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PTE Band Score: IELTS Comparison, Skill Descriptors and Overall Scoring

Content Curator | Updated On - Oct 6, 2026

PTE Academic scores range from 10 to 90. Your report gives an overall result and four separate skill scores. It does not use IELTS-style bands, and the overall result is not calculated by averaging Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing.

Pearson's updated comparison places PTE overall 63–70 alongside IELTS overall 7.0. The comparison for an individual skill is different, which matters when a university asks for both an overall score and minimum scores in each skill.

What Does a PTE Band Score Mean?

PTE Academic reports scores from 10 to 90, rather than IELTS-style bands from 0 to 9. Your result contains an overall score and separate Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing scores.

Part of the result	What it tells you
Overall score	Performance across the whole examination
Four skill scores	Performance in Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing
Skills Profile	More detailed feedback for further practice

The phrase PTE band score usually refers to one of two things: the English level represented by a PTE score, or its approximate comparison with an IELTS band. Those comparisons do not create a second official result.

PTE to IELTS Overall Score Chart

Pearson's July 2025 study compares PTE Academic with IELTS Academic. Use the overall-score table for overall results:

IELTS Academic overall band	PTE Academic overall range
4.5	24–30
5.0	31–38
5.5	39–46
6.0	47–54
6.5	55–62
7.0	63–70
7.5	71–78
8.0	79–85
8.5	86–89
9.0	90

For example, a PTE overall score of 65 falls in the range associated with IELTS 7.0. This is a research-based comparison, not an IELTS certificate or permission to enter 7.0 as an actual IELTS result in an application.

Universities set their own accepted tests and score requirements. Where a course lists a PTE minimum directly, that published PTE requirement takes priority over converting its IELTS requirement yourself.

PTE Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing Comparison

Each skill has its own comparison. The ranges for commonly requested IELTS bands are:

IELTS skill band	PTE Listening	PTE Reading	PTE Speaking	PTE Writing
6.0	47–52	48–53	54–65	51–59
6.5	53–57	54–58	66–75	60–68
7.0	58–63	59–64	76–82	69–76
7.5	64–68	65–69	83–87	77–84
8.0	69–74	70–74	88–89	85–89

An overall comparison must not be reused as a speaking threshold. For instance, IELTS Speaking 7.0 aligns with PTE Speaking 76–82 in this study, whereas IELTS overall 7.0 aligns with PTE overall 63–70.

Why Older PTE Band Charts Show Different Numbers

Pearson updated the PTE–IELTS relationship in July 2025. Older charts may still show thresholds from the 2020 study.

IELTS overall band	2020 PTE threshold	2025 PTE threshold
6.0	46	47
6.5	56	55
7.0	66	63
7.5	76	71
8.0	84	79

The changed table does not recalculate an existing PTE result. A score report remains a PTE result on its own scale; the comparison table explains how scores from two different tests relate.

PTE Score Descriptors and CEFR Levels

Pearson describes broad levels of English ability using the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, or CEFR:

PTE score	Broad CEFR level	English ability
10–29	A1	Basic familiar expressions and simple personal information
30–42	A2	Routine exchanges on familiar everyday needs
43–58	B1	Connected descriptions and explanations on familiar topics
59–75	B2	Detailed discussion, viewpoints and complex main ideas
76–84	C1	Fluent expression and structured discussion of demanding topics
85–90	C2	Precise, fluent communication and synthesis of complex information

These are broad achievement descriptions, not a universal list of eligible courses. A B2 description does not mean that every postgraduate programme accepts that score.

How Is the PTE Overall Score Calculated?

The overall score is not the average of the four skill scores. Pearson uses performance across test questions, including question difficulty and weighting. Some tasks contribute to more than one skill.

If Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing are 60, 65, 70 and 75, their arithmetic mean is 67.5. That calculation alone cannot establish the official overall score.

Questions can use correct-or-incorrect scoring or partial credit. Longer responses are judged against the criteria for that task. A raw number of correct answers therefore cannot be converted into an exact PTE score with a fixed marks table.

A four-input calculator can calculate an average, but it cannot reproduce Pearson's scoring model. Use the overall result shown on the score report.

What PTE Score Do You Need for Admission?

A university may specify both an overall minimum and a minimum in every skill. Meeting one condition does not automatically meet the other.

