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Test taker performance 2019

Band score information      

IELTS is assessed on a 9-band scale and reports scores both overall and by individual skill. Overall band scores for Academic and General Training test takers in 2019 are shown here, together with scores for individual skills according to a variety of classifications. These figures are broadly in line with statistics for previous years.

Note: For nationality and first language, the tables show the top 40 nationalities and languages, listed alphabetically, not in order of the size of the candidature.

Academic and General Training test takers

Module Split

Module Percentage
 Academic  77% 
 General Training  23%

Gender Split

Gender Percentage
 Female  53%
 Male  47%

The below figures show the mean overall and individual band scores achieved by 2019 Academic and General Training test takers according to their gender.

Academic mean performance by gender

Gender Reading Writing Listening Speaking Overall

 Female

  6.196047488  5.705532967  6.295115953  5.965855851  6.104391339
 Male  6.099626783  5.620533929  6.280894583  5.899781944  6.039049381

General Training mean performance by gender

Gender Reading Writing Listening Speaking Overall
Female  6.416614176  6.211267284  6.89925938 6.737732523 6.629020583 
 Male  6.408332525  6.102978288 6.833832229 6.67119875 6.567077205 

Nationality

These figures show the mean overall and individual band scores achieved by 2019 Academic and General Training test takers from the top 40 nationalities.

Academic mean performance by nationality

Nationality Reading band score Listening band score Writing band score Speaking band score Overall
 Bangladesh 6.0 6.4 5.7 6.3 6.2
 Brazil 7.0 6.8 5.9 6.7 6.7
 Cambodia 5.6 5.9 5.5 5.8 5.8
 Canada  6.9 7.2 6.1 7.2 6.9
 China  6.2 5.9 5.5 5.4 5.8
 Colombia 6.8 6.5 5.8 6.5 6.5
 Egypt 6.4 6.8 5.8 6.5 6.4
 France 7.1 7.0 5.9 6.6 6.7
 Germany 7.7 7.9 6.3 7.4 7.4
 Greece 7.3 7.5 6.1 6.8 7.0
 Hong Kong. SAR of China 6.9 7.1 6.0 6.3 6.6
 India  5.9 6.5 5.8 6.0 6.1
 Indonesia 6.7 6.8 5.8 6.3 6.5
 Iran 6.1 6.4 5.8 6.4 6.2
 Iraq 5.4 5.5 5.2 5.8 5.6
Italy 7.3 7.0 5.9 6.6 6.8
Japan 6.1 5.9 5.5 5.5 5.8
 Jordan 6.1 6.4 5.6 6.5 6.2
 Kazakhstan 6.3 6.3 5.6 6.0 6.1
 Korea, Republic of 6.3 6.3 5.6 5.8 6.0
 Kuwait 5.2 5.6 5.1 5.9 5.5
 Malaysia 7.1 7.4 6.1 6.8 6.9
 Mexico 6.7 6.6 5.8 6.5 6.5
 Nepal 5.8 6.3 5.6 5.8 5.9
 Nigeria 6.5 7.0 6.2 7.2 6.8
 Oman 5.0 5.1 5.1 5.5 5.2
 Pakistan 6.1 6.6 5.8 6.4 6.3
 Philippines 6.8 7.3 6.1 6.8 6.8
 Qatar 5.1 5.6 5.0 5.8 5.4
 Russian Federation 6.9 7.0 6.0 6.7 6.7
 Saudi Arabia 5.2 5.4 5.0 5.8 5.4
 Spain 7.3 7.2 6.0 6.8 6.9
 Sri Lanka 6.2 6.6 5.8 6.5 6.3
 Taiwan, China 6.3 6.3 5.6 6.0 6.1
 Thailand 6.1 6.4 5.5 5.9 6.0
 Turkey 6.5 6.6 5.7 6.2 6.3
 Ukraine 6.6 6.7 5.8 6.5 6.5
 United Arab Emirates 4.8 5.0 4.7 5.4 5.1
 Uzbekistan 5.6 5.9 5.4 5.7 5.7
 Vietnam 6.3 6.2 5.7 5.7 6.1

