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.
1) The Writing section of the TOEFL iBT Paper Edition only uses human scoring.
