What is a Good IELTS Score?

 

What is a Good IELTS Score?

An IELTS Band Score of 7 and above is considered to be a good IELTS Score. Achieving an IELTS Band Score of 7 and above will qualify applicants to most universities abroad. While a 7 Band Score is considered a good IELTS score. However, candidates should note that getting a higher IELTS score will only help the applicant.

A good IELTS score is required to get admission to your desired university located abroad. Now, every country has an IELTS Cut off according to them. Top universities in the USA like Harvard and Stanford accept IELTS scores of 7 or more. Similarly, UK universities like Oxford or Cambridge require 7.5 or more. For universities in Canada and Australia, an IELTS score of 6.5 or 7 or more is required to get into their top colleges.

Generally, an IELTS band score is one of the reuqirement of university for granting admission to international students. A good IELTS score will increase the chances of your application, but not solely resposible for your admission. Commonly, a IELTS score of 6.5-7.0 is considered good for decent university admission, while top universities in world requires a IELTS band of 7.0 or above. 

Also Read:

• Minimum IELTS Score for USA
• Minimum IELTS Score for Ireland

How to Get a Good IELTS Score?

We are providing a few tips that will help you get a good score on the IELTS:

1. Candidates are required to understand the exam pattern before they begin their preparation and make a proper strategy depending on the time that they have. Candidates can refer to our 15-day strategy to incorporate it into their study plan.
2. Candidates are advised to improve their English language proficiency. This can happen by expanding your vocabulary, practising grammar and sentence structure, and reading and listening to English media.
3. Make sure to practice enough mock tests and stress on weaker sections of the test. Ignoring them might hamper your performance on the examination day. Candidates should evaluate their performance on the mock tests and make the necessary changes in their study plans. 
4. To score well on the IELTS you must follow the correct resources for your preparation
5. Other tips to improve your IELTS scores include:
   • Improve your writing skills
   • Improve your reading skills
   • Practice your listening skills, and
   • Practice Time Management

IELTS Scores for Top Universities 2025

In this section, we are going to be talking about the IELTS cut off across top universities in the world. This will give readers a fair idea of the IELTS score requirements while applying to universities abroad.

Top Universities	IELTS Score Requirements
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Cambridge, United States	Minimum Score: 7.0 or higher Recommended Score: 7.5 & above
University of Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom	Usually a minimum overall grade of 7.5, usually with 7.0 or above in each element
University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom	Standard level scores: 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 per component Higher level scores: 7.5 with a minimum of 7.0 per component
Harvard University Cambridge, United States	6.5 & Above
Stanford University Stanford, United States	n/a
Imperial College London London, United Kingdom	Standard: 6.5 overall (Minimum 6.0 in all elements) Higher: 7.0 overall (Minimum 6.5 in all elements)
ETH Zurich Zürich, Switzerland	7.0 and above
National University of Singapore (NUS) Singapore, Singapore	6.5 and above
University College London (UCL) London, United Kingdom	Min 6.0 – 7.0 (as per program)
University of California, Berkeley (UCB) Berkeley, United States	For UG: 6.5 or higher For PG: 7.0 or higher

Also Check: How to Get IELTS Band 7

How are IELTS Scores Calculated?

IELTS is scored on a scale of 0 to 9. IELTS overall band score is calculated by taking the mean score of all the sections. The score for each section is weighted equally. The final IELTS score is a round-off to the nearest tens. If a candidate has scored 6.25 then it would be rounded off to 6.5 and if a candidate has scored 6.75 then it would be rounded off to 7. For every score, the user's skill can be measured which we have given in the above description. If a candidate has scored an 8 then he/she is a very good user of the language, whereas, if a candidate has scored 4 then he/she is a limited user of the language and might face difficulty in understanding and using the language.

Organizations and institutions of English-speaking countries accept IELTS scores worldwide. Those who are taking the IELTS for immigration should know what is a good IELTS score based on the type of visa they require to move abroad. Whether one is going for immigration or a job or as a student plays a crucial role in deciding a good IELTS score. For an international student, a score acceptable to the college/university or the institute might work to get a student visa.

IELTS Band Scores

Before knowing an IELTS good score, one must be aware of the IELTS band scores. The IELTS test is scored between 0 and 9. You can learn about the skill level for every band in the below table. IELTS scores are trusted by organizations across the world. Your IELTS band scores decide your level of competence in the English language. It tells how much you understand English Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing. So, if you have scored 7 or more then you are marked as a good user. If you scored 8 then you are a very good user. Also, if you scored 6 then also you are a competent user.

Below we have described the different IELTS Band scores to understand the IELTS score better.

IELTS Band Score	Skill Level	IELTS Band Score Description
9	Expert	You are an expert user and have an operational command of the language. You use the English language fluently and accurately.
8	Very Good	You are a very good user and have an operational command of the English language. You may misunderstand certain unfamiliar situations
7	Good	You are a good user and have a good command of the English language with occasional inaccuracies
6	Competent User	You are a competent user and have an effective command of the language with some inaccuracies and inappropriate usage in certain situations
5	Modest User	You are a modest user with partial command of the language and can handle basic communication in your field
4	Limited user	You are a limited user and can understand the language in familiar situations only
3	Extremely limited user	With repeated breakdowns in communication, you understand only the general meaning in very familiar situations
2	Intermittent	The test taker has great difficulty understanding spoken and written English
1	Non-user	The test taker cannot use the English language except for a few isolated words
0	Did not attempt the test	The test taker did not answer the questions

IELTS Scoring for Different Sections

Reading Listening sections have 40 questions each, one can get a score of a maximum of 40 in each of the sections. The marks awarded are raw scores that are then converted to the band score by the IELTS administrator. Whereas, for the Speaking and Writing sections of the IELTS exam different band descriptions have been given. The average score of these descriptions will be the score in these two sections.

Task achievement, coherence, and cohesion, lexical resource, grammatical range, and accuracy are the band descriptions for the Writing section. Fluency and coherence, Lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation are the band descriptions for the Speaking section.

Check this video to know all about 'Good IELTS Scores'

IELTS Scores Validity

Candidates should note that their IELTS results are valid for 2 years. However, for Skilled Migration applications, the validity of their IELTS scores is three years.

Also Read: Grammar for IELTS: Syllabus, Topics, Tips & Strategy