General Training mean performance by nationality

Nationality Reading band score Listening band score Writing band score Speaking band score Overall
Argentina 6.6 6.6 6.0 6.3 6.5
Bangladesh 6.3 6.8 6.1 6.7 6.5
Brazil 6.8 6.9 6.1 6.8 6.7
Cameroon 5.4 5.8 5.9 6.5 5.9
Canada 6.6 7.1 6.2 7.0 6.8
China 6.3 6.3 5.8 5.9 6.2
Colombia 6.2 6.3 5.8 6.4 6.2
Egypt 6.5 6.9 6.0 6.7 6.6
France 6.9 7.1 6.1 6.9 6.8
Ghana 6.2 6.8 6.4 7.3 6.7
Hong Kong. SAR of China 6.8 6.9 6.1 6.4 6.6
India 6.5 7.1 6.3 6.7 6.7
Indonesia 5.8 6.1 5.7 6.0 6.0
Iran 6.3 6.7 6.1 6.6 6.5
Italy 6.3 6.4 5.8 6.4 6.3
Jamaica 6.7 7.2 6.7 8.0 7.2
Japan 5.6 6.0 5.6 5.8 5.8
Jordan 6.1 6.5 5.8 6.6 6.3
Kenya 6.6 7.6 6.5 7.4 6.9
Korea, Republic of 5.7 6.0 5.6 5.6 5.8
Lebanon 6.6 7.1 6.2 6.9 6.8
Malaysia 6.9 7.2 6.3 6.9 6.9
Mexico 6.5 6.6 6.0 6.6 6.5
Morocco 5.9 6.2 5.7 6.5 6.1
Nepal 5.9 6.6 6.0 6.3 6.3
Nigeria 6.4 7.0 6.5 7.3 6.9
Pakistan 6.5 7.0 6.2 6.9 6.7
Philippines 5.7 6.3 5.8 6.3 6.1
Russian Federation 7.0 7.0 6.2 6.7 6.8
Saudi Arabia
 4.4 5.1 4.8 5.5 5.0
South Africa 7.2 7.6 6.5 8.2 7.4
Spain 6.7 6.6 6.0 6.5 6.5
Sri Lanka 6.4 6.9 6.0 6.8 6.6
Taiwan, China 5.9 6.2 5.7 6.1 6.0
Thailand 4.8 5.4 5.2 5.4 5.3
Turkey 6.1 6.3 5.8 6.2 6.2
Ukraine 6.2 6.4 5.8 6.3 6.2
United States of America 7.3 7.6 7.0 7.9 7.5
Vietnam 6.1 6.2 5.9 5.9 6.1
Zimbabwe 7.0 7.3 6.6 7.7 7.2

First Language

These figures show the mean overall and individual band scores achieved by 2019 Academic and General Training test takers from the top 40 first language backgrounds.

* First language as self-chosen by test takers drawn from a wide range of nationalities

