Scoring Briefing · 谁能给你打分

Nobody outside the exam hall gives you a band score. 考场之外，没有人能给你雅思分数

Not your teacher. Not me. Not even IELTS's own practice test — that one is marked by official IELTS markers and it still calls the result indicative. Yet “你是 6.5” gets said in classrooms and WeChat groups every day. IDP has published a plain answer to this, and almost nobody quotes it. Download as PDF →

The published answer 官方给出的答案

IDP answers this question on its own website.IDP 在自己的官网上回答了这个问题。

It appears in the FAQ of IDP's teacher training programme — the course teachers take to learn the assessment criteria.这段话出现在 IDP 教师培训课程页面的常见问题里 —— 也就是老师们学习评分标准的那门课。

Question, as printed · 原页面问题

“Can teachers award IELTS band scores to students?”

Answer, quoted in full · 完整引用

“Teachers should not award IELTS band scores using the public Band Descriptors, but can highlight features in the assessment criteria that match written and spoken performance.”

— IDP Education, IELTS Teacher Training Program. ielts.idp.com → The identical sentence appears on ielts.com.au → IDP is one of the three organisations that jointly own IELTS.

What it rules out 它排除了什么	Taking the published descriptors and announcing a number: “that's a 6.5”. That is the practice IDP names and advises against. 拿着公开的评分标准，直接说出一个数字 ——「这是 6.5」。这正是 IDP 点名并不建议的做法。
What it explicitly permits 它明确允许什么	Highlighting features in the assessment criteria that match the performance. So a teacher can tell you which criterion your work is weak in, and which described features it matches — just not convert that into a band. 指出评分标准中与你表现相符的特征。所以老师可以告诉你哪一项标准薄弱、符合哪些描述 —— 只是不该把它换算成一个分数。
Read the wording carefully 注意措辞	It says “should not”, not “must not”, and it is scoped to the public Band Descriptors. This is professional guidance from IDP, not a law and not a joint statement by all three IELTS partners. I would rather tell you that than overstate it. 原文是「不应」，不是「不得」，且限定在公开版评分标准的使用上。这是 IDP 的专业建议，不是法律，也不是三方联合声明。与其夸大，不如把话说准。

Why this source is the right one to quote. This is not a blog interpreting IELTS policy. It is IDP, on IDP's own site, answering the exact question, on the page selling the course that teaches the criteria. I hold both certificates from that programme — Speaking and Writing, 2026 — which is precisely why I am not going to hand you a band score. Certificate numbers →

Three different things, one word 三件不同的事，同一个词

Even IELTS's own markers only say “indicative”.连雅思自己的评分员，给的也只是「参考分数」。

This is the fact that settles the argument. If official IELTS markers will not call their result a band score, nobody selling you a mock test should either.这一条足以说明问题：如果连官方评分员都不把结果称为正式分数，那么卖模考给你的人，更不该这样称呼。

Official
官方分数

A real IELTS test → a Test Report Form

Marked by certified examiners inside the test system, and recorded on a Test Report Form — described by IELTS as “official confirmation and proof of your test results”. This is the only thing a university or visa office will accept. 真实考试，由认证考官评分，记录在成绩单上。这是院校与签证机构唯一接受的东西。

Indicative
参考分数

IELTS Progress Check → an indicative band

IELTS's own official practice test. IDP states it is “assessed and scored by official IELTS markers” and that the report includes “an indicative overall band score and an indicative band score for each section” — and that it “is not an official IELTS Test Report Form and cannot be used to apply for entry to universities, organisations or for visa purposes.” 雅思官方练习测试，由官方评分员批改，给出的是「参考总分」与各单项「参考分数」，并明确说明这不是官方成绩单，不能用于院校申请或签证。

Not a band
不是分数

A teacher reading your work → criteria feedback

Useful, often the most useful thing you will get all month — but IDP's guidance is that it should be expressed as features of the criteria your work matches, not as a number. A teacher who hands you “6.5” has given you the least informative part of their own judgement. 这类反馈很有价值，往往是你一个月里最有用的东西 —— 但按 IDP 的建议，它应当表述为「你的表现符合标准中的哪些特征」，而不是一个数字。给你「6.5」的老师，恰恰给了你他判断中信息量最低的部分。

Sources. IDP — IELTS Progress Check · ielts.org — Getting and sharing your results. The quoted phrases above are reproduced from those pages, not paraphrased.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。

