Record yourself answering real exam questions, or write a full essay against the clock. You get a band on each of the four official criteria, with the corrections that would raise it.
Turn on the camera to record your answer, or skip it and type instead. Only the sound of your answer is ever uploaded, and only when you stop recording; the video never leaves this browser.
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Every answer is read against the four public IELTS band descriptors, the same ones a human examiner works from. Your overall band is the average of the four, rounded the way IELTS rounds it: a .25 goes up to the next half band, a .75 goes up to the next whole one.
Whether you keep going without unnatural pauses, and whether each answer develops an idea instead of circling it. This is where most candidates sitting on band 6 lose the half band.
Range and precision, not long words. Collocation, paraphrase and topic-specific vocabulary, plus how naturally any idiom lands.
Whether complex sentences appear at all, and how often errors interrupt meaning. Articles, tense choice and comma splices are the usual culprits.
In writing, whether you actually answered the question asked and supported a clear position. In speaking, the tool estimates pronunciation from your pace and hesitation, because it reads a transcript rather than listening to you. Every report says so on the criterion itself.
| Band | Descriptor | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Expert | Full command. Accurate, appropriate and fluent throughout. |
| 8 | Very good | Occasional unsystematic slips. Handles complex argument well. |
| 7 | Good | Operational command with occasional inaccuracies and misunderstandings. |
| 6 | Competent | Generally effective, with some inaccuracies and misunderstandings. |
| 5 | Modest | Partial command. Copes with overall meaning in most situations. |
| 4 | Limited | Basic competence limited to familiar situations. |
Half bands sit between these, and the tool uses them. Many UK universities ask for an overall 6.0 to 7.0 with a minimum in each section, but the requirement is set by the course, so always check the course page rather than a general guide.