TOEFL format
What changed in the 2026 TOEFL
ETS launched a redesigned, adaptive TOEFL iBT on 21 January 2026. Most preparation advice online still describes the test it replaced. This page sets out what actually changed, what your score now looks like, and the two differences that catch prepared candidates out.
The four changes that matter
- The score is a band from 1 to 6 for each section, not 0 to 30. A comparable 0 to 120 total is still printed during the transition.
- Reading and Listening are adaptive. How you do early decides which second module you get, and that shapes the difficulty and content of the second half.
- The long tasks are gone. No 700 word passages, no long lectures, no 20 minute integrated essay.
- It is shorter and denser. Roughly 85 to 90 minutes of testing with no scheduled break, in a fixed order: Reading, Listening, Writing, Speaking.
The format at a glance
| Section | Mode | Items | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | Adaptive | 35 scored | ~30 min |
| Listening | Adaptive | 35 scored | ~29 min |
| Writing | Linear | 12 | ~23 min |
| Speaking | Linear | 11 | ~8 min |
Reading and Listening also contain unscored tryout items mixed in with the real ones, so you may answer more questions than the scored counts above. You cannot tell which is which, which is the point. The full appointment runs to about two hours once check-in and instructions are included.
What went, section by section
Reading
The 700 word passages are gone.
Short academic passages of roughly 150 to 250 words, everyday texts such as notices and messages, and a new opener called Complete the Words where you type missing letters back into a damaged paragraph.
Listening
The long lectures are gone.
Short conversations, announcements and academic talks, plus a quick Listen and Choose a Response task. Each question carries its own countdown.
Writing
The 20 minute integrated essay is gone.
Ten Build a Sentence word ordering items, a short email, and the academic discussion post. The sentence items are half the section.
Speaking
The four independent and integrated tasks are gone.
Seven Listen and Repeat items and a four question interview. There is no preparation time anywhere in the section.
If your university still asks for a score out of 120
You are not stuck. For two years after 21 January 2026, official score reports also show a comparable score on the previous 0 to 120 scale, precisely so that institutions quoting older requirements can still read your report. ETS provides an official concordance table between the new bands and the old totals. Roughly, your overall band lines up like this:
| Band | Old total | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | 114 | Native-like command. |
| 5.5 | 107+ | Well above most requirements. |
| 5 | 95+ | Comfortable for competitive admissions. |
| 4.5 | 86+ | Above the usual working level. |
| 4 | 72+ | The level most universities accept. |
| 3.5 | 58+ | Below most degree requirements. |
| 3 | 44+ | Well below degree requirements. |
| 2.5 | 34+ | Below degree level. |
| 2 | 24+ | Early stage. |
| 1.5 | 12+ | Beginner. |
| 1 | 0+ | Starting out. |
Treat this as a guide for planning, not a promise. This is ETS’s official concordance between the band scale and the old totals, a matched comparison rather than a simple arithmetic conversion, and the number on your report is the one that counts.
Two things that catch people out
The adaptive routing shapes the second half
Reading and Listening run in two stages. Your first module decides whether the second is the harder or the easier set, which shapes the difficulty and content of the questions you then see. The opening questions carry more weight than their number suggests, so it is worth arriving warmed up rather than treating the first few as a chance to settle in.
You mostly cannot go back, and Speaking gives you no thinking time
Outside Reading and the Build a Sentence group there is no Back button. Once you click Next, that question is closed, and leftover time in Listening cannot be spent elsewhere. Speaking has no preparation time at any point: the prompt ends and you answer. Both are habits you can rehearse, and both punish people who trained on the old format.
Common questions
- When did the TOEFL change?
- ETS launched the updated, adaptive TOEFL iBT on 21 January 2026. It replaced the shorter format introduced in 2023. If you sat the test before that date, you took a different exam with different tasks and a different score report.
- Is the TOEFL still scored out of 120?
- Not primarily. Each section is now reported on a 1 to 6 band and your overall score is the average of the four, rounded to the nearest half band - the official ETS rule. For two years after 21 January 2026, official reports also show a comparable score on the previous 0 to 120 scale, using an official ETS concordance table, so institutions still quoting old requirements can read your result. The concordance is a matched comparison, not a simple arithmetic conversion.
- Is the new TOEFL adaptive?
- Reading and Listening are, in two stages. Your performance on the first module decides whether the second is the easier or the harder set, which shapes the difficulty and content of the second module. Writing and Speaking are linear: everyone gets the same tasks.
- Is the new TOEFL easier than the old one?
- It is shorter, at roughly 85 to 90 minutes of testing rather than about two hours, and the 700 word passages, long lectures and 20 minute integrated essay are gone. It is not obviously easier. There is no preparation time anywhere in Speaking, most of the test is forward-only with no way back to a previous question, and the adaptive routing means your first-module answers shape the difficulty of what comes next.
See the new format for yourself
Reading about Complete the Words or Listen and Repeat is not the same as meeting them under a clock. A practice test runs the updated format end to end and returns a band for each section, so you find out which one is holding your average down before it costs you anything.
Practice bands are an estimate to help you prepare. They are not an ETS score and are not reported to anyone.