An Enquiry on Results (EOR), also called an IELTS remark, is the official way to have your test marked again. A senior examiner who doesn't know your original scores re-marks the sections you choose. You apply within six weeks of your test date, you pay a fee, and you get the fee back if a band score goes up. Under the current IDP and British Council rules, a remark can't lower your score: it stays the same or goes up.
The short answer: a remark is worth considering when Writing or Speaking is half a band below what you need and you can point to a reason the score looks wrong. When Listening or Reading is short, or the gap is bigger, a prepared retake is usually the better route. All rules and fees below were checked on the official IELTS, IDP and British Council pages on 28 September 2026. They change, so check your own test centre before you pay.
The official EOR rules in one table
| Rule | What the official pages say | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Deadline | Within 6 weeks of the test date on your Test Report Form | IDP, British Council |
| Sections | Any one, several or all four: Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking | British Council |
| Who re-marks | A senior examiner who doesn't know your original scores | British Council |
| Can it go down? | No: "it may stay the same, but it will never go down" | British Council, IDP |
| How long | From the same day up to 21 days after you apply | ielts.org |
| Fee | Paid upfront; refunded if a band score goes up | ielts.org |
| If it changes | You get a new Test Report Form | ielts.org |
Two details are easy to miss. First, at IDP the fee is the same whether you ask for one section or all four (IDP Kazakhstan). Second, the British Council refunds the fee if your score improves "in any section of the test", even if your overall band stays the same. How long it takes depends on how many sections you send: IDP says each senior examiner marks only one section, so they can work on different parts at the same time.
How much a remark costs in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
Fees are set by each test centre, so there is no single global price. IDP's own country pages give no amount, but its local centres publish one: ielts.kz in Kazakhstan and Edu Action (exams.uz) in Uzbekistan. Here is what the official country pages showed on 28 September 2026:
| Test centre | EOR fee | Where it is published |
|---|---|---|
| British Council Kazakhstan | KZT 53,000 (from 1 July 2026, VAT included) | Fee list, Public Offer annex |
| British Council Uzbekistan | UZS 1,343,000 | IELTS results page |
| IDP Kazakhstan | KZT 53,000 on the remark page; the FAQ on the same page says KZT 50,000, so confirm when you apply | ielts.kz remark page |
| IDP Uzbekistan | UZS 1,440,000, refunded if a band score changes | Edu Action remark page |
For scale, the same British Council Kazakhstan fee list shows KZT 110,250 for a full IELTS test and KZT 69,500 for a One Skill Retake, and IDP's ielts.kz lists the same two prices. A remark costs less than either, and you get the money back if it works. What you can lose is the fee and up to three weeks of waiting. Test fees and booking rules for each country: IELTS registration in Kazakhstan and IELTS registration in Uzbekistan.
Is there an official IELTS remark success rate?
No. None of the IELTS, IDP or British Council pages we checked publish how often a remark changes a score. Figures you see online, such as claims that 10 to 25% of Writing remarks succeed, come from teachers' impressions, not from IELTS. Treat any exact success rate as unverified.
What IELTS does publish on its test statistics page is useful for your decision:
- Writing and Speaking are marked by examiners against criteria. A second examiner can reasonably see a borderline answer differently. When IELTS compared original ratings with the automatic re-ratings of uneven results (see the third point) for 2024 to 2025, the agreement between examiners (inter-rater reliability) was about 0.9 for both Speaking and Writing, where 1.0 would mean perfect agreement.
- Listening and Reading are marked against an answer key. Each of the 40 questions gets 1 mark if it is correct. A remark checks the same answers against the same key, so there is less that a second look can change.
- Very uneven results are already re-marked. IELTS says that when a Writing or Speaking score is "markedly different" from your Listening and Reading scores, it is automatically re-marked before results are released.
So a remark usually has more room to change a Writing or Speaking score. That doesn't mean a Listening or Reading remark never changes anything; it means you need a specific reason to expect a change.
Will half a band change your overall?
