TOEFL iBT® Test
The premier test of academic English communication
TOEFL iBT Test Content, Structure and Administration
The TOEFL test measures all four academic skills — reading, listening, speaking and writing — the way they’re used in the classroom.
The language used in the test closely reflects how English is used in everyday academic settings, and the test contains 100% academic content with integrated tasks.
Content sections and structure
The TOEFL iBT test is broken up into four sections and takes about 3 hours to complete.
Reading
Listening
Speaking
Writing
Reading
- 3–4 passages, each 700 words
- multiple-focus passages (compare/contrast, cause/effect)
- 10 questions for each passage
- Time: 54–72 minutes
- Score scale: 0–30
Listening
- 3–4 lectures, some with classroom discussion, each 3–5 minutes, 6 questions each
- 2–3 conversations, each 3 minutes, 5 questions each
- Time: 41–57 minutes
- Score scale: 0–30
Speaking
- 4 tasks
- 1 independent task to express an opinion on a familiar topic
- 3 integrated tasks based on what is read and heard
- Up to 30 seconds to prepare the response, up to 1 minute to respond
- Time: 17 minutes
- Score scale: 0–30
Writing
- 2 tasks:
- 1 20-minute integrated task based on what is read and heard
- 1 30-minute independent task to support an opinion on a topic
- Time: 50 minutes
- Score scale: 0–30
Administration and testing options
The TOEFL iBT test is offered three different ways:
- TOEFL iBT test: on a computer at an authorized test center
- TOEFL iBT Home Edition: on a computer at home, monitored by a live human proctor
- TOEFL iBT Paper Edition: Two test sessions:
- Reading, Listening, and Writing sections: on paper at a test center
- Speaking section: on a computer at home
Scoring
- The total score possible is 0–120.
- Responses from the Speaking and Writing1sections are scored by a combination of AI scoring and ETS-certified raters.
- Score delivery time varies depending on how the test taker took the test and how score recipients receive scores.
