The TOEFL iBT® test measures all 4 academic skills — Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing. Here is a closer look at how the test, including the Home Edition and Paper Edition, is structured, administered and scored.
Total Time
3 hours
Reading Section
- 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 Section
- 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 Section
- 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 Section
- 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
Scoring
- The total score possible is 0–120.
- Responses from the Speaking and Writing* sections 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.
- See Scores.
Administration
- TOEFL iBT test: taken on a computer, via the internet, at an authorized test center.
- TOEFL iBT® Home Edition: test on a computer, via the internet at home, monitored by a live human proctor.
- TOEFL iBT® Paper Edition: taken in 2 sessions — Reading, Listening, and Writing on paper at a test center, and Speaking on a computer via the internet at home.
* The Writing section of the TOEFL iBT Paper Edition only uses human scoring.