Skip to content

Disappointed with your IELTS Result?

If you are disappointed with your IELTS result, you have 2 options:

1. Take the IELTS test again or
2. Ask for re-marking.

Many people were asking me about option # 2 and here is an explanation of what’s involved.

If you believe that you deserve a better score than you were awarded, you can ask for re-marking of your results. You can ask to re-mark the whole test or any part of it (Listening, Reading, Writing, or Speaking). Of course there is a fee, which is roughly a half of the normal IELTS test fee. If your result is changed to a higher score, the fee is refunded.

If you decided to go for remarking, here is what you need to do. Within 6 weeks of your test date, get a form called “IELTS Enquiry on Results Form” from your test center, fill in your name, address, the tests you want to have remarked, sign and date it. Pay the fee and expect your answer back within 6 weeks from the day they receive it at Cambridge.

Here is what happens next: your test paper, your writing or your tape recorded during the Speaking test will be re-marked by a different examiner – not the one in your local test center, but by a trained clerical marker (for Reading and Listening answers) or a Cambridge ESOL-appointed Examiner, employed by the British Council or IDP.

In my opinion, unless you are very sure they’ve misread your answers, in the Reading and Listening there isn’t much of a chance to get a higher score. On the other hand, in the Writing and Speaking your chances are much better, because the score does depend on who marks the work, to some extent.

Let me tell you a true story of A from Romania. She took the IELTS test and was very confident and positive about her results, however… the results arrived and she got only 6.5 in Speaking. A immediately appealed, because she was confident that she deserved more (and her scores in the other sections were also much higher, Bands 8 – 7.5).

Later on she got really pessimistic, after talking to people who assured her that IELTS folks will never give her a higher score because of some kind of conspiracy, that by giving her a higher score, IELTS organization will admit to their guilt and they are never going to do that.

Two month later, a very happy A wrote me a letter about her score being raised from 6.5 to 7 and her money was refunded. Apparently the examiner at Cambridge disagreed with the local Romanian examiner and thought A was a Band 7 candidate.

No related posts.

241 thoughts on “Disappointed with your IELTS Result?”

  1. shaveta

    Hlo sir…i got overall 6bands
    L6
    R5.5
    W6
    S5.5
    Can i apply for speaking revaluvation…for increasing .5band….i need 6band in speaking

  2. Faeza

    Hello mam?

    I scored 7.5 in reading
    7 in listening
    6 in writing
    6 in speaking

    Should i asked for revaluation
    I’m sure i did better in speaking and writing.

  3. Simone Braverman

    Hi Faeza, sorry to hear you’re not happy with your IELTS score. If you believe your writing and speaking were marked unfairly low, and you are happy with your reading and listening, you can ask to remark just the writing and speaking. If your score indeed changes, you will get your payment for remarking refunded.

  4. Anu George

    Hi I am Anu George I got an overall score of 7 but for writing i have scored only 5.5
    But I believe I have done much better for writing . Can I submit for a revaluation for writing ?

  5. harsh

    hii mam,
    I fill re evaluation of speaking about 26 days ago but i do not get result of my re evaluation so can any one tell me how long time it will take

  6. Simone Braverman

    Hi Harsh, the IELTS website says if you haven’t received the results of re-evaluation after 28 days, contact the test centre – so in two days if you don’t hear from them, you should give them a call.

  7. Amandeep kaur

    Do you recommend me to re-check my band scores , because I really want to increase my score in speaking and writing from 5.5 to 6 band that i deserved… What would you like to advise me ????

  9. Simone Braverman

    Hi Amneet, Listening is a section where your score is not very likely to change following a re-evaluation. This is because there is a list of acceptable answers and your answers are compared to these, if there is a match you get a point, if there is no full match – you don’t. There is no room for judgement, and so even if another marker checks your answers again, the outcome is unlikely to change. In Writing and Speaking, where the examiner’s judgement can change depending on the person assessing you, re-evaluation can help you increase your score.

  10. kamaljeet

    hello mam i got 6.5 in listening and speaking and 6 in reading bt 5.5 in writing .. should i fill re-evaluation ?????can they increase my score ?????

