Check before you pay
IELTS isn't cheap. Depending on where you take it, it runs roughly $180–$350 — about ₹18,000–19,000 in India, ₦280,000–300,000 in Nigeria, and $250–350 across the Middle East. That's a week or more of wages in many places. Booking it before you're ready is an expensive way to find out you needed another month of practice.
A free 5-minute self-check won't replace the real exam, but it answers the question that actually matters first: am I roughly in range, or not yet? And just as usefully — which of my skills is dragging the rest down?
That check is the free IELTS level test — the same five minutes, reported as an estimated band rather than a CEFR letter.
What band might my level map to?
There is no exact one-to-one map between CEFR levels and IELTS bands — IELTS says so itself — but the rough anchors most institutions use are: B1 ≈ IELTS 4.0–5.0, B2 ≈ 5.5–6.5, C1 ≈ 7.0–8.0, C2 ≈ 8.5–9.0. Treat these as ranges, and always verify the exact band your university, employer, or visa requires.
Most study programs want a 6.0–7.0; UK and Canadian visas have their own minimums. Knowing whether you're sitting around B1, B2, or C1 today tells you how far you have to go — and roughly how long it'll take.
| CEFR | IELTS band | Often required for |
|---|---|---|
| B1 | 4.0–5.0 | Foundation / pathway programs |
| B2 | 5.5–6.5 | Most undergraduate admission; many work visas |
| C1 | 7.0–8.0 | Competitive universities; professional registration |
| C2 | 8.5–9.0 | Rarely required |
Find your weak skill, not just a number
IELTS scores four skills separately, and most people aren't even across all four. It's common to read at a 6.5 level but write at 5.5 — and the writing is what caps your overall band. A single overall guess hides that.
Nivelo's free test gives you a CEFR range and shows where your reading and listening sit. Take it 6–12 weeks before your exam date, while there's still time to fix the weak skill instead of discovering it on test day.
Once you know the weak skill, drill it with the right playbook: our IELTS Reading Band 7 guide and IELTS Listening Band 7 guide cover the official formats, the score tables, and where marks actually leak.
Also useful: how IELTS bands map to CEFR and what level you need for university.