TOEFL Scoring General Information

TOEFL is a two-hour computerized test which includes reading, listening, speaking and writing. The TOEFL is an important test for your academic needs and understanding how the scoring system works will let you more easily plan your test preparation. In this guide, we’ll show you everything you need to know about the TOEFL score range, where your scores (or potential scores) fit into the ranks, and how to set your future TOEFL score goals. Since 97% of TOEFL test-takers take the computer-based TOEFL (iBT), all the information provided below about scores is in the context of the TOEFL iBT test.

TOEFL Test Structure

The two hours is allocated as 16 minutes on Speaking and 4 tasks, 29 minutes on Writing, 35 minutes on Reading and 36 minutes for listening. There is no break between.

For each of the four sections, you get a score from 0-30, which means your total TOEFL score will be from 0-120. You’ll receive one or more points, depending on the type of question, for each question you answer correctly. On the TOEFL exam, there is no penalty for choosing a wrong answer.

There are no passing or failing scores set by the TOEFL Program or ETS. Each institution or agency sets its own score requirements. For more information about how your scores will be used or interpreted, contact the institution or agency directly.

Question Types

The reading and listening sections are always multiple choice. There two general types of questions in these sections: single answer questions and multiple answer questions. The test will always tell you if a question has more than one right answer.Single answer questions only have one correct answer out of four possible answers. Each single-choice question is worth one raw point.

Multiple answer questions have multiple correct answers. These include questions that have two or more correct answer options, and reading section questions where you must organize answer choices into summaries or charts. Each multiple answer question is worth either two or three points, depending on how many answer choices you have to choose from. You can earn partial credit on multiple answer questions by getting one or more correct answers, even if you didn’t get every part of the question right.

How is the Test Scored?

TOEFL tests are only scored by a centralized scoring network, never at the test center. The Reading and Listening sections are scored by computer. The Speaking and Writing sections are scored by a combination of automated AI scoring and multiple, highly trained human raters.

Your Score Report

About 4 – 8 business days after you take the iBT TOEFL, you’ll be able to see your score report online as a PDF. You’ll also receive a physical copy of your TOEFL score report in the mail 4 – 6 weeks after your test date.

You’ll receive four scaled section scores (reading, listening, speaking and writing) and a total score. Each section has a score range of 0–30 and these are are added together for a total score of 0–120. Note that universities tend to care most about this, your total TOEFL score, though some schools will also look at your individual section scores (especially your speaking score).

In addition to your total score, each skill has proficiency levels that tells you your proficiency for that skill based on a range as follows:

Reading

  • Advanced (24–30)
  • High-Intermediate (18–23)
  • Low-Intermediate (4–17)
  • Below Low-Intermediate (0–3)

Listening

  • Advanced (22–30)
  • High-Intermediate (17–21)
  • Low-Intermediate (9–16)
  • Below Low-Intermediate (0–8)

Speaking

  • Advanced (25–30)
  • High-Intermediate (20–24)
  • Low-Intermediate (16–19)
  • Basic (10–15)
  • Below Basic (0–9)

Writing

  • Advanced (24–30)
  • High-Intermediate (17–23)
  • Low-Intermediate (13–16)
  • Basic (7–12)
  • Below Basic (0–6)

Raw vs. Scaled Scores on the TOEFL

If you’ve taken the TOEFL before or know a little about the test, you may know that there aren’t exactly 30 questions on each TOEFL section. So then why is each section scored from 0-30? It’s due to scaled scoring. The TOEFL has raw and scaled scores, both of which we’ll explain in this section

The total number of questions you answer correctly on each section of the TOEFL is what test makers call a “raw” score. If a TOEFL Listening section has 28 questions and you get 24 of them correct, your raw score for that section would be a 24 (assuming all questions are worth 1 point, which we discuss more in the next section).

However, you won’t see a 24 on your TOEFL score report, instead, you’ll see a scaled score between 0 and 30. That is because a raw score doesn’t mean much on its own. It only shows how many total questions you answered correctly. All the scores you see on your score report are scaled scores. ETS is pretty secretive as to how it converts scores, and the exact process of how raw scores are converted to scaled scores varies a bit for each TOEFL, so there’s no one calculation to convert raw scores to scaled scores.

You can use a general conversion chart to get an idea of how your raw score will translate to a scaled score, but the exact process will always depend on the specific exam you take. These variations in the conversion process are done to take into account slight differences in difficulty between individual TOEFL exams. A slightly easier TOEFL means more people would get more answers correct, resulting in higher raw scores for everyone.

This wouldn’t be fair to people who took a more challenging TOEFL because it would make it seem like their English skills weren’t as strong as the English skills of the people who took the easy exam. Scaled scores reduce these differences so no one is penalized for taking a more difficult test. So, getting a raw score of 40 on a more difficult Reading section where fewer people earn high scores might mean you earn a scaled score of 29. But getting a raw score of 40 on an easier Reading section where more people earn high raw scores might mean you earn a scaled score of 27.

In general, the test-makers try their best to make TOEFLs similar to one another, so there shouldn’t be too much discrepancy between tests, but there will always be some. This is why general conversion charts can act only as a basic guideline, not a guarantee of how scores will be converted.

