Results

When and how they arrive

Results are not given by phone or by e-mail. You see yours on the Test Taker Portal, which you sign in to with the account you created when you booked. Your Test Report Form (TRF) is there too, in electronic form.

Sending your results to organisations

You send your result from the portal directly to organisations. There is no limit on the number of organisations you can send it to electronically. For organisations that ask for a paper Test Report Form, the British Council sends up to five copies free of charge.

How long a result is valid

The British Council states that a result is valid for two years. The IELTS partners recommend that organisations accept a Test Report Form more than two years old only with evidence that the test taker has maintained their English in the meantime. How old a result an organisation will actually accept is for each organisation to decide, so check its requirements.

If you are not happy with your result

• Re-mark (Enquiry on Results). You can request one within six weeks of your test date, for the whole test or for individual parts. There is a fee, which the British Council refunds if your score in any part goes up. The answer arrives in 2 to 21 days. How to apply is described on the British Council’s site.
• Retaking one part. With IELTS One Skill Retake you retake only Listening, Reading, Writing or Speaking, within 60 days.
• Taking the test again. You can book the whole test again whenever you like.

What the scores mean

The IELTS scale, how it compares with the CEFR levels and how the overall band score is calculated are explained on the Band scores page.