IELTS 5.5 to PTE score

IELTS 5.5 in each PTE skill

The overall range for IELTS 5.5 is 8 PTE scores wide. The widest skill range is Speaking (15 scores) and the narrowest is Reading (6), so a Speaking score has more room to land inside the band than a Reading score.

What PTE 39–46 clears

The band straddles 2 sourced thresholds: Waikato foundation at 42 and UK B1 at 43. A score at the floor, 39, misses them, while the top of the band, 46, clears them. The table reads each threshold as 39 or 46 in every skill and overall.

Sources: Home Affairs (checked 9 Oct 2026), Pearson UK visa table, Immigration New Zealand and the university pages listed on each PTE score page.

Pearson's per-skill floors for IELTS 5.5 against Australia

Take the lowest PTE score Pearson lists for each skill at IELTS 5.5: Listening 40, Reading 42, Speaking 39 and Writing 41. Those four figures do not match any new-test level exactly, so a score at each floor lands between Home Affairs levels. As a profile, they meet Vocational English on the new test and Vocational English on the old test.

Four section bands that add up to IELTS 5.5

IELTS averages the Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking bands and rounds to the nearest half band, with .25 rounding up to the half band and .75 up to the whole band. These mixes show where IELTS 5.5 starts and stops, and the last column converts the overall result to PTE with Pearson's table.

IELTS 5.5 next to its neighbours

The PTE scores inside IELTS 5.5

Each score has its own page with the per-skill conversion, the Australian, UK and NZ checks and a practice plan. Pearson's CEFR scale puts this band at A2 to B1:

Study plan for IELTS 5.5 equivalents

1. Know the hardest floor: for IELTS 5.5, Reading starts at PTE 42, 3 above the overall floor of 39.
2. Train Reading first: Re-order Paragraphs and Reading Fill in the Blanks. All reading practice.
3. Next, Writing (floor 41): Summarize Written Text and Write Essay. Give the easiest skill, Speaking (floor 39), one short set per session so it stays above its floor.
4. Estimate, then verify: use the score calculator and PTE to IELTS converter. They are estimates, so confirm any requirement with the university or immigration page.