The Test of English as a Foreign Language or TOEFL HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English”/HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English#Key”ˈtoʊfəlHYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English”/HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Pronunciation_respelling_key”TOH-fəl, evaluates the ability of an individual to use and understand HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language”English in an academic setting. It was developed to address the problem on ensuring English language proficiency for non-native speakers wishing to study at American universities. It has become an admission requirement for HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-native_English_speaker”non-native English speakers at many English-speaking HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College”colleges and HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University”universities. Additionally, institutions such as government agencies, licensing bodies, businesses, or scholarship programs may require this test. A TOEFL score is valid for two years and then will no longer be officially reported since a candidate’s HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_proficiency”language proficiency could have significantly changed since the date of the test. Colleges and universities usually consider only the most recent TOEFL score.

Cost of the test:

The test fee depends on the test location you choose. To give you an idea, the cost ranges from US$160 to US$250. For information on registration fees, testing site locations, test dates and test formats, select your test location.

Here are other fees that may apply to you:

Late registration: US$35

Rescheduling: US$60

Reinstatement of canceled scores: US$20

Additional score reports (per institution or agency): US$17 each

Speaking or Writing Section rescore: US$60 each

Returned personal check (paper or electronic): US$20

Ready to register? Here’s how

• TOEFL® Step-by-Step
• This section explains how to register online — the easiest way to register — for the TOEFL iBT® (Internet-based test) in 3 easy steps. For other ways to register, click here.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following items with you when registering:

• ·      The identification (ID) you plan to bring with you on test day; this is because you must register using your name exactly as it appears on your ID, so they match when checked at the test site.
• ·      A credit/debit card, electronic check or TOEFL registration voucher – which you can purchase from a TOEFL iBT® Test Resource Centre in local currency. To learn more about these payment options, click here.
• ·      The names of up to four institutions you want to receive your scores.
• · The test dates and locations where you want to test.
• Once you have everything you need, there are 3 steps to registering: Select your test location, Create a profile, and Register.
• 1. Select your test location

To begin, go to www.ets.org/toefl/register and use the drop-down menu to select your location. For testing in China, register at http://toefl.etest.net.cn/ or http://www.neea.edu.cn/.

• ·      In the box marked Internet-based Test (iBT), click Register Online.
• · On the Log In page, go to the New User? Box and click Sign Up to Create a Profile.
• 2. Create a profile
• ·      Your profile allows you to return to the website to update your personal information, view your registration, reschedule or cancel your registration, view your scores, and place orders for additional score reports.
• ·      When you create your profile, you will be prompted to sign up for the TOEFL Search Service, which helps universities find students like you for their programs. Just read the Terms and Conditions and select “yes” to sign up for this free service.
• · Once you have completed all four parts of your profile, review them, make any revisions and click Confirm. You’re now on your Home Page and ready to Register for the TOEFL test.
• 3. Register for the TOEFL test
• ·      On My Home Page, find My Tests and select Register for a Test/Order Score Reports.
• ·      Under Select Product Type, click on TOEFL Test, then Continue.
• ·      Review the Before You Begin page, then click I So Sign and Agree.
• ·      Complete the remaining steps as indicated on each screen.
• · On the Thank You For Your Order page, select Print and View Your Registration Confirmation; bring this Registration Confirmation to the test site along with valid ID you used when you registered.
• For more detailed directions on creating your profile and registering, download our easy step-by-step guide now (PDF).

Important: You should return to your TOEFL profile the day before the test to check your confirmation; changes may have been made to your details (like a change in the building or start time), and your confirmation will reflect those updates. Remember, print out your Registration Confirmation to bring with you to the test site.

 5 things you should know:

•                     ·      The regular registration deadline is 7 days prior to the test date (not including the day of the test). For example, if your test date is October 13, you must register by October 6.
•                     ·      The late registration deadline is 3 days prior to the test date (not including the day of the test); you will have to pay a late fee of US$35.
•                     ·      Registration is open 24 hours a day online.
•                     ·      You can reschedule up to three full days before your test date (not including the day of the test or the day of your request); the fee is US$60.
• ·      You can pay your registration fee using a variety of methods, including credit/debit cards (American Express®, Discover®, JCB®, MasterCard® or Visa®), electronic check, and TOEFL voucher.

NOTE: Please check the TOEFL website to see if there are any payment restrictions for your location.

