Importance of IELTS and a Good Score for Getting Admissions - Learn Ideal IELTS Scores

International English Language Testing System or IELTS is collectively managed by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge Assessment English. Its primary purpose is to measure the English language competency of people who wish to work or study in areas where English is used as the dominant means of communication. With an increasing number of people aiming for higher education abroad lately, IELTS has become one of the most popular English language assessment tests taken by study abroad aspirants. It has been reported that a total of 3.5 million tests were taken in the year 2018 alone. 
IELTS is conducted for people seeking educational and job opportunities in English-speaking countries so that their ability to overcome the linguistic gap and undertake communication efficiently in a foreign country can be assessed. Though IELTS is not compulsory in many foreign universities for admissions, students must remember that not having taken IELTS may lessen their chances of getting a student VISA as the officials would not have proof of their competency in English. 
Also, one must note that it is the only English Language Test accepted by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) for visa applicants who apply for universities both outside and within the UK. IELTS scores are accepted in most of the universities in the UK and Australia, most of the universities in Canada and around 3,400 institutions in the US along with thousands of institutions in other English speaking countries.

Foreign Universities at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as professional universities, take into account IELTS scores to examine whether a person is capable of keeping up with the program’s medium of instruction, that is, English. Even many non-English speaking countries require IELTS scores for courses that are taught in English. Universities mainly fix minimum IELTS criteria that applicants need to fulfill in order to be eligible for admissions. Therefore, a student having an ideal IELTS score that is equal to or greater than the minimum criteria will have higher chances of making it to the university over those with an IELTS score lower than the minimum criteria. Even if one’s band score falls short of the minimum criteria by 0.5, one would be denied admissions. Hence, it is important for a student aspiring for admission in the university of his/her choice to check the minimum IELTS score under their admission requirements and aim to secure an IELTS score equal to or higher than the minimum score. From a student’s point of view, preparation for IELTS will help them to improve their English language skills and therefore, ace the selected program in an effective manner. Obtaining a good score will all the more increase the student’s confidence in the sense that he/she will be able to pursue the courses without any linguistic hurdles.   

There are two types of IELTS scores - Overall Band Scores and Sectional Band Scores. Sectional band scores are the scores obtained by a test-taker in per section, and the Overall Band Score is the average of all the sectional band scores. Test-takers are marked from 0 to 9 for both overall and sectional scores. Overall band scores are always rounded off to the next half or whole band. For example, an average of 6.25 will be rounded off to 6.5. For band scores, half results such as 6.5 are possible.
To break it down further, within each test, you will gain a ‘raw score’ which is obtained by converting the number of answers you got right into band scores. The overall score or the “composite” score is the average of your individual IELTS scores and is meant to represent your overall English ability. For example, if you get band scores such as 3.5 in the listening test, 4.5 in reading, 6 in writing and 6.5 in speaking, to get the average, add all these scores and divide it by 4 which will give you 5.125. Upon rounding off, 5.0 becomes your overall IELTS band score.