TOEFL Scoring for the 4 Sections

The TOEFL has four different sections: reading, listening, speaking, and writing. Each section has its own TOEFL scoring and grading system, so let’s break it down section by section and look at how each of the four sections of the exam is scored.

Reading

All Reading questions are multiple choice, and each question will be worth 1-3 points. The majority of Reading questions are single-answer multiple-choice questions where you are given four answer choices and only one is correct. Each of these questions is worth one point.

At the end of most passage question sets is a question type known as “Reading to Learn.” For these questions, you’ll be asked to organize the main points of the passage in either a chart or a summary. Unlike other Reading questions, Reading to Learn questions are worth 2-3 points. The number of points the question is worth will be stated beneath the question, and partial credit is possible.

Listening

All Listening questions are multiple choice, and most will have one correct answer. However, there will also be some questions with two correct answers and questions where you need to organize events or facts. Unlike Reading, each of these questions will only be worth one point, so there are no Listening questions worth multiple points.

Speaking

There are four Speaking tasks, and for each you’ll receive a raw score of 0-4 (whole points only). The best way to estimate your raw score is to use our speaking app which is available to our students. It uses the TOEFL’s scoring rubric for the Speaking section which is listed below. You can also to have a friend who has strong English skills grade your Speaking tasks in order to get a more objective and accurate view.

For each Speaking task, go over the rubric carefully and decide which score best represents your response.

  • 0 = Didn’t answer, answered in a language other than English, or the speech was incomprehensible.
  • 1 = Speech was minimally related to topic, speech had numerous errors, was choppy, and/or was largely incomprehensible.
  • 2 = Speech mostly stuck to topic, but didn’t completely answer the question or follow the prompt. Speech was basically intelligible, but had several mistakes in pronunciation, grammar, or was too simple in vocabulary and style.
  • 3 = Speech addresses and fulfills topic, with minor exceptions. Speech is mostly intelligible and fluid, though may have some issues with pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary. Demonstrates a fairly automatic and fluid mastery of English, with some notable lapses.
  • 4 = Speech addresses and completely fulfills topic. Speech has a fluid and well-paced flow, with only minor lapses in pronunciation or grammar. Was coherent, intelligible, complete, and shows an automatic and fluid master of English.

Writing

There are two Writing tasks, the Integrated Writing Task and the Writing for an Academic Discussion task. (In 2023, the TOEFL exam has changed 'Independent Writing Task' to 'Writing for an Academic Discussion task'.) Each is given a score from 0-5 (whole points only). Like Speaking, your writing response is evaluated against the TOEFL rubric.

  • 0 = No essay, essay is unconnected to the topic, or essay is not in English.
  • 1 = Little or no response to the prompt, or essay is mostly incomprehensible.
  • 2 = Essay somewhat follows topic, but shows significant difficulties in language, organization, and development. Uses no or very few examples.
  • 3 = Essay mostly follows topic and has some general organization and development. Uses some examples, but only vaguely connects them to the thesis or misses key points. Has some errors in grammar or vocabulary.
  • 4 = Essays follows topic, but is somewhat unorganized or is not fully developed. Essay uses relevant examples, but lacks some clarity or connection between examples and thesis statement.
  • 5 = Essays follows topic, is well developed and organized and uses relevant examples. Clearly ties examples to thesis statement. Essay demonstrates accurate use of vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure with some minor errors.

What’s a Good TOEFL Score?

What makes a good TOEFL score depends entirely on you and your reasons for taking the test. TOEFL scoring and score ranks are somewhat subjective; what matters is what you need your score to do for you.

The average TOEFL score is the 50th percentile, which is a total score of 84 on the iBT and somewhere between 550 and 589 on the PBT. The average/50th percentile score means that exactly half (50%) of all people who took the test earned less than an 84 on the iBT and half earned more than an 84.

As a general rule, earning a higher than average score means that you’ve earned a good score. Anything above an 84 on the iBT, therefore, be considered a good TOEFL score. The problem is that different schools require different TOEFL scores, so getting a slightly higher than average score might not be enough to get you into the school you want.

Most schools have a minimum threshold score that you must earn to be accepted into the program. This means that a good TOEFL score depends on what you need—if your school requires that applicants earn a minimum score of 80 on the iBT TOEFL, then a score of 80 or 81 would be a good iBT TOEFL score. But if your dream school requires that applicants earn a total score of 110 on the iBT, then a good TOEFL score for you would be above the 90th percentile.

Some schools also require a specific minimum score per section, so be sure to pay attention to your reading, listening, speaking, and writing section scores as well as to your total TOEFL score. Even if your total TOEFL score is high, you may not meet the minimum standards for a particular section, so be sure to always double-check your school’s requirements.

Not every school has a minimum TOEFL score requirement, but many of them do. Your first step should always be to go to the admissions page of your school(s) of choice. Under the “language requirement” and/or “international applicants” section, you will see information about their TOEFL test requirements, including whether or not they require the TOEFL, whether they require a minimum TOEFL score, and what that minimum score is.