Does this converter cover PTE Core?

No. Pearson's concordance study only compares IELTS Academic with PTE Academic. For Canadian immigration programmes that accept PTE Core, use the PTE Core to CLB calculator instead.

Why is there no PTE Speaking or Writing range for IELTS 9.0?

Pearson's July 2025 study simply does not publish one; the Speaking and Writing tables stop at IELTS 8.5. Use the overall or Listening and Reading rows as your best guide near the top of the scale.

Should I aim for the top or bottom of the range?

Aim for the top if you want more margin against a requirement stated in PTE terms. The bottom of the range is still associated with the IELTS band you selected, but it leaves less room for a lower attempt.

Can I use IELTS General Training bands here?

No. This table is built from a study comparing IELTS Academic with PTE Academic. IELTS General Training is a different test and is not part of the concordance.

A university requires IELTS 6.5. What PTE score should I target?

Select overall and IELTS 6.5 to see Pearson's published PTE range for that band, then check whether the university also publishes its own separate PTE requirement, which should take priority if it exists.

IELTS to PTE Score Converter

If you already have an IELTS Academic band, or a requirement quotes one, this converter shows the PTE Academic range Pearson's concordance study lines up against it. Pick the overall reading or a single skill, since Pearson publishes separate ranges for each, then use the range as a practice target rather than a single fixed number.

SkillIELTS band

Equivalent PTE range: 24–30

Official PTE Academic to IELTS Academic score concordance (Pearson, July 2025)
IELTS	PTE Overall	Listening	Reading	Speaking	Writing
4.5	24–30	26–32	29–35	14–23	17–28
5.0	31–38	33–39	36–41	24–38	29–40
5.5	39–46	40–46	42–47	39–53	41–50
6.0	47–54	47–52	48–53	54–65	51–59
6.5	55–62	53–57	54–58	66–75	60–68
7.0	63–70	58–63	59–64	76–82	69–76
7.5	71–78	64–68	65–69	83–87	77–84
8.0	79–85	69–74	70–74	88–89	85–89
8.5	86–89	75–80	75–80	90	90
9.0	90	81–90	81–90	—	—

IELTS 4.5 → PTE IELTS 5.0 → PTE IELTS 5.5 → PTE IELTS 6.0 → PTE IELTS 6.5 → PTE IELTS 7.0 → PTE IELTS 7.5 → PTE IELTS 8.0 → PTE IELTS 8.5 → PTE IELTS 9.0 → PTE

Why the result is a range, not one number

Pearson's July 2025 concordance study reports a band of PTE scores for each IELTS Academic half-band, not a single matching value. This reflects how the two groups of test takers who sat both tests actually scored, rather than a fixed formula converting one scale into the other.

When you enter an IELTS band, the converter returns the full PTE range Pearson published for it. Aiming for the top of that range gives you more headroom against any requirement stated in PTE terms; aiming for the bottom leaves less margin.

How to use the converter

Select overall or a specific skill, then choose the IELTS Academic band you already hold or are targeting. The converter shows the matching PTE range from Pearson's table, with the row highlighted in the full table further down the page.

If you know your target in more than one skill, run the converter once per skill rather than reusing the overall row, since the overall and per-skill ranges do not share the same numbers.

Choose overall, Listening, Reading, Speaking or Writing
Select your IELTS Academic band (4.5 to 9.0)
Read the matched PTE range from the table
Repeat per skill if a requirement lists individual minimums

Converting a requirement that names an IELTS band

Some universities and employers publish an IELTS requirement and accept PTE as an alternative without stating their own PTE cut score. In that situation, this converter gives you a working PTE target range based on Pearson's own study.

Where the same body already publishes a separate PTE requirement, use that published PTE number instead of converting from its IELTS requirement. A body's own PTE threshold, when it exists, takes priority over a concordance-based estimate.

Search the institution's own admissions pages for a PTE-specific number before relying on a converted IELTS figure.

Speaking and Writing near the top of the scale

Pearson's table does not publish a PTE Speaking or Writing range for IELTS Academic 9.0; the published data stops at 8.5 for those two skills. If you are converting a top-band IELTS requirement, treat the Listening and Reading rows as the more reliable guide and check the requirement's own PTE wording for Speaking and Writing where one exists.

At IELTS 8.5 the published Speaking and Writing range is a single score, 90, the top of the PTE scale, so there is no headroom above it; Listening and Reading at 8.5 run 75-80.

This is a study comparison, not a guarantee

A PTE score inside the range this converter shows you is not certified as equivalent to the IELTS band you selected; it reflects where Pearson's study found the two score distributions to overlap.

Use the range to set a practice target, then confirm against your official PTE score report and the receiving body's own published requirement before relying on the result for a real application.

Sources

Establishing score concordance between the enhanced PTE Academic and IELTS Academic - Summary Paper (July 2025) — Pearson