Conversion chart

CELPIP Reading Score Chart

Every raw score out of 38, with the CELPIP level the published table gives it and the honest range we report for it. The CELPIP level is also your CLB level. These are estimates from published material, not official scores.

Open the interactive score calculator

The full reading conversion chart

The source band and source level columns are Paragon’s sample-test cut-offs, unchanged. The our estimate column widens that level by one, in the direction your score leans inside its own band, because a raw total does not pin a level down on its own — see how to read this chart below.

Every raw score, 38 down to 0 – Reading
Raw correct	Source band	Source level	Our estimate	Where in the band
38	34–38	10–12	10–12	top band, not narrowed
37	34–38	10–12	10–12	top band, not narrowed
36	34–38	10–12	10–12	top band, not narrowed
35	34–38	10–12	10–12	top band, not narrowed
34	34–38	10–12	10–12	top band, not narrowed
33	32–33	9	9–10	upper half of band
32	32–33	9	8–9	lower half of band
31	29–31	8	8–9	upper half of band
30	29–31	8	7–8	midpoint (rounds down)
29	29–31	8	7–8	lower half of band
28	26–28	7	7–8	upper half of band
27	26–28	7	6–7	midpoint (rounds down)
26	26–28	7	6–7	lower half of band
25	21–25	6	6–7	upper half of band
24	21–25	6	6–7	upper half of band
23	21–25	6	5–6	midpoint (rounds down)
22	21–25	6	5–6	lower half of band
21	21–25	6	5–6	lower half of band
20	17–20	5	5–6	upper half of band
19	17–20	5	5–6	upper half of band
18	17–20	5	4–5	lower half of band
17	17–20	5	4–5	lower half of band
16	12–16	4	4–5	upper half of band
15	12–16	4	4–5	upper half of band
14	12–16	4	3–4	midpoint (rounds down)
13	12–16	4	3–4	lower half of band
12	12–16	4	3–4	lower half of band
11	8–11	3	3–4	upper half of band
10	8–11	3	3–4	upper half of band
9	8–11	3	3 or below	lower half of band
8	8–11	3	3 or below	lower half of band
7	0–7	M	below 3	not reported as a level
6	0–7	M	below 3	not reported as a level
5	0–7	M	below 3	not reported as a level
4	0–7	M	below 3	not reported as a level
3	0–7	M	below 3	not reported as a level
2	0–7	M	below 3	not reported as a level
1	0–7	M	below 3	not reported as a level
0	0–7	M	below 3	not reported as a level

Cut-offs: Paragon Free Online Sample Test, client-side function calcReadScore. Recorded in docs/READING_FORMAT_NOTES.md §5a.

How to read this chart

Find your raw score, not your percentage

The Reading section has 38 scored questions. Count the ones you got right; that whole number is the only input. There is no penalty for a wrong answer in the published tables, so an unanswered question and a wrong one are worth the same — guess rather than leave a blank.

Read the band, then read the range

A band such as 26–28 → level 7 means every raw score in it returns the same level from the source table. Our estimate then adds one level of give: a score in the lower half of its band reports as 6–7, one in the upper half as 7–8. A score exactly at the midpoint rounds down.

Why a range and not a number

The real exam is equated: levels are computed from the number of points and the difficulty of the questions, and scores are made comparable across test forms. The same raw total can therefore land a level apart on two different forms. Paragon’s two published tables also disagree with each other by a level at several raw scores. A chart that answers with one number is hiding that, and results day is a bad time to find out.

M is not a level

A raw 0–7 returns M in the source code. M is a refusal to report a level rather than a low level, which is why this chart shows it as “below 3”.

One part cannot be converted

This chart converts a full 38-question section. A single part on its own has no published conversion, and scaling one up to 38 would be arithmetic dressed as measurement.

If you have seen 35–38 for the top band

Several widely-copied CELPIP reading charts put the top band at a raw 35–38. Paragon’s own sample-test scoring code puts it at 34–38. We are not guessing between them: the number above was read out of the function the sample test runs in your browser to score itself, calcReadScore, and it is recorded in our research notes at docs/READING_FORMAT_NOTES.md §5a.

If a chart does not say where its numbers came from, that is the thing to check first — on a table like this a one-point shift moves real candidates across a band boundary. One more source worth knowing about is genuinely different rather than a copy: a chart circulating as 35–38 → 12, 33–34 → 11 and so on, which splits the top band into single levels. It departs from Paragon’s code by up to three raw points, and the site publishing it states it has no connection to Paragon and carries about a level of uncertainty. We have kept it out of the table above for that reason.

The other published Reading table

The printed Reading Pro Study Pack carries a second conversion, and it does not match the code. Its bands are wider and they overlap by one or two raw points at every boundary — a raw 33 is inside both the level 9 band and the 10–12 band. That overlap is deliberate: it is Paragon stating in print that the boundary is not sharp. It also disagrees outright in places, putting a raw 24 at level 7 where the code puts it at 6.

Reading – Paragon sample-test cut-offs
Raw correct / 38	CELPIP level
34–38	10–12
32–33	9
29–31	8
26–28	7
21–25	6
17–20	5
12–16	4
8–11	3
0–7	M

Reading – Study Pack printed bands
CELPIP level	Raw correct / 38
10–12	33–38
9	31–33
8	28–31
7	24–28
6	19–25
5	15–20
4	10–16
3	8–11
M–2	0–7

What the level means in CLB terms

For levels 3 to 12 the CELPIP level is the CLB level, one to one, so this chart is also a raw-score-to-CLB chart. CELPIP 2 falls into the CLB 1–2 band.

CELPIP level, CLB level and CEFR
CELPIP	CLB	CEFR
12	12	C2
11	11	C1
10	10	C1
9	9	B2
8	8	B2
7	7	B2
6	6	B1
5	5	B1
4	4	A2
3	3	A2
2	1–2	A1

Read this before you trust the number

These cut-offs come from Paragon's free sample test, which is an estimator — not the operational scoring engine. The sample test scores itself in your browser. That code is the most authoritative public artefact we could find, but it is not what marks the real exam.
The real exam is equated and difficulty-weighted. Paragon's own Study Pack says the level comes from the number of points and the difficulty of the questions, with scores equated across test forms. So no fixed raw-to-level table can be exact: the same raw total can land a level apart on two different forms.
Paragon's two public artefacts disagree with each other. The sample-test code puts a Reading raw 24 at level 6; the printed Study Pack table puts it at level 7. Both tables are shown on this page rather than blended into a single fake answer.
This is an estimate, not an official score. The official raw-score conversion is not published, and we do not issue official scores. Only Paragon can tell you your CELPIP level.
A single part cannot be converted. These tables convert a full 38-question section. There is no published conversion for an 11-question part on its own, and we will not invent one.

Do it without counting rows

The calculator does the same lookup, with both tables beside it and the same caveats attached.

CELPIP score calculator Listening score chart

Where these numbers come from

Cut-off thresholds: Paragon Testing Enterprises' free CELPIP-General sample test, read from the product's own client-side scoring functions (calcReadScore for Reading, findListScore for Listening). Recorded in our research notes as docs/READING_FORMAT_NOTES.md §5a and docs/LISTENING_FORMAT_NOTES.md §6.
Overlapping printed bands: the CELPIP Reading Pro Study Pack (PDF, © 2022 Prometric). Recorded as docs/READING_FORMAT_NOTES.md §5b.
CELPIP / CLB / CEFR mapping and the 2024 score distribution: the official CELPIP Guidebook for Test Takers and the 2024 CELPIP Data Report.