TOEFL® 2026: what changed, and how the new test is scored

The short version

On 21 January 2026, ETS changed the TOEFL® iBT. The test still has four sections, Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking, but almost everything inside them is new: shorter tasks, more of them, two sections that adapt to you, and a new score scale from 1 to 6.

If you studied with older books or videos, some of what you learned still helps (reading for the main idea, taking notes while you listen, writing a clear opinion). But the long passages, the integrated speaking tasks and the 0–120 total are no longer the centre of the test.

Old test and new test side by side

	Before 21 January 2026	From 21 January 2026
Section order	Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing	Reading, Listening, Writing, Speaking
Reading	2 passages, 20 questions	50 items, 3 task types
Listening	Lectures and conversations, 28 questions	47 items, 4 task types
Writing	2 tasks	12 items, 3 task types
Speaking	4 tasks (1 independent, 3 integrated)	11 items, 2 task types
Scores	0–30 per section, 0–120 total	1–6 per section and overall, in half steps
Adaptive?	No	Reading and Listening

ETS asks you to allow about two hours for the whole appointment. Because Reading and Listening adapt, ETS also says that test time and the items you see may vary.

The 12 task types

Section	Task type	What you do
Reading	Complete the Words	Complete partially missing words in a short text
Reading	Read in Daily Life	Read short everyday texts such as notices and messages, then answer questions
Reading	Read an Academic Passage	Read a short academic passage and answer questions on main ideas, details and vocabulary
Listening	Listen and Choose a Response	Hear a spoken prompt and choose the best reply
Listening	Listen to a Conversation	Hear a conversation, mostly about campus life
Listening	Listen to an Announcement	Hear an announcement in an academic or campus setting
Listening	Listen to an Academic Talk	Hear a short talk by a professor or expert
Writing	Build a Sentence	Put words or phrases in order to make a correct sentence or question
Writing	Write an Email	Write an email for a situation such as a request or a problem to solve
Writing	Write for an Academic Discussion	Add your opinion to an online class discussion
Speaking	Listen and Repeat	Repeat sentences exactly as you hear them
Speaking	Take an Interview	Answer an interviewer's questions about your experiences and opinions

A few details from ETS's 2026 test specifications are worth knowing before you practise:

• Recordings play once. In Listening you can take notes, but you cannot replay the audio.
• Listen and Repeat has 7 sentences that get longer and more complex as the set goes on.
• Take an Interview has 4 questions. ETS describes the questions as moving from simple factual answers towards opinions, explanations and predictions.
• Unscored items. Every test taker meets some unscored pretest questions inside either Reading or Listening. You will not know which ones they are, so treat every question as if it counts.

How the new test is scored

Bands 1 to 6, linked to CEFR

Each section gets a score from 1 to 6 in half steps (1, 1.5, 2 and so on up to 6). The overall score is the average of the four sections, rounded to the nearest half band. ETS's own example: an average of 5.25 is reported as 5.5.

ETS links each band to a level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), and the same numbers apply to every section and to the overall score:

Band	CEFR level
6	C2
5–5.5	C1
4–4.5	B2
3–3.5	B1
2–2.5	A2
1–1.5	A1

For a two-year transition after 21 January 2026, score reports also show a comparable total on the old 0–120 scale, which helps while universities update their requirements. Our guide to the band scale has the full conversion table.

Who marks what

Reading and Listening questions, and Build a Sentence, are marked automatically. Writing and Speaking responses are scored by ETS's AI scoring engine against ETS's published scoring guides. ETS says human ratings remain part of the process: the engines are trained on human ratings, and human raters provide oversight.

Each Speaking and Writing task is first scored on a 0–5 scoring guide. Those task scores are then converted into your 1–6 section band. So a "5" on one interview answer is not the same thing as a band 5 in Speaking.

Adaptive Reading and Listening

Reading and Listening are two-stage tests. Everyone takes a first module. Based on how you do in it, you get a second module whose difficulty matches your level. You cannot skip ahead or go back between the two stages, and your score takes into account both how many questions you got right and how difficult they were. Writing and Speaking are not adaptive: everyone taking the same form gets the same tasks. Our guide to adaptive Reading and Listening explains why the first module matters so much.

What to practise first

The tasks below are new for nearly everyone, so a few hours on each brings a quick return.

1. The short "foundation" tasks: Complete the Words, Build a Sentence, Listen and Repeat. They look easy, but they test spelling, grammar and pronunciation at speed. Common errors such as a missing -s or -ed cost points here quickly.
2. The first module of Reading and Listening. Accuracy in the first module decides which second module you see. Practise working carefully at the start instead of racing.
3. Take an Interview. It replaced the old independent and integrated speaking tasks. You get no reading or lecture to summarise, just a conversation with a recorded interviewer. Practise answering immediately, giving one clear point and one concrete example. Our annotated band 5 interview answer shows what that sounds like.
4. Write for an Academic Discussion. This task carried over from the old test. ETS's research report on the 2026 update says it remained unchanged. If you have practised it before, that practice still counts. Our annotated band 5 discussion post shows one in full.
5. A full mock under real timing. The new test has many short tasks back to back, and holding your concentration through all of them is a skill in its own right.

Before you book

• Check what score your university or programme asks for, and whether it lists it on the 1–6 scale, the 0–120 scale or as a CEFR level.
• Check whether the institution accepts the Home Edition and MyBest scores if you plan to use them. ETS advises confirming MyBest with each institution.
• Read the current test content pages on ets.org shortly before your test date. ETS's specifications note that details can be adjusted.

Skorway's mock reports band estimates on the same 1–6 scale. They are practice estimates, not official scores. TOEFL® is a registered trademark of ETS. Skorway is not endorsed or approved by ETS.