Before you pay for a remark to fix the overall, check whether the score you hope for would actually change it. The overall is the average of your four scores, rounded to the nearest half band, so the same half band can help one candidate and do nothing for another. Two candidates, both 6.5 overall, both needing 7.0:
| Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking | Now | If Writing goes up by 0.5 |
|---|---|---|
| 7.0, 7.0, 6.0, 6.5 | Total 26.5, average 6.625, overall 6.5 | Total 27, average 6.75, overall 7.0 |
| 7.0, 7.0, 6.0, 6.0 | Total 26, average 6.5, overall 6.5 | Total 26.5, average 6.625, overall still 6.5 |
Only the first candidate is one successful remark away from 7.0. The second needs 1 more point in the total, for example half a band in two skills.
Needing more than one half band is the more common case. Of 156 learners whose first full mock exam on GoPrep came out at exactly 6.5 overall, 26 of 156 needed only half a band more in one skill to reach 7.0. 39 of 156 needed 1 more point in the total, 39 of 156 needed 1.5, and 52 of 156 needed 2 (first full mock exam of each learner, taken 28 July to 26 September 2026, Writing and Speaking scored by the GoPrep AI examiner). So work out your own total first: a remark can only help the overall if the gain it could bring is enough to cross the next rounding threshold.
Is a remark worth it for your result?
Start from the score you actually need: the overall band, a minimum for each skill, or both. Then find your result below.
| Your result | Remark? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Writing or Speaking 0.5 below your minimum | Worth considering | Examiner judgement can differ; the score can't go down; the fee comes back if it rises |
| Listening or Reading 0.5 below your minimum | Only if you suspect an error | The same answers are checked against the same key |
| Overall 0.5 short, one Writing or Speaking score lower than the rest | Only if half a band there changes the overall | Check your total first (see the two candidates above) |
| One skill a full band or more below what you need | Possible, but plan a retake too | No official data shows how often a remark moves a full band |
| Two or more skills below what you need | Usually not | Each gap needs its own score change |
| You may also want a One Skill Retake (IDP Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan) | Only within 2 weeks of your test | IDP asks you to wait for the remark result before booking the retake |
| Your university or visa deadline is less than 3 weeks away | Ask the organisation first | A remark can take up to 21 days |
You won't see your exam answers again, so you can't check the marking yourself. What you can do is review what you remember of both Writing tasks against the Writing band descriptors, or your Speaking test against the Speaking band descriptors: did you answer every part of each question, write enough words, keep talking without long pauses? Your memory and your checked practice work help you decide, but they don't prove that the examiner was wrong. Answering the question fully is only part of one criterion; the other criteria, such as vocabulary and grammar, count just as much. And "I need 7.0 and got 6.5" is a reason to want a higher score, not evidence of a marking mistake.
What happens when you retake quickly
A retake measures a new performance on new questions. That can help, but it can also go the other way. We looked at how scores moved between two full practice tests of the same skill taken close together on GoPrep:
| Skill | Same band on the next test | Higher / lower on the next test |
|---|---|---|
| Writing | 33% | 37% higher, 30% lower |
| Speaking | 39% | 32% higher, 29% lower |
| Listening | 20% | 38% higher, 42% lower |
| Reading | 19% | 44% higher, 37% lower |
In every skill, about 3 in 10 learners or more scored lower on the next test, typically taken 1 to 3 days later. These differences mix a real change in performance, different questions and, for Writing and Speaking, variation in AI scoring. They are not a measure of how often an official remark succeeds, and they don't show how accurate IELTS examiners are.
These practice results show that a second attempt does not automatically produce a higher score. They do not predict your result in an official retake. If you choose to retake, give yourself time to work on the specific things that cost you marks before you book.
Remark and One Skill Retake: the order matters
IELTS One Skill Retake lets you sit one skill again instead of the whole test: only after IELTS on computer, within 60 days of your original test and once per test. If a remark doesn't help, it is usually the next option. Its full rules, who accepts it and how to prepare are in our IELTS One Skill Retake guide.
In Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, IDP sets an order. IDP's own guide for Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan says that if you want a remark on your original test, you must apply "within two weeks of your original IELTS Listening, Reading and Writing test date" and wait for the remark result before registering for a One Skill Retake on the same test. So if you might want both, the real remark deadline for you is 2 weeks, not 6.
Rules differ by country: IDP Australia, for example, lets you apply for a remark even after booking a One Skill Retake. If you took your test with the British Council, ask your centre how the two work together before you pay for either.
Timeline: from test day to decision
Day 0 is your test date. On IELTS on computer with the British Council in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, results usually come in 1 to 2 days (how to check your IELTS results).
| When | What to do | Official rule |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 to 2 | Get your results; compare each skill with what you need | Computer results in 1 to 2 days (BC Kazakhstan) |
| By day 14 | Apply for a remark if you may also want a One Skill Retake (IDP Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan) | IDP guide |
| By 6 weeks | Last day to apply for a remark | IDP, British Council |
| Up to 21 days after applying | Remark result; a new Test Report Form if a score changes | ielts.org |
| By day 60 | Sit your One Skill Retake, if you choose one | ielts.org |
| 3 to 5 days after the retake | One Skill Retake result | ielts.org |
None of the official pages say that a pending remark extends a university or visa deadline. Plan as if your deadline stays where it is: if it falls inside the 21-day window, ask the organisation whether it will wait for a remark result, and prepare a plan B.
Checklist before you apply for a remark
- Date. Your test was less than 6 weeks ago (less than 2 weeks if you might also book a One Skill Retake at IDP in Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan).
- Requirement. You know exactly what you need: the overall band, a minimum for each skill, or both.
- Gap. A remark of one or two sections could close the gap. Work out which skill and by how much.
- Reason. You can name a specific reason, such as practice scores well above your result in that skill. Remember that this helps you decide but doesn't prove a marking error.
- Sections. You have chosen which sections to send. At IDP the fee is the same for one or four.
- Fee. You know your centre's fee and its refund rule.
- Deadline. The 21-day wait fits your university, employer or visa deadline.
- Where to apply. British Council: log in to the Test Taker Portal, complete the EOR form, select the sections and pay online. IDP in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan: contact the IDP test centre where you took the test.
- Plan B. You keep preparing, so a retake is ready if the score stays the same.
After you apply
- A fast answer is still a real re-mark. IDP says it looks at every request, even when the score doesn't change, and that each senior examiner marks only one section, so results can come within hours (IDP Kazakhstan).
- No answer after 21 days? Contact your test centre (ielts.org). IDP's FAQ gives 28 days before you should chase it.
- If the score changes, you get a new Test Report Form. If it doesn't, the fee is not refunded.
- Cancelling or disagreeing with the outcome: the Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan pages we checked don't say whether you can cancel a request or what you can do after the result. Ask your centre before you apply rather than after.
Practice: would a remark help?
FAQ
Can my IELTS score go down after a remark?
No. The British Council says a remark "may stay the same, but it will never go down", and IDP says the score either stays the same or is higher after the second assessment.
How long does an IELTS remark take?
The result can come on the same day you apply or up to 21 days later, depending mainly on how many sections you ask to be re-marked. If a score changes, you receive a new Test Report Form.
What is the IELTS remark success rate?
IELTS, IDP and the British Council do not publish one. Percentages you see online are estimates from teachers or test-takers, not official figures.
How much does an IELTS remark cost in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan?
On 28 September 2026, the British Council listed KZT 53,000 in Kazakhstan and UZS 1,343,000 in Uzbekistan. IDP's local centres listed KZT 53,000 in Kazakhstan (the FAQ on the same page says 50,000, so confirm) and UZS 1,440,000 in Uzbekistan. The fee is refunded if a band score goes up.
Next step
Practice can't change the work that is being re-marked. But if you may need a retake, the weeks while you wait are your preparation time. Tell the quiz your target score, your exam date and the part of IELTS you find hardest, and GoPrep will build a personal study plan around your answers.
GoPrep Team
GoPrep guide authors
We write about IELTS preparation using platform data and official exam materials.
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