Welcome to IELTS

Individual institutions and faculties set their own IELTS requirements according to the specific language needs of the course, study or work program.

There is no pass or fail in IELTS. Candidates are graded on their performance using scores from 1 to 9 for each part of the test – Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. The results from the four parts then produce an Overall Band Score. Each band corresponds to a level of English competence. All parts of the test and the Overall Band Score can be reported in whole and half bands, e.g. 6.5, 7.0, 7.5, 8.0.

When setting their IELTS requirements, institutions should consider both the Overall Band Score and the individual bands (Listening, Writing etc). Language skills can then be matched to particular needs or courses. For example, for a course in which students do many presentations, a high Speaking score may be required.

The table below provides guidance on setting appropriate band score requirements. More information is available in the IELTS Guide for Institutions and Organisations (PDF, 598KB) and the IELTS Scores Explained DVD.

Table for Band Score