS starts with a simple assumption: that a band score works like a percentage, where 6.5 means "65% correct." It doesn't, and understanding why makes the whole test easier to prepare for.
Band scores are a scale, not a percentage
IELTS uses a 9-band scale, from Band 1 (non-user) to Band 9 (expert user). For Listening and Reading, your raw score — the number of questions you got right out of 40 — is converted to a band using a conversion table. Critically, that conversion is not linear. Near the middle of the scale, a single extra correct answer can move your band score; near the top or bottom, it can take several more correct answers to shift a band.
This is also why the same raw score can map to a slightly different band between the Listening and Reading tests, and between Academic and General Training Reading — the conversion tables are calibrated separately for each.
Writing and Speaking don't have a "raw score" at all
There's no counting right and wrong answers in Writing or Speaking. Instead, examiners score you against four criteria for each module (for example, Writing looks at Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy). Your band for that module is essentially an average of those four criteria, which is why a single weak area — often Grammatical Range and Accuracy — can hold back an otherwise strong Writing score.
Your overall band is an average, with one nuance
Your overall band score is the average of your four module scores (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking), rounded to the nearest half band — and rounded up at the midpoint. So a 6.25 average rounds to 6.5, not down to 6.0. This is worth knowing because it means a single strong module can meaningfully lift a mixed set of scores.
Why this matters for how you practice
Because Listening and Reading bands come from a real conversion table rather than a flat percentage, practicing under realistic scoring conditions — not just checking which answers you got right — gives you a much more honest picture of where you actually stand. Every practice test on this site scores your Listening and Reading attempts the same way the real exam does, so the band-level feedback you get in practice reflects the real scale, not a simplified percentage.
If you haven't taken a full timed practice test yet, that's the fastest way to see where your current level actually sits — start with any module and treat the first attempt as a baseline, not a final result.