TOEFL Exam : A Complete Guide To TOEFL Exam (2020)53 min read

Interestingly enough, there is no age limit to take the TOEFL test! But in order to attempt the exam, you need to carry a valid passport as proof of identity at the time of the exam.

Even though there is no limitation to giving the TOEFL exam, if you plan to pursue your higher education at any university/college abroad, you do need to check eligibility criteria set by the university.

TOEFL Registration:

You can register for the TOEFL exam at any time of the day and on any day of the week. You need to pay close attention while you are entering your details. ETS specifically mentions that the name with which you register for the TOEFL exam should exactly match with the identification that you bring to the exam center.

TOEFL registration closes 7 days before the test date but even then you can register for the exam with a late fee of $40 which closes 4 days before the exam.

• Start registering to the TOEFL exam by creating an account by visiting “TOEFL login” page.
• Fill your Personal information, Address, Additional regarding your country, language and Background information like the field of interest, current education and countries you wish to study, work or settle.
• Log in with the username and password you created and click on “Register/Find TOEFL Test Centers, Dates”.
• Enter your location and select the 2-month period that you wanted to apply for. You can also search through a restricted reservation code provided by the institution if applicable.
• Once you select the date you’ll be provided with the address of the test centers from which you can register there immediately by giving you ID information like Passport or Driver’s License and doing the payment.
• You can also select four universities where your TOEFL scores are sent. You can also add more universities with an additional payment of $20 US for each university.

TOEFL Exam Overview:

There are 10,000+ colleges, agencies and other institutions, and over 150 countries that accept TOEFL scores as of today and every year, over 50 computer-based tests are being administered via the Internet all over the globe.

Apart from universities, other organizations too accept the TOEFL Score for different purposes.

As per the ETS,

• Immigration departments use them to issue residential and work visas.
• Medical and licensing agencies use them for professional certification purposes.
• Individuals use them to measure their progress in learning English.

Even though the TOEFL Exam score is used for so many purposes, it is mainly used by universities in English-speaking countries as a part of their admission process.

So, let’s see where these TOEFL Scores are accepted across the world.

Countries that Accept TOEFL Scores

• United States of America – Approximately 9 out of every 10 universities in the USA accept the TOEFL scores and it is the most widely taken English-language test in the country.
• Canada – Over 75% Canadian Universities accept the TOEFL Scores
• United Kingdom – More than 95% Universities in the United Kingdom accept these scores
• Germany – The TOEFL Exam is preferred over any other English-language test
• New Zealand and Australia – All universities in Australia and New Zealand consider TOEFL Exam as a metric in their admission process

How to view TOEFL results?

After the changes that took place in TOEFL exam on August 1, 2019, ETS has included something called “MyBest Scores” which gives the best individual scores of writing, listening, speaking and reading sections combined of all your previous attempts in the last 2 years.

Even though most of the schools doesn’t accept these scores, there are a few schools accepting them.

So how do you check your score?

Here is the advantage of TOEFL exam when coming to the results. You will be receiving a mail after the exam with information of when you scores are available. Approximately it will take 10 days to get TOEFL score report.

You can login into your ETS account and check your results by clicking on “view scores”. You can also download your PDF score report.

The TOEFL online test is conducted over 50 times a year at authorized test centers. One can retake the exam any number of times. But you cannot attempt the exam within 12 days of the previous attempt. It is administered in over 165 countries every year and there are over 4500 authorised TOEFL test centers.

So it is a very frequently conducted exam.

TOEFL Dates:

Follow the steps to find the available TOEFL dates and test center without logging into your TOEFL account.

• Click on the ETS website that takes you to “TOEFL iBT® Test Centers and Dates” page.
• Click on the link “see a list of testing locations, dates and fees”.
• Enter the location where you want to give the TOEFL exam and find the test dates within 2-months period.
• You will see a new screen with dates in the selected duaration.
• Select the required TOEFL date and click on “Show test times and Register”.
• You can register directly from here by creating a profile and filling the required information.

TOEFL fact – More than 35 million test takers have taken this exam since it was launched.

Also, remember:

You have to pay the cost of the TOEFL Exam every time you attempt the test, and since it is a 4-hour exam, It can be draining both mentally and financially, so take your decision accordingly.

