Is IELTS 8.5 equal to CEFR level C2?

IELTS 8.5 falls in the C2 band of the IELTS partners' published CEFR alignment. CEFR levels are wide, so a whole range of IELTS scores shares the same level.

Where do these numbers come from?

From the test owner's published concordance: IELTS: IELTS and the CEFR. Nothing on this page is interpolated between rows.

IELTS 8.5 to CEFR

IELTS 8.5 sits at CEFR C2, on the IELTS partners' own alignment. IELTS calls that alignment approximate, and puts band 8 on the C1 to C2 border and band 5 on the B1 to B2 border.

IELTS 8.5C2

I have

I want it in

IELTS 8.5 is

C2

CEFR level

Open this conversion on its own page

Same score, other tests

What IELTS 8.5 is worth elsewhere

PTE Academic

86 to 89

TOEFL iBT

115 to 117

The full chart

IELTS to CEFR conversion chart

Every published row, both ways. Each row links to a page for that score.

IELTS Academic	CEFR	Page
8.5 to 9.0	C2	Details
7.0 to 8.0	C1	Details
5.5 to 6.5	B2	Details
4.0 to 5.0	B1	Details

Where these numbers come from

IELTS: IELTS and the CEFR

Scores either side

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Questions people ask about IELTS 8.5 to CEFR.

IELTS AcademicCEFRPublished concordance

A concordance is a statistical equivalence between two tests, not a guarantee that anyone accepts a converted score. Universities and visa streams name the test they accept and the score they want on it.

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