  11. Simone Braverman

    Hello Kamaljeet, if you feel you deserve a better score, because you’ve done a better job than band 5.5, then yes you can apply for re-evaluation and there is a chance your score will go up. If it does, you will get a refund for the re-evaluation fee you will pay.

  12. simranpal

    Hello, I l’d like your recommendation on revaluation of Writing test. I scored L-9, R-8.5, S-7 and W – 6.5. I require 7 in writing. Should I apply for revaluation. I thing my writing might not be that good but not as bad either for a 6.5.

  13. Simone Braverman

    Hi Simran, looking at your other scores there is a chance your writing is better than 6.5, because the gap seems to be quite big. If you apply for remarking and they do change your score, the remarking fee will be refunded. Make sure though to only ask to remark the writing, excluding the other sub-tests.

  14. Lovepreet Kaur

    Hlo mam I got
    6.5 writing
    6 Speaking
    6 reading
    5.5 listening
    But my requirement is not less than 6 can I apply for listening revolution
    Lovepreet Kaur

  15. Raghu

    Hello, I have given IELTS on 12oct my results were LRWS – 8.5, 8,6,6.5,i went for revaluation for writing and speaking and my new score is LRWS – 8.5,8,7,6.5. I am pretty confident that my speaking score is not properly reviewed. Can I go again for revaluation??

  16. Simone Braverman

    Listening is clerically marked and they have a list of acceptable answers, there is no room for judgement unlike in writing or speaking. This is why your listening score isn’t likely to change when a different marker checks your answers against the correct ones. You can ask for re-evaluation, however the chance of change in score isn’t great.

  17. TJ

    Dear Concerned

    I appeared for IELTS Acdemic computer-delivered recently. My scores are: L8.5/R8.5/S8.5/W6.5.

    This is disappointing and doesn’t feel right. What do you think are my chances of getting a 0.5 increase in Writing? For my license, I need a 7.

    Thanks in advance
    TJ

  19. Simone Braverman

    Hi Angie, the gap between your listening/reading and writing/speaking is quite big, if that’s what you mean. Do you believe you deserve a higher score than 6.5 in writing and reading? Then you can consider applying for re-evaluation.

  20. Shah Chintan

    I got L-8,R-6.5,W-6.5,S-6.5

    I am very confident about scoring 7 band for all the remaining 3 module including Reading also… Should i go for revaluation..?

  22. GK

    Hi
    I’ve got
    L-9
    R-8,5
    S-7,5
    W-6
    Do you think there is any chance to get 7 if I ask for te evaluation? I am pretty sure I wrote a good one.

  23. Simone Braverman

    Hi GK, it’s impossible to say whether or not your writing is worth Band 7 without seeing it. If you feel you really did a lot better than Band 6, you can apply for re-evaluation. Your listening and reading skills are very good.

  24. Simone Braverman

    Hi Gurlal, Listening and Reading are two skills where re-evaluation is not very likely to change your score. They are clerically marked, there is a list of correct answers and if your answers are different, they get 0 marks. Getting another marker to do the same job is likely to produce the same result.

  25. Simone Braverman

    Hi Shah, Reading is a skill where re-evaluation is not very likely to change your score. However if you intend to apply to re-evaluate your writing and speaking you will pay the fee anyway, so you can include Reading in your request (assuming it doesn’t cost any extra).

  26. Marken Mavriqi

    What if I need an EOR for reading part?I am convinced that I gained more points. I see that my results (overall) is the same as before( My past exam) just some repainting of positions ..more points where I was less and less point where I was more . My past :
    S:6.5
    R:4.5
    W:5.5
    L:5.5
    My current results:
    S:6
    R:6
    W:5.5
    L:5.5

    COULD BC made a point balancing just to give illusion that ” Try Again?

  27. Simone Braverman

    Hi Marken, you can ask to remark your reading test. The score isn’t very likely to change though because your answers are compared against a list of correct ones, and if there is a difference, you won’t get a point for the different answer.

  29. Mahmood Ahmed

    I appeared in ielts recently. When I entered in examiner room for speaking session. As she started after half minute she examiner became sick and started vomiting. She discontinued the the test and sent me out. After 5 minutes she called me again and stated again. During this situation i became nervous. She was not mentally stable. Then yesterday i got score which was band 6 previously i i scored 7. What to do. Need help in this regard.

