IELTS Academic · free preparation
Your band score
opens the door.
Find your level in 5 minutes. See exactly what each band opens. Then practise with two free full demo exams, with real listening audio and recorded speaking, and book expert-marked mock exams when you’re ready.
The band scale
What does each band mean, and what does it open?
Tap a band. The descriptions follow the official IELTS scale. What a band opens is typical: every course sets its own requirement, often with a minimum for each skill.
Competent user
Effective command despite some mistakes. Uses and understands fairly complex language, especially in familiar situations.
Typically opensThe most common requirement for a master’s degree.
Step 1 · Free level check
How ready are you? Find out in 5 minutes.
Eight questions. We estimate your IELTS band and tell you how much preparation you need. Nothing is stored.
Overall band calculator
Set your four scores. See your overall band.
Uses the official IELTS rounding rule, so you can see how much each skill counts, and which one to work on.
Average 6.5 → rounded to 6.5
Official rule: the average of the four skills, rounded to the nearest half band. An average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band, and .75 to the next whole band.
The test
Four skills. 2 hours 45 minutes.
4 parts, 40 questions: form and note completion, multiple choice and matching. Each recording plays once.
Professionally voiced recordings with an exam narrator, reading time before each section and time to check, played once in exam mode.
Read the questions before each recording starts, and watch spelling: it is marked.
Your practice path
From your first check to exam-ready.
- 01Level check
Eight questions, 5 minutes. An estimated band and how much preparation you need.
→ - 02Demo 1: learn (free)
The full exam with no time limit, a hint on every question when you ask, and answers as you go.
→ - 03Demo 2: exam conditions (free)
Official timings, audio played once, no hints. Then a report with every answer and its hint.
→ - 04Mock exams 3–10
Eight full mocks in real exam conditions: paid, with expert marking of your writing and speaking.
→ - 05Expert feedback
A qualified examiner marks your writing and speaking against the official criteria, with a band estimate.
→
Examiner marking
Want a real examiner’s view?
After any practice test, send your writing and speaking from the results screen. A qualified examiner marks them against the official criteria, with specific feedback and a band estimate within 3 working days.
We confirm the price by email and send a secure payment link before marking starts.
Band descriptions and the rounding rule follow IELTS: scoring in detail (checked 26 September 2026). Always check the minimum IELTS score with each university and on the official visa pages. All questions are original and written by Luminous. Not affiliated with or endorsed by IELTS (British Council, IDP, Cambridge). Every score is an estimate, not an official result.