Illustrative offer	Illustrative result	Outcome
Overall 65; each skill at least 58	Overall 68; Listening 61, Reading 60, Speaking 72, Writing 55	Writing is three points below the stated minimum
Overall 65; each skill at least 58	Overall 65; all four skills 58 or above	Meets these stated score conditions

These are examples, not a named university's requirements. For an actual offer, compare each reported skill with the wording of the course condition. Country-wide score claims such as one passing score for all UK or Australian courses leave out those differences.

How to Use and Share Your Score Report

Your PTE score report is available through myPTE. Send it digitally to the institution from the account; sharing is free, and a downloaded PDF is not a substitute for secure score delivery.

Reports remain available for two years from the test date. An institution or visa route may have its own rule for how recent a result must be.

For a retake, read the Skills Profile alongside the four skill scores. If writing is the unmet condition, review complete essays and summaries rather than only the overall number. The PTE writing practice papers provide exercises for that work.

What do you need right now?

Quick Navigation COMPARE

Overall IELTS comparison
Skill-wise comparison
English skill levels

Overall PTE to IELTS Comparison

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PTE overall	Approximate IELTS overall
47–54	6.0
55–62	6.5
63–70	7.0
71–78	7.5
79–85	8.0
86–89	8.5
90	9.0

Pearson July 2025 concordance; this is not an admission or visa requirement.

Skill Scores for Common IELTS Bands

−

IELTS skill band	Listening	Reading	Speaking	Writing
6.5	53–57	54–58	66–75	60–68
7.0	58–63	59–64	76–82	69–76
8.0	69–74	70–74	88–89	85–89

July 2025 research comparison. Use the column matching the individual skill.

Broad English Skill Levels

Score range	Level	Description
10–29	A1	Basic expressions
30–42	A2	Routine exchanges
43–58	B1	Familiar-topic communication
59–75	B2	Detailed discussion
76–84	C1	Fluent, structured expression
85–90	C2	Precise, complex communication

Compare a Result with an Offer

Offer condition	Compare against
PTE Academic accepted	Exact test name on the report
Overall minimum	Reported overall result
Each-skill minimum	Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing individually
Result recency	Test date and the recipient's permitted period

Illustration: overall 68 does not meet an offer requiring 58 in every skill if Writing is 55.

Read Your PTE Result

Result field	Use
Overall	Compare with the overall requirement
Communicative skills	Check each-skill requirements
Skills Profile	Choose what to practise
Test date	Check result recency

The mean of the skill scores is not the official overall result.

Share Your Result

Step or rule	Details
Access	Sign in to myPTE
Delivery	Select the institution and share the result digitally
Sharing fee	Free
Report availability	Two years from test date

Institutions receive the selected report securely; an emailed PDF does not replace this process.

PTE Band Score FAQs

Band Comparisons

What is 65 in PTE compared with IELTS?+

For an overall PTE Academic result, 65 lies in the 63–70 range aligned with IELTS overall 7.0 in Pearson's July 2025 study. Individual skill scores use separate ranges.

Is 79 PTE the same as IELTS 8 in every skill?+

79 overall falls in the range aligned with IELTS overall 8.0. It does not establish an 8.0 comparison in every skill: the study has different Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing mappings.

Why does an older chart say IELTS 7 needs PTE 66?+

66 was the overall threshold in Pearson's 2020 concordance. The July 2025 study gives 63 as the start of the overall range for IELTS 7.0. An institution may still set a PTE requirement of its own.

Can I enter the converted IELTS band in an application?+

Report the examination you actually took and the result on that report. A concordance table provides a comparison; it does not award an IELTS result.

Does this chart apply to PTE Core?+

No. The table compares PTE Academic and IELTS Academic. PTE Core has its own score relationships and purpose, so the Academic chart should not be used to calculate a Core requirement.

Calculations and Requirements

Is a PTE score of 90 the same as 100% correct?+

90 is the top of the reported proficiency scale, not a percentage of questions answered correctly. Dividing a score by 90 does not produce an official accuracy percentage.

Can a high overall score compensate for low Writing?+

Only if the recipient's rule allows that. An offer that requires a separate Writing minimum still requires that minimum, even when the overall result is higher than requested.

Should I average the four converted IELTS skills?+

That would create another calculated value, not an official IELTS result. Compare PTE overall with the overall table and each PTE skill with its own column.

Does a revised comparison table change my old PTE score?+

No. The updated comparison does not change the number on a previously issued PTE report. The recipient decides which test results, dates and minimums it accepts.

Can I email the PDF result instead of sharing through myPTE?+

Use secure digital score delivery through myPTE for institutional verification. A PDF may be useful for your own records, but it does not replace Pearson's verification route.

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.