TOEFL Full Form:

The full form of ‘TOEFL’ is – ‘Test of English as a Foreign Language’, and it is a test conducted by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). That’s right, the same people that conduct the GRE every year.

The TOEFL exam is conducted in two versions: Internet-based test (iBT) and Paper-based test (PBT). The TOEFL iBT which was introduced in 2005 is considered an upgraded version of TOEFL CBT(Computer Based Test). Even though scoring on each section for both versions (iBT and PBT) is distinct, both versions have the same exam pattern. Of the two, 97% of students prefer to take the TOEFL iBT.

Difference between TOEFL PBT and TOEFL IBT:

What is the importance of the TOEFL Exam?

A TOEFL score is something that you need for applying to any college in the U.S. or in Canada, and it is something that is required for all non-native English speakers who wish to apply for an undergraduate or postgraduate course.

But here’s the kicker:

Who can take the TOEFL Exam?

We know that a lot of universities ask for the TOEFL Score as a part of their admissions process, but where else are these scores used? Here’s a look: 

• Students planning to pursue an academic course in an English-speaking country
• Working professionals applying for a visa to move abroad
• Students applying for scholarships and other certifications 
• Those learning the English-language can also take the TOEFL Exam to measure their progress 
• Certain jobs ask for a TOEFL Score when screening candidates

There are universities and businesses in other English speaking countries, like the U.K or Australia, France, Germany and so on who do accept a TOEFL score for various other purposes.

TOEFL Eligibility:

From the passages above, it is clear now that the TOEFL exam is taken by those who want to study abroad or work abroad. With regards to ‘TOEFL eligibility’, the good news is there is no eligibility criteria so to speak. Anybody could technically write the TOEFL exam.

TOEFL Exam Update: ( TOEFL Sections, Questions, Format, Test Length)

The ETS TOEFL exam has received a few updates starting August 1, 2019! These updates include changes in the TOEFL exam duration and the number of questions in each section. Before you worry, know that overall test takers will benefit from these changes!

For starters, the TOEFL exam duration has been shortened by 30 minutes. So the test will now be 3 hours long with no changes in question types and format. However, the number of questions in the reading, speaking and listening sections were reduced to lower the time.

Here is a quick comparison between the old and new versions of the TOEFL exam.

TOEFL to IELTS Score Comparison:

As per ETS, most of the test scores in the range of 46 to 109 on TOEFL iBT and 5.5 to 7.5 on IELTS exam.

Below is the ETS report for detailed score comparison on IELTS and TOEFL.

Unlike the GRE which is conducted by the very same ETS, TOEFL scores are not valid for 5 years. Your TOEFL score is valid for 2 years from the test date. So whenever you’ve taken the exam, your scores are valid for up-to two years from that date.

For example:

If you have taken the TOEFL test on June 20th 2019, your TOEFL score is valid until June 20th 2021. Remember you can only apply to universities within this time.

The reason behind this short TOEFL score validity is for universities to be able to be sure that you have the ability to thrive in an English-speaking country at the time of application.

A TOEFL exam score older than 2 years, no matter how good, is sadly not valid. You will need to re-take the test.

In fact, after two years, you wont be able access your score. So plan in advance and choose an appropriate TOEFL exam date so as to be able to use the TOEFL exam score as desired.

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 passage 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.

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.

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.

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.