• ·      The TOEFL  administered via the Internet, is an important part of your journey to study in an English-speaking country.
• ·      TOEFL is administered by ETS.
• ·      TOEFL iBT test measures your ability to use and understand English at the university level.
• · It evaluates how well you combine your listening, reading, speaking and writing skills to perform academic tasks.
•  
• Policies governing the TOEFL program are formulated with advice from a 16-member board. Board members are affiliated with undergraduate and graduate schools, 2-year institutions and public or private agencies with an interest in international education. Other members are specialists in the field of English as a foreign or second language. The TOEFL Committee of Examiners is composed of 12 specialists in linguistics, language testing, teaching or research. Its main responsibility is to advise on TOEFL test content. The committee helps ensure the test is a valid measure of English language proficiency reflecting current trends and methodologies.
• The TOEFL test is a registered trademark of Educational Testing Service (ETS) and is administered worldwide.
• Formats and contents
• Internet-based Test
• Since its introduction in late 2005, the Internet-based Test (iBT) has progressively replaced both the computer-based tests (CBT) and paper-based tests (PBT), although paper-based testing is still used in select areas. The iBT has been introduced in phases, with the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and Italy in 2005 and the rest of the world in 2006, with test centers added regularly. The CBT was discontinued in September 2006 and these scores are no longer valid.
• Although initially, the demand for test seats was higher than availability, and candidates had to wait for months, it is now possible to take the test within one to four weeks in most countries. The four-hour test consists of four sections, each measuring one of the basic language skills (while some tasks require integrating multiple skills) and all tasks focus on language used in an academic, higher-education environment. Note-taking is allowed during the iBT. The test cannot be taken more than once a week.
• 1. Reading
• The Reading section consists of 3–4 passages, each approximately 700 words in length and questions about the passages. The passages are on academic topics; they are the kind of material that might be found in an undergraduate university textbook. Passages require an understanding of rhetorical functions such as cause-effect, compare-contrast, and argumentation. Students answer questions about main ideas, details, inferences, essential information, sentence insertion, vocabulary, rhetorical purpose and overall ideas. New types of questions in the iBT require filling out tables or completing summaries. Prior knowledge of the subject under discussion is not necessary to come to the correct answer.
• 2. Listening
• The Listening section consists of six passages 3–5 minutes in length and questions about the passages. These passages include two student conversations and four academic lectures or discussions. A conversation involves two speakers, a student and either a professor or a campus service provider. A lecture is a self-contained portion of an academic lecture, which may involve student participation and does not assume specialized background knowledge in the subject area. Each conversation and lecture stimulus is heard only once. Test-takers may take notes while they listen and they may refer to their notes when they answer the questions. Each conversation is associated with five questions and each lecture with six. The questions are meant to measure the ability to understand main ideas, important details, implications, relationships between ideas, an organization of information, speaker purpose and speaker attitude.

One of the sections of the test will include extra, uncounted material. HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_Testing_Service”Educational Testing Service includes extra material in order to pilot test questions for future test forms. When test-takers are given a longer section, they should give equal effort to all of the questions because they do not know which question will count and which will be considered extra. For example, if there are four reading passages instead of three, then three of those passages will count and one of the passages will not be counted. Any of the four passages could be the uncounted one.

Paper-based Test

In areas where the internet-based test is not available, a paper-based test (PBT) is given. Test takers must register in advance either online or by using the registration form provided in the Supplemental Paper TOEFL Bulletin. They should register in advance of the given deadlines to ensure a place because the test centers have limited seating and may fill up early. Tests are administered on fixed dates 6 times each year.

The test is 3 hours long and all test sections can be taken on the same day. Students can take the test as many times as they wish. However, colleges and universities usually consider only the most recent score.

1. Listening (30 – 40 minutes)

The Listening section consists of 3 parts. The first one contains 30 questions about short conversations. The second part has 8 questions about longer conversations. The last part asks 12 questions about lectures or talks.

2. Structure and Written Expression (25 minutes)

The Structure and Written Expression section has 15 exercises of completing sentences correctly and 25 exercises of identifying errors.

3. Reading Comprehension (55 minutes)

The Reading Comprehension section has 50 questions about reading passages.

4. Writing (30 minutes)

The Writing section is one essay with 250–300 words in average.

Test scores

Internet-based Test

• The iBT version of the TOEFL test is scored on a scale of 0 to 120 points.
• Each of the four sections (Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing) receives a scaled score from 0 to 30. The scaled scores from the four sections are added together to determine the total score.
• Each speaking question is initially given a score of 0 to 4, and each writing question is initially given a score of 0 to 5. These scores are converted to scaled scores of 0 to 30.

