IELTS Listening Raw Score Conversion

39 Out of 40 in IELTS Listening

Scoring 39 marks out of 40 gives an official Band 9.0 (Expert User (Band 9.0)) on the IELTS 9-band scale, corresponding to 97.5% accuracy and CEFR C2.

Band Score
9.0
CEFR Level:C2
Expert User (Band 9.0)

Band 9.0 Performance Description (39 / 40)

Masterful auditory comprehension (Band 8.5 - 9.0). You track rapid academic lectures, effortlessly filter multi-speaker discussions, and immediately detect acoustic qualifiers and speaker corrections.

Recommended Section Accuracy Breakdown for 39/40

To hit 39 marks out of 40 in Listening, aim for this target question distribution:

Section 110 / 10 (100%)Social dialogue & transactional details
Section 210 / 10 (100%)Everyday monologue (maps, guides)
Section 310 / 10 (100%)Academic discussion (2-4 speakers)
Section 49 / 10 (90%)Academic lecture monologue
✓

Strengths at 39/40

  • Flawless tracking of Section 4 rapid monologue lectures
  • Instantaneous recognition of self-corrections (e.g. "I thought it was 15th, but actually...")
  • High spelling accuracy for complex geographical and scientific terminology
!

Audio Pitfalls & Traps

  • Subtle singular vs plural noun endings ("project" vs "projects")
  • Hyphenated compound nouns ("well-being", "part-time")

Actionable Drills to Increase Accuracy

1

Listen to academic podcasts (BBC In Our Time, TED Talks) at 1.25x speed

2

Review past mock test audio transcripts to audit every distractor mechanism

Explore Adjacent Raw Marks

Compare band conversions across neighboring raw scores