Academic mean performance by first language

First Language Reading band score Listening band score Writing band score Speaking band score Overall
 Arabic  5.4 5.7 5.2 5.9 5.6
 Azeri 6.3 6.6 5.8 6.4 6.3
 Bengali 6.1 6.5 5.8 6.4 6.2
 Chinese  6.2 6.0 5.5 5.5 5.9
 English  6.7 7.2 6.2 7.1 6.9
 Farsi  6.1 6.4 5.8 6.5 6.3
 Filipino  6.8 7.4 6.1 6.8 6.8
 French  6.9 6.9 5.9 6.6 6.7
 German  7.7 7.9 6.3 7.4 7.4
 Greek  7.2 7.4 6.1 6.8 6.9
 Gujarati 5.8 6.4 5.6 5.8  6.0
 Hindi 6.3 6.8 6.0 6.4 6.4
 Ibo/lgbo 6.4 6.8 6.2 7.1 6.7
 Indonesian 6.7 6.7 5.8 6.3 6.4
 Italian 7.4 7.0 5.9 6.6 6.8
 Japanese 6.1 5.9 5.5 5.5 5.8
 Kannada 6.5 7.1 6.2 6.8 6.7
 Kazakh 6.2 6.3 5.6 5.9 6.0
 Khmer  5.6 5.9 5.5 5.8 5.8
 Korean 6.3 6.3 5.6 5.8 6.0
 Malayalam  6.4 6.8 6.1 6.4 6.5
Marathi 6.6 7.2 6.2 6.7 6.7
 Nepali 5.8 6.3 5.6 5.8 5.9
 Other 6.4 6.8 6.1 7.0 6.6
 Portuguese 7.1 6.9 5.9 6.8 6.7
 Punjabi 5.6 6.1 5.7 5.7 5.8
 Romanian 7.0 7.2 6.0 6.9 6.9
 Russian 6.7 6.8 5.9 6.5 6.5
 Singhalese 6.2 6.6 5.8 6.5 6.3
 Spanish 6.9 6.7 5.9 6.6 6.6
 Tagalog  6.6 7.2 6.0 6.8 6.7
 Tamil 6.5 7.0 6.0 6.6 6.6
 Telugu 6.0 6.5 5.8 6.2 6.2
 Thai 6.1 6.4 5.5 6.5 6.0
 Turkish 6.5 6.6 5.7 6.2 6.3
 Ukrainian 6.6 6.7 5.8 6.5 6.5
 Urdu 6.2 6.7 5.8 6.5 6.3
 Uzbek  5.6 5.8 5.4 5.6 5.7
 Vietnamese 6.3 6.2 5.7 5.7 6.1
 Yoruba 6.6 7.0 6.2 7.2 6.8

General Training mean performance by first language

First Language Reading band score Listening band score Writing band score Speaking band score Overall
Afrikaans 7.0 7.4 6.3 7.9 7.2
Albanian 5.9 6.3 5.8 6.6 6.2
Arabic 6.0 6.4 5.7 6.5 6.2
Bengali 6.5 6.9 6.2 6.8 6.7
Chinese 6.3 6.4 5.9 6.0 6.2
English 6.8 7.3 6.5 7.4 7.1
Farsi 6.3 6.7 6.1 6.6 6.5
Filipino 5.9 6.5 5.9 6.4 6.2
French 6.1 6.3 5.9 6.5 6.3
German 7.1 7.3 6.3 7.4 7.1
Gujarati 6.2 6.8 6.0 6.3 6.4
Hindi 6.7 7.3 6.4 6.9 6.9
Ibo/lgbo 6.3 6.8 6.4 7.3 6.8
Indonesian 5.8 6.1 5.7 6.0 6.0
Italian 6.3 6.5 5.8 6.5 6.3
Japanese 5.6 6.0 5.6 5.8 5.8
Kannada

6.6

 7.1

6.4

 7.0 6.8
Korean 5.7 6.0 5.6 5.6 5.8
Malayalam 6.5 7.0 6.3 6.7 6.7
Marathi 6.8 7.3 6.5 7.0 7.0
Nepali 5.9 6.6 6.0 6.4 6.3
Other 6.2 6.8 6.3 7.1 6.7
Polish 6.7 6.9 6.0 6.8 6.7
Portuguese
 6.8 6.9 6.1 6.8 6.7
Punjabi
 6.1 6.8 6.0 6.3 6.3
Russian
 6.8 6.9 6.1 6.6 6.7
Shona 7.0 7.3 6.6 7.6 7.2
Sindhi
 6.6 7.2 6.3 7.0 6.9
Singhalese 6.4 6.8 6.0 6.7 6.6
Spanish 6.5 6.5 6.0 6.5 6.4
Swahili 6.4 6.9 6.4 7.3 6.8
Tagalog 5.4 6.1 5.7 6.1 5.9
Tamil 6.5 7.0 6.2 6.7 6.7
Telugu 6.4 7.0 6.3 6.8 6.7
Thai 4.8 5.4 5.2 5.4 5.3
Turkish 6.1 6.3 5.8 6.2 6.2
Ukrainian 6.1 6.3 5.7 6.2 6.1
Urdu 6.5 7.0 6.2 6.9 6.7
Vietnamese 6.1 6.2 5.9 5.9 6.1
Yoruba 6.4 6.8 6.4 7.2 6.8

* First language as self-chosen by test takers drawn from a wide range of nationalities