What is 39 out of 40 in IELTS Listening?
Quick answer
IELTS.org's last published Listening point is 35 marks for band 8, and it lists no mark for band 9, so 39 or 40 out of 40 has no official point to sit on. The indicative table the site's band calculator uses reads this row as band 9.0, the top of the scale. That reading is an estimate.
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Part of The IELTS test, answered
A full or near-full paper is the end of the table, and the end of what IELTS.org publishes is a few marks earlier.
What IELTS.org says, and what it does not
On its scoring page IELTS.org lists the average Listening marks for four bands: 16, 23, 30 and 35, for bands 5, 6, 7 and 8. It states that Listening has 40 one-mark questions and that totals are converted to the nine-band scale in whole and half bands. For band 9 it gives no number. So a candidate on 39 or 40 can compare the score with the band 8 point and no further.
The indicative 9.0
The indicative table behind the site’s band score calculator reads 39 and 40 as 9.0. This is an estimate that completes the scale, not an IELTS.org conversion. IELTS.org’s caution covers the whole table: “The precise number of marks needed to achieve these band scores will vary slightly from test version to test version.” What the top band describes in general terms is in what level is IELTS 9.0.
In the overall band
A 9.0 in Listening is a quarter of the overall, which is the average of four section bands rounded to the nearest half band, as how the overall IELTS score is calculated sets out. It can raise the average but cannot lift a weak section by itself. There is no row above this one, so the only direction left is to repeat the result.
Practice
If you reach this row in a mock, the useful step is to check the other three skills, not to chase one more mark. The site’s Listening practice test is marked in the browser with an indicative band from the same table. The conversion is one for both versions of the test, as how the IELTS Listening score is calculated states.
What a full score does and does not show
A 40 means every answer was right on that paper, and it says nothing about the next one, since test versions differ. Treat it as strong evidence of Listening readiness rather than a promise of a 9.0 on the day.
What this means for your score
A candidate answers all 40 questions correctly. IELTS.org lists only 35 marks for band 8 and nothing above it, so no published figure says what a full score converts to. The indicative row, 39 to 40, reads 9.0, which is the figure the site's calculator shows. A candidate on 39 is in that row too, with a single answer wrong.
Frequently asked questions
Is 39 out of 40 a good Listening score?
It reads as 9.0 on the indicative table, which is the top of the nine-band scale. Whether it matters depends on the band you need, since most requirements are set lower.
Which table is the official one?
Only IELTS.org's four average points are official: 16, 23, 30 and 35 marks for bands 5 to 8. It says they vary slightly between test versions and publishes nothing for band 9. The 9.0 on this page is an estimate and not IELTS.org's figure.
How many marks for the next band?
There is no band above 9.0, so there is no next row. On the indicative table, 38 marks reads 8.5 and 39 reads 9.0. IELTS.org gives no mark for either, so neither step has a published figure.
Is Listening the same for Academic and General Training?
Yes. One Listening test and one conversion serve both versions, as the site's Listening score answer says. Reading is the only section that converts separately.
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