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IELTS Listening band scores explained

The questions in your IELTS Listening test will be based on four audio recordings taken from different scenarios. Each recording will cover a different situation you might encounter in everyday life which can be a conversation between two people, a monologue from an everyday social situation (a speech), a conversation between up to 4 people and finally a monologue from an academic context (university lecture).

You will need to answer 40 questions in your Listening test where you will be given one mark for each correct answer. The total correct answers will be used to calculate your final IELTS Listening band score. It is very important to try and answer every question as a blank answer will get no marks.

For instance, you will need a raw score of 35 out of 40 to achieve a IELTS Listening score of 8. This score will turn be used to calculate your overall band score for IELTS .

IELTS Listening score table converter

Number of correct answers (Raw Score)

IELTS Listening Band Score

16-17

5

23-25

6

30-31

7

35-36

8

39-40

9

Band scores

IELTS Listening band scores

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Here are some handy tips to help you understand the IELTS Listening test in the IELTS on computer test format.