The TOEFL is a test of an individual's ability to use and understand English in an academic setting.

TOEFL IBT (Internet based TOEFL)

The IBT cannot be taken more than once a week.

This four-hour test consists of four sections:

Reading

The Reading section consists of 3-5 passages, each approximately 700 words in length and questions about the passages. The passages are on academic topics; they are the kind of material that might be found in an undergraduate university textbook. Students answer questions about main ideas, details, inferences, essential information, sentence insertion, vocabulary, rhetorical purpose and overall ideas or fill out tables or complete summaries. Prior knowledge of the subject under discussion is not necessary to come to the correct answer.

Listening

The Listening section consists of six passages 3-5 minutes in length and questions about the passages. These passages include two student conversations and four academic lectures or discussions. Each conversation and lecture stimulus is heard only once. Test-takers may take notes while they listen and they may refer to their notes when they answer the questions.

Speaking

The Speaking section consists of six tasks: two independent tasks and four integrated tasks. In the two independent tasks, test-takers answer opinion questions on familiar topics. They are evaluated on their ability to speak spontaneously and convey their ideas clearly and coherently. Test-takers may take notes as they read and listen and may use their notes to help prepare their responses.

Writing

The Writing section measures a test taker's ability to write in an academic setting and consists of two tasks: one integrated task and one independent task.

Test scores

The TOEFL iBT test is scored on a scale of 0 to 120 points. Each of the four sections (Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing) receives a scaled score from 0 to 30. The scaled scores from the four sections are added together to determine the total score. Each speaking question is initially given a score of 0 to 4, and each writing question is initially given a score of 0 to 5. These scores are converted to scaled scores of 0 to 30.

80 is a general minimum requirement for many universities but each school has its own English proficiency requirement that must be checked.

Registration

www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/register