TOEFL iBT
Sources
Everything this course cites. Every source is on an official site: ets.org.
- 2026–2027 TOEFL iBT Information BulletinETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · Policies in effect July 2026 to June 2027: no limit on retakes but not more than once in a 3-day period; no scheduled breaks; scratch-paper rules; unofficial scores; score reviews; score validity; MyBest scores.
- At Home Testing Requirements for the TOEFL iBT TestETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · Equipment (desktop or laptop, one screen, no headsets), room and note-taking rules for the Home Edition: a small whiteboard or one sheet in a transparent sheet protector, with an erasable marker, erased at the end.
- Teacher Frequently Asked Questions for TOEFL iBT EnhancementsETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · Pretest items appear in either Reading or Listening; how the two stages work (no skipping or going back between stages); IRT equating for Reading and Listening; AI scoring of Speaking and Writing trained on and overseen by human ratings; note-taking materials; about 2 hours in all.
- Test Preparation for the TOEFL iBT TestETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · ETS's preparation hub: a free interactive sample, two free full-length practice tests for the January 2026 test, and ETS's paid practice products.
- TOEFL iBT Home EditionETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · Home Edition rules and guidelines: room preparation, one screen, no headphones, stay on camera, no talking except in the Speaking section, no breaks, room scan.
- TOEFL iBT Lesson Plans: ListeningETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · Teacher materials: two questions per conversation and per announcement; four per academic talk, which is heard once; the first talk question is about the main point and the rest generally follow the order of the talk; announcements are set in academic contexts.
- TOEFL iBT Lesson Plans: ReadingETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · Teacher materials: Complete the Words has 10 words to complete; Read in Daily Life texts of 15–150 words with up to 3 questions; Read an Academic Passage of about 200 words with up to 5 questions.
- TOEFL iBT Lesson Plans: SpeakingETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · Teacher materials: seven sentences, heard one at a time and only once, each followed by a short pause; four interview questions about experiences and opinions.
- TOEFL iBT Lesson Plans: WritingETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · Teacher materials: 7 minutes for the email and 10 for the discussion post; a recommended minimum of 100 words for the discussion post; a word counter for both tasks; no spell-check on any Writing task.
- TOEFL iBT Listening SectionETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · The four Listening task types and what each measures; notes are allowed; accents from North America, the U.K., New Zealand or Australia. (The page's introduction says 'two task types' and then lists four.)
- TOEFL iBT Reading SectionETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · The three Reading task types and what each measures; all information needed is in the text; no prior knowledge of the topic is needed.
- TOEFL iBT Speaking SectionETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · The two Speaking task types (Listen and Repeat; Take an Interview); responses are recorded through a microphone; campus and academic scenarios.
- TOEFL iBT Test Content and StructureETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · The section table (Reading 50 items, about 30 minutes; Listening 47, about 29; Writing 12, about 23; Speaking 11, about 8), the advice to allow about two hours, test center and Home Edition delivery, the 1–6 scoring summary, and the FAQ: notes are allowed, no writing-assistance software, no scheduled breaks, and a test is scored only if every section is attempted.
- TOEFL iBT Test: 2026 Update Test Blueprint and Specifications DocumentETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · Items by task type (Reading: Complete the Words 30, Read in Daily Life 5–15, Read an Academic Passage 5–15; Listening: Choose a Response 15–19, Conversation 10, Announcement 6–10, Academic Talk 8–16; Writing: Build a Sentence 10, one email, one discussion; Speaking: Listen and Repeat 7, Take an Interview 4); router and second-module times; minimum and maximum test time (1 hr 23 min to 1 hr 29 min); machine-scored and AI-scored items; unscored items in Reading and Listening; text and audio lengths; recordings played once. Dated December 2025 and marked as subject to minor revision before launch.
- TOEFL iBT Writing SectionETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · The three Writing task types; responses are typed; scoring focuses on clear, effective communication, not a perfect first draft.
- TOEFL Sample Test Jan 2026 – 1 (Full-Length Practice Test 1)ETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · ETS's free full-length practice test for the updated test.
- TOEFL Sample Test Jan 2026 – 2 (Full-Length Practice Test 2)ETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · ETS's second free full-length practice test for the updated test.
- TOEFL Score Scale Update: A Guide for InstitutionsETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · The 1–6 scale and its CEFR alignment; the rounding examples (5.125 gives 5, 5.25 gives 5.5); the comparable 0–120 score as the midpoint of its range; ETS's recommended requirement equivalents (100 to 5, 90 to 4.5, 80 to 4, 70 to 3.5); section-by-section 0–30 to 1–6 tables; CEFR descriptors for each band.
- Understanding TOEFL iBT Score Displays in 2026ETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · ETS blog, 12 June 2026: through January 2028 every score report shows the 1–6 scores and a comparable 0–120 estimate; institutions are updating their requirements at different speeds.
- Understanding Your TOEFL iBT ScoresETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · No passing score; scores in your ETS account 3 days after the test; valid 2 years; four free score reports; the 1–6 scale from 21 January 2026 and its rounding; the comparable 0–120 total; the comparison table for tests taken before 21 January 2026; MyBest scores; Speaking and Writing score reviews within 30 days; unofficial Reading and Listening scores at the end of the test.
- Updated TOEFL iBT Test Overview (2026)ETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · Section order; the multistage design of Reading and Listening; a description of every task type (text and talk lengths, number of questions, the 7- and 10-minute writing tasks, the 8–12-second repeat window and 45-second interview answers); raw and band score ranges; the CEFR mapping and the 0–120 concordance; ETS's scoring guides for Write an Email, Write for an Academic Discussion, Listen and Repeat and Take an Interview. Also contains ETS's own sample tasks, which this course links to and never reproduces.
- Updated TOEFL iBT Test Overview (July 2025 edition)ETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · An earlier, pre-launch edition still posted on ets.org. It gives different figures (Reading 35–48 items in about 27 minutes; Listening 35–45 items in about 18 to 27 minutes) and says the number of items might change before 21 January 2026. Cited only to explain why older figures circulate; the course follows the 2026 documents.
- What to Expect When You Test at a Test CenterETS · accessed 2026-11-09 · ID, arriving at least 30 minutes early, prohibited items, unofficial Reading and Listening scores at the end, and the choice to report or cancel scores.