The real difference 真正的差别

It isn't a secret document. It's calibration.差别不在于有没有秘密文件，而在于校准。

A common belief is that examiners hold a hidden, more detailed version of the descriptors. That is no longer where the difference sits.很多人以为考官手里有一份更详细的、不公开的评分标准。差别其实已经不在那里了。

The descriptors themselves are published 评分标准本身是公开的	IELTS publishes the Writing band descriptors (updated May 2023) and the Speaking band descriptors on ielts.org, covering every band across all four criteria, with the examiner's own rating notes attached — for example, that a script must fully fit the positive features of a level, and that bolded text marks negative features which limit a rating. IDP still refers to them as the “public Band Descriptors”, so treat the published set as what is publicly available rather than as everything an examiner is trained on. 写作（2023 年 5 月更新）与口语的评分标准都公布在 ielts.org 上，涵盖各等级的四项标准，并附有考官评分说明。IDP 仍称其为「公开版评分标准」，因此把它理解为「公开可得的部分」，而不是考官所受训练的全部。
What a certified examiner has that a reader of the descriptors does not 认证考官与「读过标准的人」的差别	Recruitment by a test centre; a degree and a TEFL/TESOL qualification and around three years of teaching; approval by a qualified examiner trainer; a certification set to prove they can apply the criteria accurately; monitoring at least three times in the first year; and re-standardisation and re-certification every two years on Cambridge-produced materials. Reading a rubric is not the same as being calibrated against it and re-checked. 由考点招募；学位、教学资格与约三年教学经验；由认证考官培训师批准；通过认证评分测试；第一年至少三次监测；每两年在剑桥出品的材料上重新标准化并重新认证。读懂标准，与被反复校准，是两回事。
Where that leaves a former examiner 前考官怎么算	Honestly: in between, and no official source addresses it. Someone who has been trained, certified and standardised has internal knowledge and calibration experience that a teacher who has never examined simply does not have — that is real and it matters. What lapses over time is currency: the two-year re-standardisation cycle exists because judgement drifts without it. So a former examiner's reading is well-informed and still not an official score. I searched the IELTS, British Council and IDP sites for any statement about former examiners marking commercially and found none in either direction; I am telling you that rather than filling the gap with an opinion dressed as policy. 老实说：介于两者之间，且没有任何官方说法。受过训练、认证并标准化的人，确实掌握没有做过考官的老师所不具备的内部知识与校准经验 —— 这一点真实且重要。会随时间流失的是「时效」：每两年重新标准化的制度之所以存在，正是因为判断会漂移。所以前考官的判断很有依据，但仍然不是官方分数。我查遍了雅思、英国文化教育协会与 IDP 的官网，关于前考官商业批改一事，两个方向都没有任何说明。

Sources. ielts.org — Become an IELTS examiner · IDP — Examiner recruitment and training · ielts.org — Writing band descriptors (PDF). Band descriptor wording is paraphrased throughout this site and never reproduced.

The permitted half 被允许的那一半

A number tells you nothing you can act on.一个数字，给不了你任何可执行的东西。

The second half of IDP's sentence is the useful half, and it describes better feedback than a band score ever could.IDP 那句话的后半段才是有用的部分 —— 它描述的反馈，比任何分数都更有价值。

What you often get · 你常拿到的

“Your writing is about 6.5. Work on vocabulary.” 「你的写作大概 6.5，词汇再加强一下。」

What the criteria allow · 标准允许的

“Task Response is your weakest criterion here. You answered one half of a two-part question, and your position changes between paragraph two and paragraph four. Fix the position first — that is one decision, made before you write.” 「这里最弱的是任务回应。两问的题你只答了一问，而且第二段和第四段的立场不一致。先把立场定下来 —— 这是动笔前的一个决定。」

Which criterion, not which number 问哪一项，不是问几分	Writing and Speaking are each marked on four separate criteria. “6.5” is an average that hides which of the four is dragging you down — and it is almost never all four equally. 写作与口语各有四项独立标准。「6.5」是一个平均值，掩盖了究竟哪一项在拖后腿 —— 而几乎从来不是四项一样弱。
Which described feature your work matches 符合标准中的哪一条描述	This is the phrase IDP uses, and it is the right one. The descriptors describe behaviours — what a response does, how a speaker manages an answer. A teacher pointing at the behaviour in your own script is giving you something you can change on Tuesday. 这正是 IDP 使用的表述。评分标准描述的是行为 —— 一篇回答做了什么、一个考生如何组织回答。老师指出你稿子里的具体行为，你周二就能改。
One next action 一个下一步	Feedback that ends in a number ends the conversation. Feedback that ends in an instruction starts the work. 以数字结尾的反馈，结束了对话；以指令结尾的反馈，开启了练习。

My own practice, stated plainly. Mock tests booked through this site are conducted and marked by Mike Wattie, a former official IELTS examiner, and what they produce is an assessment against the four criteria plus an indicative band — the same word IELTS uses for its own practice product. It is not an official score and it never will be. What a mock test actually gives you →

Before you pay 付费之前

Five questions worth asking.值得问的五个问题。

Nobody honest will mind being asked any of these.诚实的人，不会介意你问这些。

Am I getting a band score, or an assessment against the criteria?我拿到的是一个分数，还是按评分标准做的评估？

A confident, specific answer either way is fine. What should worry you is a seller who has never thought about the difference.

Who marks it, and when were they last standardised?谁批改？他们最近一次接受标准化培训是什么时候？

Serving examiners re-standardise every two years. Anyone marking commercially should be able to say something concrete about their own training — a name, a course, a date.

Will I get all four criteria separately, or one number?我会拿到四项标准的分别反馈，还是只有一个数字？

One number for Writing or Speaking is an average of four judgements. Ask for the four.

What exactly should I do differently next time?下一次我具体该怎么改？

If the answer is “improve your vocabulary” or “practise more”, you have paid for a number, not for teaching.

Are you promising me a result?你是在向我承诺分数吗？

Nobody can control what happens in your test. A promised score is the one answer that should end the conversation. The brief on score guarantees →

No band score is promised anywhere on this site, in any document, and none of these questions is a criticism of any particular teacher or school. They are simply the questions that separate someone selling you a number from someone teaching you the exam.

How this was compiled 编制方法说明

What is quoted, what is inference, what is opinion.哪些是引用，哪些是推论，哪些是观点。

Method note · 说明

Quoted	The IDP FAQ sentence, the Progress Check wording, the Test Report Form wording and the examiner recruitment requirements are quoted from the official pages linked in each section, not paraphrased.
Attributed precisely	The guidance about teachers is IDP's, published by IDP. It is not a joint statement issued by all three IELTS partners, and this page does not present it as one.
The counter-example, disclosed	The British Council's own Teach IELTS pages take a lighter line, listing uses of the criteria that include helping a teacher mark a learner's written answers. The two organisations word this differently and I would rather show you both than quote only the one that suits my argument. British Council — How IELTS is assessed →
Inference, labelled	“Only a certified examiner may award a band score” is a reasonable inference from how the system is described — it is not a sentence anyone official has published, and this page does not claim it is. What is published is that teachers should not, and that even official markers produce only an indicative result.
Not found, stated as not found	No official source I could locate addresses former examiners marking work commercially, in either direction. The absence is reported as an absence.
Opinion	That a criterion-level explanation is more useful than a number, and that a promised score should end a conversation, are my views from teaching in Beijing. Neither is a measured finding.
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. IDP — IELTS Teacher Training Program · IDP — IELTS Progress Check · ielts.org — Become an IELTS examiner · ielts.org — Your results · British Council — How IELTS is assessed. Official pages change. If a source has changed since publication, the source wins — please tell me.

Take it further 继续深入

Learn to read your own work against the criteria.学会用评分标准读自己的作品。

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	Printable A4 with the IDP quote in full, the three tiers and the five questions. Useful to read before you book anything.
“Guaranteed Band 7” 分数承诺	The companion brief: how score guarantees usually work once you read the conditions, and what no teacher controls.
Who is teaching you? 谁在教你	What to check about a teacher's actual qualifications, and what the common claims really mean.
Marked model answers 批改范文	Answers annotated criterion by criterion, so you can see what a described feature looks like in a real script.
How many right is a Band 7? 原始分对照表	For Listening and Reading there is a published conversion — and it stops at Band 8. The two papers this page does not apply to.
Examiner-style mock tests 模考与批改	A per-criterion breakdown and an indicative band, marked by a former official examiner. What it is, and what it is not.

The honest summary: your teacher's judgement is worth a great deal, and it is worth more when it is expressed as criteria rather than as a number. The only band score that counts is the one on a Test Report Form. Browse the series →