Depending on the country the test costs anywhere around $160 – $300 per attempt for the TOEFL iBT. For example the TOEFL exam fee in India is $180 per attempt (about  ₹12,487 ) where as in the United States the exam cost is $205.

Country-Wise TOEFL Exam Fee:

The exam fee for ETS TOEFL Paper Based Test (PBT) is $180.

• If you register online, the ETS TOEFL registration closes 7 days before the test date. You need to pay additional charges of $40 if you want to register after the closing date.
• If you want to reschedule the exam, a fee of $60 has to be paid before registering for the new ETS TOEFL exam date.

TOEFL iBT® Test Fees:

Let’s take a look at the TOEFL syllabus now. We’re going to look at the different sections on the TOEFL exam, how much time each section takes, how many questions you can expect, the tasks you will have to do in each of those sections and finally we will also look at what these sections are trying to test.

TOEFL Exam Pattern:

TOEFL Reading Section:

This is the first section you will encounter on the ETS TOEFL test.

It is also one of the longest sections of the exam. The exam is a total of four hours long, maybe a bit longer or lesser.

It really depends on how many questions you get.

So around 4 hours, and of that, the very first section i.e. the TOEFL reading section time would be anywhere from 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes.

You can have anywhere between 36 and 70 TOEFL reading questions. The reason this is not a fixed number is sometimes they’re testing new material, and they will throw out one more extra passenge at you that will form those extra questions, and you will not be told whether that will form a part of your score or not. So you should just come prepared to attempt that many TOEFL reading passage-questions.

What does the TOEFL Reading Section test?

You will be expected to read three or four passages at most and all of these passages will be from academic texts. Then you will have to answer questions based on those texts. So the whole point of the reading section is that it tests whether you have the ability to understand academic reading material that has been written in English.

After all, this is something you’re going to have to do if you’re going to the US or another English speaking country for academic purposes.

TOEFL Listening Section:

The TOEFL listening section time is anywhere between 60 and 90 minutes. That is an hour – an hour and a half. So it is possibly a little longer than the TOEFL reading section, and you get extra questions. You could get anywhere between 30 to 51 questions in the entire TOEFL Listening section.

What does the TOEFL Listening Section test?

This section of the TOEFL exam entails you to listen to lectures, classroom discussions and conversations and then you will have to answer a set of questions on each of these that you listen to. And, of course, this section is testing whether you have the ability to understand spoken English as it is used in colleges and universities.

So again, a largely academic context over here, a skill you will absolutely require if you’re going to do anything academic in any other country – in which English is the primary mode of communication.

So there you have two long sections, and that would cover the meat of your TOEFL exam. You will have a short break after these two sections, just about 10 minutes after which you will have to proceed to the next couple of sections.

TOEFL Speaking Section:

The third section that you will encounter in the TOEFL test is the Speaking section. It is about twenty minutes long and you will be expected to do six tasks. At this stage, you will be asked to express an opinion on a familiar topic or speak based on reading and listening tasks given to you.

You will be given a microphone into which you will have to speak. You will not be speaking to a person. You do have to kind of practice and get used to speaking into a microphone if you’re not used to that.

You will not have any interaction as such – you will be given a prompt and you will have to respond to that on your own.

What does the TOEFL Speaking Section test?

These are the kind of tasks you will get: simply expressing your opinion, speaking based on a passage that you read, or based on a conversation or lecture that you listened to.

Those are your tasks and basically, this section in TOEFL iBT tests whether you have the ability to speak in English in an academic setting. All of this is preparing you to communicate in the academic setting that you are planning to go to.

TOEFL Writing Section:

Finally, we have the writing section in TOEFL iBT, which is about fifteen minutes long. You have two tasks. That’s right, just two tasks in the writing section. You will have to write essay responses based on the premise that you are given.

And one of those tasks will involve reading and listening as well. You’ll have to read a passage, listen to a lecture and write a response that has to do with what you read and what you listened to.

The second task will involve supporting an opinion in writing, so it will be mostly your personal opinion. You will have to elaborate and really show that you can write something substantial and cohesive on your own for the second task.

What does the TOEFL Writing Section test?

This section is testing whether you have the ability to write in English in a way that’s appropriate for college and university coursework. Once again, this is testing you on a skill that you absolutely will need if you were to go to an academic environment in an English speaking country.

So as you can see, all four of these sections really test very important skills. And it is, in every possible sense, a basic test of your English proficiency.

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