The test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is a standardised test used to assess the English language proficiency of non-native speakers seeking admission to English-speaking universities.

This test evaluates your reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills, which are necessary for academic pursuits, scholarships, immigration, and visa processing. The TOEFL test is recognised and accepted in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, and across Europe, and Asia.

More than 11,500 universities and other institutions in over 190 countries and territories accept the test. TOEFL is one of the world’s two major English-language tests.

Test Format

Your TOEFL scores accurately reflect your abilities and demonstrate to admissions officers that you have what it takes to succeed. TOEFL offers two types of tests: TOEFL paper-based (PBT) and TOEFL Internet-based (IBT) (IBT).

TOEFL iBT and PBT Availability and Administration

In terms of availability and administration, the TOEFL internet-based test (iBT) and paper-based test (PBT) are vastly different. The iBT was developed in the late 1990s and released to the public in 2005, and it has nearly totally superseded the PBT in the years thereafter.

The TOEFL iBT is now taken by more than 97 percent of students, and the PBT exists solely because internet testing is not yet universally available. The iBT is offered exclusively in most countries throughout the world, and because of the convenience of internet testing, finding a test date for the iBT is much easier than for the PBT. The iBT can be taken practically any Friday or Saturday of the year, whereas the PBT is only given once a month at most in the few sites that provide it. The fact that paper tests are more expensive to proctor, transport, and assess explains why they are less widely available.

TOEFL iBT and PBT Content and Structure

There are also significant content differences between the iBT and the PBT.
The iBT has a separate section for assessing spoken English, whereas the PBT does not assess speaking skills at all. The Structure and Written Expression section of the PBT, in which test-takers must complete or correct sentences, does not exist on the iBT. The iBT writing section is twice as long as the PBT’s Test of Written English (TWE), with two distinct writing tasks rather than a single essay, and it assesses a broader range of writing skills. In general, the iBT requires test takers to demonstrate their ability to synthesize English-language skills, whereas the PBT is a much more limited assessment (since the former was designed to improve on the latter, this is to be expected). The iBT requires more time to complete than the PBT (the iBT can last from three hours and 20 minutes to four hours and 10 minutes, compared to two hours and 20-30 minutes for the PBT). The variability in test timing is due in part to the inclusion of experimental questions, the number of which varies across TOEFL administrations, and the larger range of iBT test times suggests more liberal use of these experimental questions on the iBT.

Scoring for the TOEFL iBT and PBT

The PBT scoring system involves converting correct answers (raw scores) for each section into scaled scores, which are then used to calculate total scores using a simple mathematical formula. PBT sectional scores range from 31-68 (Listening Comprehension, Structure, and Written Expression), 31-67 (Reading Comprehension), and 1-6 (Comprehension) (TWE).

The PBT total score ranges from 310 to 677. The iBT has a much simpler scoring system, with four sectional scores ranging from 0 to 30 (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) and a total score that is the sum of all four sectional scores (0-120).

TOEFL iBT® Test Content

The TOEFL iBT® test has 4 sections: Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing. During the test, you’ll perform tasks that combine these 4 English communication skills, such as:

The total test takes about 3 hours to complete, but you should plan for 3½ hours, allowing 30 minutes for check in

Section

Time Limit

Questions

Tasks

Reading

54–72 minutes

30–40 questions

Read passages and respond to questions

Listening

41–57 minutes

28–39 questions

Answer questions about brief lectures or classroom discussions

Break

10 minutes

Speaking

17 minutes

4 tasks

Talk about a familiar topic and discuss material you read and listened to

Writing

50 minutes

2 tasks

Read a passage, listen to a recording, type your response