Scoring Briefing · 评分简报
Your 7 is not a 7. 总分的算法 · 「总分 7」和「单项 7」是两回事
The Overall Band Score is an average — and an average hides its own worst part. This briefing shows exactly how four scores become one number, why a single weak paper can cost a whole band, and what an advertised score can and cannot tell you about the person advertising it. Every rule below is quoted from the test partners and linked to source. Download as PDF →
The rule 官方规则
One sentence decides your overall score.决定你总分的，就是一句话。
This is not interpretation. It is the published calculation, quoted.以下不是解读，是官方公布的算法原文。
Quoted from the test partners · 官方原文
| The calculation 怎么算 |
“The overall band score is the average of the four section band scores rounded to the nearest half band.” 总分是四个单项分的平均值，四舍五入到最近的半分。 |
| The rounding 进位规则 |
“If the average of the four sections ends in .25, the overall band score is rounded up to the next half band, and if it ends in .75, the overall band score is rounded up to the next whole band.” 平均分末尾是 .25 时，进位到下一个半分；末尾是 .75 时，进位到下一个整分。 |
| What gets averaged 平均的是什么 |
All four section scores — Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking — are reported in whole and half bands, and all four count equally. 听、读、写、说四项均以整分或半分呈现，四项权重相同。 |
| What the bands mean 分数等级 |
9 Expert · 8 Very good · 7 Good · 6 Competent · 5 Modest · 4 Limited · 3 Extremely limited · 2 Intermittent · 1 Non-user. |
Source. Both quotations are from the IELTS scoring page, which also publishes the worked examples reproduced in the next section. ielts.org — IELTS scoring in detail →
Worked, officially 官方给的例子
Three examples, published by IELTS.三个官方示例。
These are not my examples. They are the ones on the official page, reproduced so you can check every step.这三个例子不是我编的，是官方页面上的原例，方便你逐步核对。
The official table · 官方示例表
| Test taker | L | R | W | S | Average | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 6.5 | 6.5 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 6.25 | 6.5 — rounds up |
| B | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.875 | 4.0 |
| C | 6.5 | 6.5 | 5.5 | 6.0 | 6.125 | 6.0 — rounds down |
Look at A and C. Identical Listening and Reading. A has a lower Writing score than C — 5.0 against 5.5 — and still finishes half a band higher overall, because Speaking carried it. The overall number tells you nothing about which paper did the work. A 和 C 的听力、阅读完全相同。A 的写作反而比 C 低（5.0 对 5.5），总分却高了半分 —— 因为口语把它拉了上去。总分说明不了是哪一项在起作用。
The part people get wrong 最容易算错的地方
Both .25 and .75 round up..25 和 .75 都往上进。
Everything else rounds to whichever half band is nearer. These two are the ties, and the tie always breaks upward.其余情况取最近的半分；.25 和 .75 是正中间的两种，规则是一律向上。
Three sevens and a six · 三个 7 加一个 6
7.0Listening
7.0Reading
7.0Speaking
6.0Writing
→
average 6.75
→
7.0Overall
27.0 ÷ 4 = 6.75. The average ends in .75, so it rounds up a whole band. 27.0 ÷ 4 = 6.75，末尾 .75，进位到整分 7.0。
Half a band lower, and it collapses · 只低半分，结果就变了
7.0Listening
7.0Reading
6.5Speaking
6.0Writing
→
average 6.625
→
6.5Overall
26.5 ÷ 4 = 6.625, which is nearer to 6.5 than to 7.0. Half a band on one paper, half a band off the overall. 26.5 ÷ 4 = 6.625，离 6.5 更近。一项掉半分，总分就掉半分。
Why this matters practically. A half band anywhere is worth exactly the same to your average: +0.5 on any single paper moves the average by 0.125, whether it is Listening or Writing. The papers are not worth different amounts — but they are not equally cheap to move, which is the whole basis of a sensible retake plan.
The planning error 最常见的备考错误
“Overall 7” and “7 in each band” are two different exams.「总分 7」和「单项均 7」是两场不同的考试。
| The same result, two verdicts 同一张成绩单，两种结果 |
7.0 / 7.0 / 7.0 / 6.0 is an Overall 7.0. It passes a requirement written as “overall 7.0”. It fails a requirement written as “7.0 in each band” — on one paper, by half a band, having averaged exactly the target. 7.0 / 7.0 / 7.0 / 6.0 总分是 7.0。写着「总分 7」的要求，过；写着「单项均 7」的要求，不过 —— 只差一项、只差半分。 |
| Why it happens 为什么会这样 |
Many institutions set both an overall minimum and a minimum in each band, and the second is the one that quietly does the rejecting. Candidates read the headline number in the offer letter and plan against that. 很多院校既设总分线，也设单项小分线，真正卡人的往往是后者。而考生通常只看录取要求里那个最显眼的总分。 |
| What to do about it 怎么办 |
Before you plan a single study session, read your own requirement and write it down in full — overall figure and per-band minimum. The two requirements produce opposite study plans, and the wrong one costs months. 在制定任何复习计划之前，先把你自己的要求完整抄下来：总分多少、单项各多少。这两种要求对应的复习计划正好相反，选错要浪费几个月。 |
Which paper to fix · 该补哪一项
The answer is not the same for the two requirements. It is opposite.两种要求的答案不一样 —— 是正好相反。
| If your requirement is… | Then fix… | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Overall only 只要求总分 |
Whichever paper is cheapest to move. 补最容易提分的那一项。 |
Every half band is worth the same to the average — +0.5 on any single paper moves it by 0.125, whether that paper is Listening or Writing. 任何一项提半分，对平均分的作用完全相同（+0.125）。 |
| A minimum in each band 还有单项小分要求 |
The paper below the line, however expensive. 补低于线的那一项，再难也得补。 |
Nothing else can rescue it. Three papers at 8.0 do not lift a 5.5 over a 6.0 minimum — the minimum is checked paper by paper, not on the average. 其他项再高也救不了 —— 小分是逐项核对的，不看平均。 |
So step one is not studying. It is reading. Open your own offer or application requirement and write it out in full — the overall figure and the per-band minimum, if there is one. Everything after that depends on which of the two rows above you are in. 所以第一步不是复习，是把你自己的要求完整读一遍、抄下来：总分多少，单项各多少。后面所有的安排，都取决于你落在上面哪一行。
Reading a score claim 怎么看懂一个「几分」的说法
An average hides its own worst part.平均分会把自己最差的那一项藏起来。
This applies to your own result, and to anyone else's. It is arithmetic, not an accusation.这对你自己的成绩、对别人的成绩同样适用。这是算术，不是指控。
A truthful “IELTS 7” · 一个完全真实的「雅思 7 分」
8.0Listening
7.5Reading
6.5Speaking
5.5Writing
→
average 6.875
→
7.0Overall
27.5 ÷ 4 = 6.875, nearer to 7.0 than to 6.5. Every number here is real and the claim “I got IELTS 7” is completely true — alongside a 5.5 in Writing. 27.5 ÷ 4 = 6.875，更接近 7.0。这里每个数字都是真的，「我雅思 7 分」这句话也完全属实 —— 同时写作是 5.5。
So an overall band cannot tell you about any single paper. That is true of every overall band ever issued, including mine and including yours. It is not a claim about anybody's honesty. It just means the overall figure is the wrong question to ask.
