The New TOEFL iBT® Test in 2026: What Changed and How It Works

In short

• Four sections, in this order: Reading, Listening, Writing, Speaking. The test itself takes about an hour and a half; ETS says to allow about two hours, with the directions.
• Twelve task types, most of them new, with shorter texts and recordings than before.
• Reading and Listening adapt to you: how you do in the first part decides whether the second part is easier or harder.
• Scores are bands from 1 to 6 in half steps, each with a CEFR level, instead of 0–120. For two years, score reports also show a comparable 0–120 score.
• Scores reach your ETS account 3 days after the test.

The test at a glance

ETS's approximate times, without the directions. Reading and Listening include a few unscored questions ETS is trying out, and because those sections adapt, your exact numbers can differ.

What changed from the old test

The biggest change for how you practice: the integrated tasks, where you read and listen and then write or speak about both, are gone. In their place are many short tasks that each test one thing, from spelling a word correctly to answering an interviewer on the spot. The Academic Discussion is the one writing or speaking task that carries over from the old test.

Reading

• Complete the Words: fill in the missing letters of words in a short paragraph. It tests vocabulary and how well you use context.
• Read in Daily Life: short everyday texts such as notices, emails, menus, or social media posts, each with two or three questions.
• Read an Academic Passage: a short passage like one from a university course, with questions on the main idea, details, and vocabulary.

The text stays on screen while you answer, and you don't need to know the topic beforehand. Everyone takes the same first module, of about 18–21 minutes. It decides your second module, about 9 minutes long, which is easier or harder depending on how the first one went.

Task guides: Complete the Words,Read in Daily Life, andRead an Academic Passage.

Listening

• Listen and Choose a Response: hear one line and pick the most natural reply.
• Listen to a Conversation: a short conversation, mostly about campus life.
• Listen to an Announcement: an announcement in a class or on campus. Questions ask about its purpose, key information, and what happens next.
• Listen to an Academic Talk: a short talk by a professor or expert.

Each recording plays once, and you can take notes. You may hear accents from North America, the U.K., New Zealand, or Australia; ETS uses AI-generated voices and sometimes human voice actors. The first module takes about 18 minutes, and the second about 7 minutes if it's the easier one or 11 if it's the harder one.

Task guide: all four Listening task types.

Writing

• Build a Sentence (10 items): put words and phrases in order to make a correct sentence or question.
• Write an Email: write an email for a campus or social situation, such as making a request, giving information, or proposing a solution.
• Write for an Academic Discussion: add a post to an online class discussion, giving and supporting your opinion and responding to classmates.

You type everything, in about 23 minutes for the whole section. ETS says scoring looks at how clearly you get your ideas across, not at a perfect first draft.

Task guides: Build a Sentence, andtemplates for the email and the discussion post.

Speaking

• Listen and Repeat (7 sentences): hear a sentence and say it back exactly. The sentences get longer and more complex as you go.
• Take an Interview (4 questions): answer an interviewer's questions on an academic or campus topic, moving from your own experience to your opinions.

The section takes about 8 minutes, and you answer each question straight away, with no separate preparation time.

Task guides: Listen and Repeat andTake an Interview.

How it's scored

• Each section, and the test overall, gets a band from 1 to 6 in half steps, with a CEFR level from A1 to C2.
• The overall band is the average of the four sections, rounded to the nearest half band: an average of 5.125 becomes 5, and 5.25 becomes 5.5.
• For two years after January 2026, reports also show a comparable 0–120 score: the midpoint of the band's range on the old scale. A 4.5 comes with a 90.
• Reading, Listening, and Build a Sentence are scored automatically. ETS's blueprint lists the email, the discussion post, and the Speaking answers as scored by AI.
• Scores appear in your ETS account 3 days after the test, with a PDF report 24–48 hours later. They're valid for two years.

To see what your scores, or a school's 0–120 requirement, mean on the new scale, use our score converter.

Test-day rules worth knowing

• There are no scheduled breaks.
• You can take notes: on scratch paper with a pencil at a test center, or at home on a small whiteboard or a sheet of paper in a clear sheet protector, with an erasable marker.
• Phones and writing assistance software aren't allowed.
• Answer at least one question in every section. If you skip a section completely, none of the test is scored.
• You can take the test at a test center, or at home with the Home Edition, watched by a live human proctor.

What to bring and how check-in works are in the test-day checklist, and every fee is in what the test costs.

How to prepare for the new format

Material written for the old test doesn't cover tasks like Complete the Words, Build a Sentence, Listen and Repeat, or Take an Interview, so practice those task types directly. Practice under the real time limits, and take at least one full test before test day: the new test is shorter, but it moves quickly from one task to the next with no break. A full mock test also shows which task types cost you the most points, which is where practice pays off fastest.