Is there Integrated Writing on the TOEFL in 2026? What replaced it, and what to keep
TOEFL Integrated Writing was removed on January 21, 2026. What the old task was, what replaced it, which of your old practice still helps, and what to drop.
Updated November 7, 2026 · 6 min read
The short answer
No. Integrated Writing was removed from the TOEFL® iBT on January 21, 2026, and nothing in the new Writing section asks you to read or listen before you write. The section now has three task types: Build a Sentence, Write an Email and Write for an Academic Discussion, 12 items in about 23 minutes. If a book, a video or a practice test asks you to summarize a lecture against a reading passage, it is teaching the old test.
What the old task was
Integrated Writing was the first of two Writing tasks from 2005 until January 2026. You read a short academic passage, about 250 to 300 words, for three minutes. Then you heard a lecture of about two minutes on the same topic, usually a professor casting doubt on each of the passage's three points. Then you had 20 minutes to write a summary of how the lecture answered the reading, with 150 to 225 words suggested. Your opinion was not wanted: the task scored how accurately you reported the lecture's points and connected them to the reading.
It was the most template-driven task on the test. A typical answer began "The reading and the lecture both discuss…; the lecturer casts doubt on the claims made in the passage", then took one paragraph per point.
What the Writing section looks like now
| Until January 2026 | Since January 21, 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tasks | Integrated Writing, academic discussion | Build a Sentence, Write an Email, academic discussion |
| Items | 2 | 12 |
| Time | about 30 minutes | about 23 minutes |
| Reading or listening first | Yes, in Integrated Writing | No |
| Longest text | the integrated summary, 150 to 225 words | the discussion post, at least 100 words |
| Score | 0 to 30 | band 1 to 6 |
The academic discussion is the one task that survived, on the same 10-minute clock. Build a Sentence asks you to order word chunks into a reply, ten items in about six minutes. Write an Email gives you a situation and three things to do, in seven minutes. Our Writing section guide covers all three and how the band is made.
What still helps from your old practice
If you prepared for the old test, not all of it is lost.
- Paraphrasing. The new scoring guide still marks down language copied from the prompt, in the email and in the discussion post. The habit of restating a point in your own words transfers directly.
- Note-taking from lectures. Lectures moved to the Listening section. Listen to an Academic Talk plays a short lecture once and asks questions about it, and notes still help there. Our Listening section guide has a talk to try.
- Clear paragraphs. One point per paragraph, with a detail under it, is exactly what a 5 email looks like: one paragraph for each of the three bullets.
- Grammar accuracy. Every Writing scoring level still counts errors in structure and word forms.
What to drop
- Summary templates. "The lecturer casts doubt on…" has no place to go. The email needs a greeting, a sign-off and a register that fits the reader; the discussion post needs your own opinion.
- The 20-minute rhythm. No task on the new test is longer than 10 minutes. Practice writing 100 to 150 words in seven to ten minutes.
- Contrast vocabulary for reading versus lecture. "Refutes", "challenges the notion", "contradicts the passage" were Integrated Writing words. The email asks for requests, apologies and suggestions instead.
- Old practice tests for Writing. Their Reading, Listening and Speaking are out of date too. Use material built for the 2026 format.
What is new and worth the most time
Build a Sentence is half of the raw Writing score: ten items marked right or wrong, as much as the email and the discussion post together. It tests the word order of questions ("Have you asked her yet?", "Do you know when it opens?"), which learners who wrote long essays for the old test often never practiced on its own. Spend your first week of Writing practice there. Our Build a Sentence guide has five items to try in the page.
Did TOEFL remove Integrated Writing?
Yes, on January 21, 2026. The Writing section is now Build a Sentence, Write an Email and Write for an Academic Discussion.
Did the independent essay come back?
No. The 30-minute independent essay was replaced by the academic discussion in July 2023, and the 2026 test did not bring it back.
Is a TOEFL score from before 2026 still valid?
A TOEFL score is valid for two years from the test date, whichever format it was taken on. Our score converter puts an old 0 to 120 total on the new 1 to 6 band scale.
Practice the Writing section that is on the test now
If your practice so far was built around the old test, the fastest way to see the gap is to take the new one. Skorway's free Test Tour is the whole 2026 test at your own pace, so you see the three Writing tasks above, and the sections around them, as the test shows them. A mock puts the Writing section on its real clocks, with the other three sections built to the same 2026 specification. Your email and discussion post are each scored twice, independently, and come back with a band for every criterion, your errors quoted with corrections, and the text rewritten one band higher. The report lists every Build a Sentence item you built next to the correct sentence. A few minutes after the mock you have a Writing band on the 1 to 6 scale and a band for every other section.
Correct for the TOEFL iBT as it runs on November 7, 2026.