Paper-based Test

• The final PBT score ranges between 310 and 677 and is based on three subscores: Listening (31–68), Structure (31–68), and Reading (31–67). Unlike the CBT, the score of the Writing section (referred to as the Test of Written English, TWE) is not part of the final score; instead, it is reported separately on a scale of 0–6.
• The score test takers receive on the Listening, Structure and Reading parts of the TOEFL test is not the percentage of correct answers. The score is converted to take into account the fact that some tests are more difficult than others. The converted scores correct these differences. Therefore, the converted score is a more accurate reflection of the ability than the correct answer score is.

Accepted TOEFL Scores

Most colleges use TOEFL scores as only one factor in their admission process. Each college or program within a college often has a minimum TOEFL score required. The minimum TOEFL iBT scores range from 61 (Bowling Green State University) to 100 (MIT, Columbia, Harvard). A sampling of required TOEFL admissions scores shows that a total TOEFL iBT score of 74.2 for undergraduate admissions and 82.6 for graduate admissions may be required.

ETS has released tables to convert between iBT, CBT and PBT scores.

TOEFL Junior

ETS also offers the TOEFL Junior, a general assessment of middle school-level English language proficiency, and a distinct product within the TOEFL family. The TOEFL Junior is available only to students of ages 11–14 and is not considered a predictor of a student’s regular TOEFL score.

Linking TOEFL iBT Scores to IELTS Scores

The TOEFL® Test Gives You an Advantage:

Most Widely Accepted, Most Popular and Most Convenient Choice

The TOEFL® test is the most widely respected English-language test in the world, recognized by more than 8,500 colleges, universities and agencies in more than 130 countries. Wherever you want to study, the TOEFL test can help you get there.

Discover the TOEFL test advantage >

Learn why you should study abroad >

Who Accepts TOEFL Scores >

TOEFL Scholarship Program

Why Take the TOEFL® Test?

The TOEFL® Test Gives You Advantages

More Choices

More than 8,500 colleges, universities and agencies in more than 130 countries rely on TOEFL® test scores to help make admissions decisions. To learn more, see HYPERLINK “http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/about/who_accepts_scores”Who Accepts TOEFL Scores.

More Convenient

You can take the TOEFL test at your choice of more than 4,500 conveniently located test sites in more than 165 countries worldwide. You also save time and money since the entire test is given in one day, rather than coming back a second day like some other tests.

Measures Academic Skills

The TOEFL test helps prove you have the English skills you will actually use in an academic classroom. In the test, you may read a passage from a textbook and listen to a lecture and then speak or write in response, just like you would in a classroom. Because the test is composed of 100% academic questions and tasks, many universities consider it the most appropriate test to use when making admissions decisions.

Rates Speaking More Fairly

Sure, you can take a test with a Speaking interview, but what if your interviewer has a bad day and rates you lower than you deserve? With the TOEFL test, there’s no doubt your score is more objective and reliable, because Speaking responses are recorded and evaluated by three to six ETS raters rather than only one rater from a local testing site.

Scores Help You Stand Out

TOEFL test scores help you stand out because of the TOEFL test’s reputation for quality, fairness and 100% academic content. It is the most widely accepted English-language test in the world, including more than 8,500 colleges, universities, agencies and other institutions in 130 countries. And that list includes the top 100 universities in the world.

By sending TOEFL scores to your selected university, you will be proving that you are ready for academic success.

TOEFL® Scholarship Program in India

TOEFL scholarships let you study at the university of your choice.

2012 TOEFL Scholarships Available (Application Deadline: April 13, 2012)

• Four (4) US$10,000 scholarships available: one to colleges/universities in the United Kingdom, one to colleges/universities in the United States, one to colleges/universities in Australia and one to colleges/universities in Canada
• Six (6) US$5,000 scholarships available to any location

TOEFL® Winners: News & More

The TOEFL® test has opened the door for students all over the world to experience outstanding educational opportunities. Here you can find news about our scholarship winners — those students who have won TOEFL Scholarships all over the world.

TOEFL Scholarship Winners

India

The Hindu — “I discovered my Interest in skiing in Prague” (PDF)

Hindustani Times — Studying  abroad  on a scholarship

Hindustan — Sapno Ko Lage Pankh (PDF)

The Deccan Chronicle — Kovai Techie Gets TOEFL Scholarship (PDF)

The Hindu — Small Town Girl Makes It Big in LA

The Times of India — Practice Perfect (PDF)