What is the TOEFL? - Clever Academy

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (internet-based test) is designed to measure whether someone is prepared to live and thrive in an English-speaking environment. Over 1 million people worldwide opt to take an English-speaking proficiency exam each year in order to attend an English-speaking university or simply as a refresher course to improve their English skills. TOEFL scores are often used by universities and colleges as an admission requirement for students who have received their education in a non-English speaking country.

TOEFL Test Sections

The TOEFL exam consists of the following four sections:

Reading

The reading section of the TOEFL exam includes two main question types: Multiple Choice and Drag-and-Drop. This section contains between 36-56 questions and is 60-80 minutes in length.

Listening

The Listening section of the TOEFL exam contains similar types of questions as the reading section (Multiple Choice and Drag-and-Drop). This section has between 34-51 questions and is approximately 60-90 minutes in length.

Speaking

Test takers are provided with a microphone to record themselves responding to two types of prompts in the speaking section. Two tasks in prompt one consist of independent responses, and four tasks in prompt two require test takers to respond to a series of conversations, lectures and reading passages. Test takers have roughly one minute per prompt to record their responses. In total, the speaking section takes 20 minutes to complete.

Writing

The exam ends with the writing section, which requires test takers to compose written responses to two tasks. This section consists of two essays and is 50 minutes long.

TOEFL Structure

The TOEFL exam consists of 4 sections and takes approximately 4.5 hours in total to complete:

Starting July 26, 2023, the TOEFL iBT® test will take just under 2 hours to complete. This makes it the shortest of the three most popular English-language tests. You’ll experience:

streamlined instructions and navigation
a shortened Reading section with only two reading passages and 10 questions each
a more concise and modern Writing task which replaces the current Independent Writing task
removal of all unscored test questions

Here’s what to expect for tests starting July 26, 2023.

TOEFL iBT Test Structurefor tests starting July 26, 2023
Section	No. of Questions	Estimated Timing
Reading	20 questions	35 minutes
Listening	28 questions	36 minutes
Speaking	4 tasks	16 minutes
Writing	2 tasks	29 minutes
Total Time	Under 2 hours

*Does not apply to the TOEFL iBT Paper Edition test

TOEFL Scoring

There is no pass or fail level on the TOEFL: higher education institutions set their own TOEFL requirements.
TOEFL scores are valid for a period of two years after the test date.

You will receive four section scores and a total score:

Section	Score
Reading	From 0 to 30 (Raw scores converted to scaled scores)
Listening	From 0 to 30 (Raw scores converted to scaled scores)
Speaking	From 0 to 30 (0-4 score per task; sum of task scores converted to scaled scores)
Writing	From 0 to 30 (0-5 score per task; sum of task scores converted to scaled scores)
Total	From 0 to 120

TOEFL At A Glance

Are you new to the TOEFL? Read the following articles:

Interested in taking the TOEFL and want to prepare for it? Our TOEFL Test Prep courses are here to assist you. Contact us if you need more information.