Three better questions · 三个更该问的问题
| 1 The breakdown, not the overall 要单项，不要总分 |
Ask for all four section scores. If someone is teaching you Writing, the number that matters is the Writing one — and it is the number an overall band is best at hiding. 问四个单项分。如果对方教你写作，唯一重要的是写作那一项，而它恰恰是总分最擅长掩盖的。 |
| 2 When, and which test 什么时候考的，考的哪一种 |
IELTS recommends a two-year limit on score validity rather than enforcing one, and receiving institutions overwhelmingly adopt it as their own policy. A result from a decade ago describes a decade-ago performance. 两年有效期是雅思官方的「建议」，并非强制；绝大多数院校把它采纳为自己的政策。十年前的成绩，说明的是十年前的水平。 |
| 3 Training in the criteria 是否受过评分标准培训 |
Ask whether they have done any formal training in how the assessment criteria are applied — and what it was. This is a different question from what they scored. 问对方是否接受过评分标准应用方面的正式培训，以及是什么培训。这和「你考了多少分」是两个问题。 |
My judgement, offered as judgement. Sitting the test well and diagnosing why someone else cannot are different skills. A high band demonstrates the first; it does not, on its own, demonstrate the second. I cannot prove that with a citation — it is what a decade of watching strong test-takers struggle to explain why an answer scores what it scores has persuaded me of, and you should weigh it as one teacher's opinion rather than as a fact. 这一条是我的个人判断，不是事实。自己考得好，和能诊断别人为什么考不好，是两种能力。高分能证明前者，不能单独证明后者。
How this was compiled 编制方法说明
What is quoted, what is arithmetic, what is opinion.哪些是引用，哪些是算术，哪些是观点。
Method note · 说明
| Quoted | The calculation rule, the .25 and .75 rounding rules, the three worked examples, the half-band reporting and the band names are all published by the test partners and linked below. Nothing in that group is my wording. |
| Arithmetic | The additional examples — 7/7/7/6, 7/7/6.5/6 and 8/7.5/6.5/5.5 — are mine, but they are only the published rule applied to different numbers. Check them with a calculator; that is the point of using arithmetic rather than assertion. |
| Opinion | One claim on this page is opinion and is marked as such: that scoring well and teaching well are different skills. It is professional judgement, not measurement, and it is the only thing here you cannot verify for yourself. |
| On the descriptors | The assessment criteria are named and the band levels are listed as published. The full official band descriptors are not reproduced here; they are published by the IELTS partners and should be read at source. |
| Credentials | Certified by IDP Education in Understanding the Assessment Criteria for both Speaking and Writing. IDP is one of the three organisations that jointly own IELTS. This is a teacher-training certificate — IELTS has not endorsed this briefing, the books, or the classes. Certificate numbers → |
Sources.
IELTS — scoring in detail ·
British Council — how IELTS is assessed ·
IELTS — review of the recommended two-year validity limit.
If any of these pages has changed since publication, the source wins and I would be glad to be told — get in touch.Every source above is public and linked. Not secret knowledge — unread knowledge.以上出处全部公开、均已附链接。这不是内部消息，是没人去读的公开材料。
Take it further 继续深入
Work out your own arithmetic.把你自己的分数算一遍。
Everything below is free and needs no sign-up.以下全部免费，无需注册。
| This briefing as a PDF 本简报 PDF 版 | A printable A4 version with the rules, the official examples and the three questions. Hand it out, or send it to someone choosing a tutor. |
| Why Chinese candidates plateau at 6.5 证据简报 · 6.5 瓶颈 | If Writing is the paper holding your average down, this is why — the four layers of first-language transfer, and which criterion each one costs you under. |
| The move to computer 机考简报 | From 1 September 2026 the test in mainland China is computer-delivered only. The content is unchanged; your writing process is not. |
| Marked model answers 带批注的范文 | Answers with the marking shown — what each criterion rewarded and where the marks actually went. |
| Examiner-style mock tests 模考与批改 | A per-criterion breakdown of your own four papers, which is the only way to find out which number the average is hiding. |
No band score is promised anywhere in this material. What arithmetic can honestly offer is a clear view of the target you are actually aiming at. Browse the series →