  30. Simone Braverman

    Hello Mahmood, I’m not sure what you can do at this stage except for applying for re-evaluation. If you made a complaint on the exam day it could have helped, but after receiving your score I don’t think you can do that. It is best to ring the test centre and ask.

  31. Rahul Narayan

    Hi mam,

    I too got somewhat similar to your score

    Listening 8, rest 3 same as yours.

    Did you apply for a remark?What is the result??please let me know.I am also planning to apply for Speaking and Writing

  32. EL

    Hi. I actually just got my results today.
    L-6.0
    R-6.0
    W-6.5
    S-6.5
    I only need to have a score of 7 in speaking. Do you think it is wise to re-evaluate?

  33. Simone Braverman

    It would be very difficult to tell you the chances your score may go up without hearing you speak. I can just say that if you ask to re-evaluate your Speaking only, your other scores won’t change as a result, and that your Speaking score can either go up, go down, or stay the same. In case they change your score the re-evaluation fee will be refunded. Waiting for the result of re-evaluation takes longer than waiting for a normal IELTS result. I hope this information helps you make the right decision for you.

  34. Sonu Agarwal

    Hi I got a score of listening 8, speaking 7, writing 7.5 and reading 6.5. I was very confident of getting a 8 even in reading and I feel it’s a mistake. I want to reapply only for reading as it’s hitting my score. Do you suggest I should go for reevaluate

  35. Simone Braverman

    Hi Sonu, re-evaluation of your reading test is not very likely to change the score, as there is a set of correct answers. There is no room for judgement, meaning the score is not going to change because another marker may consider an answer correct, whereas the previous marked did not. The two markers will be checking your reading answers against the same set of correct answers.

  36. Jasmeet Singh

    I appeared for IELTS GT on 1st Feb, 2020. On 14th I got my results LRWS- 8.5,8.5,6.5,7

    I am not satisfied with my writing score. Should I go for revaluation?

  37. Simone Braverman

    Hi Jasmeet, there is a large gap between your other scores and writing, it could mean you deserve a better score. You can ask to re-evaluate just writing, that will leave your other scores untouched.

  39. Manu Bhullar

    I got my result today. L-7,R-7,W-6.5,S-6.5.
    I need 7 in all modules . Should I go for Re-evaluation?

  40. Mrs Maqsood

    Hi sir..should i go for remarking of speaking exam i got 6.5 and i want 7.in other modules i got 7.5 in writing and reading and 8.5 in listening. I am scared that after remarking i will loose score. Is it possible?

  42. Shweta Singh

    Today i got my result : L-7.5, R-6.5,W-7,S-8.5 . I was confident of achieving better in reading and listening as in my last attempt i got L-7.5 & R – 8.5. Please suggest if i go for re-evaluation.

  43. Simone Braverman

    Hi Shweta, sorry to hear about your score. Listening and Reading are clerically marked, there isn’t much room for judgement, so your score in these two sub-tests isn’t likely to change after re-evaluation. If your answers did not match the correct ones, they will be marked as wrong in re-evaluation as well.

  44. Gyxs

    Good day…I just receive my ielts score…L-8.5, R-7, W/S- both 6…I just like to ask if it is helpful to request for a remark for my wrtiting and speaking..since Im confident that I did far better in these two areas.

  45. Simone Braverman

    Hi Gyxs, you can ask to re-evaluate only the writing and speaking, so that the other scores will remain safe. Your test will be sent to a senior examiner who won’t know the scores you were awarded, and the outcome can be a higher score, a lower score or no change in the score. If your score changes, the re-evaluation fee will be refunded to you.

  46. Bhavya

    Hello,
    I got L-6.5, R-6, S-7, W-5.5.
    Do you think I should go for reevaluation for writing to get 6 band as I wrote pretty well?

  47. Simone Braverman

    There is a chance it could go up. If you are happy with your other scores, you can ask to re-evaluate only writing. The senior examiner grading it won’t know your original score and will produce an independent evaluation and a new score.

  50. Srilekha

    Hi. I scored 8 in ielts
    L:9, R:8.5, S:7.5, W:6.5

    Should I request for a re-evaluarion for the writing section. As I need to score atleast a 7 in it. Please suggest what to do. I am confused.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *