Frequently asked questions

Why aren’t Speaking and Writing scores reported using half bands, like Reading and Listening?
In their original design, the ELTS/IELTS Speaking and Writing modules were rated using a holistic 9-band scale. Examiners were trained and standardised to match a candidate’s writing or speaking performance to one of 9 ‘band descriptors’, i.e. described levels of performance. Examiners were not trained to differentiate quality of written/spoken performance within a given band level using half bands. The ability of examiners to differentiate a larger number of performance levels, and to do so reliably, is partly constrained by the nature of the judgement process in assessment.
The introduction of revised, analytical (rather than holistic) scales for Speaking in July 2001 and for Writing in January 2005 would make it possible to report scores on these two modules in terms of half bands (though examiners will continue to rate using whole bands for each of the analytical subscales).
A proposal to report half bands for Speaking and Writing in future is currently under consideration; several internal studies have already been carried out to model the effects of a move to half band reporting and to evaluate the impact on mean band scores for Speaking, for Writing, and for the test overall. The main benefits of changing to half band reporting for Speaking and Writing would be two-fold:
the final Writing or Speaking band score could more sensitively reflect the quality of performance captured through the analytical rating process;
the reporting of half bands for Writing and Speaking (in line with existing practice for Reading and Listening) could be helpful to test users, especially if they use Speaking or Writing profile band scores (as well as the overall band score) for decision-making purposes.
The earliest such an approach could be implemented is January 2007. This takes into account the need to complete ongoing validation and technical studies; it also allows time to prepare the stakeholder community for a change in the way IELTS scores are reported.