There are two main versions of the TOEFL exam, TOEFL PBT and TOEFL iBT. Today we are going to cover the format for the TOEFL iBT version.
As you probably already know, the TOEFL iBT test consists of four different sections that test various English language skills. The sections consist of: reading comprehension, listening comprehension, a speaking section and a writing section.
TOEFL Score
The TOEFL test score is between a scale of 0 to 120. Each section gives you a score between 0 to 30. Your score from the different sections are added together to give you your total score.
Listening 0-30
Reading 0-30
Speaking 0-30
Writing 0-30
Total 0-120
The difficulty level of the questions remains the same all through out the test and each question is worth the same amount of points.
TOEFL Reading Section
You will be allowed 60 minutes to read three reading passages and complete the questions. Each reading passage will have a 20 minute time limit. The questions are grouped together with the paragraph in question so you don't need to go back and skim over the full text. Sometimes the text will provide you with a hyperlink with definition for words that’s unfamiliar. To learn more about the TOEFL reading section click here.
TOEFL Listening Section
The next section on the TOEFL will be the Listening section. The listening section takes about 60 minutes to complete. You will be allowed to take notes on the TOEFL listening section so use that to your advantage. Each lecture last about 3-5 minutes while conversations tends to be a little shorter. To learn some TOEFL listening tips and tactics click here.
TOEFL Speaking Section
The TOEFL speaking section lasts for about 20 minutes. The questions will follow two different formats:
Independent tasks where you give your opinion on a topic for up to 60 seconds
Integrated task where you have to use information from sources provided to you by the test. You will have to answer 6 different questions in the TOEFL speaking section. To learn TOEFL speaking tips and tactics click here.
TOEFL Writing Section
The TOEFL writing section includes two different tasks: an integrated task is where you will base your essay from a lecture and independent task where you support your opinion on a topic.
The TOEFL writing section takes about 50 minutes to complete, 20 minutes on the integrated task and 30 minutes on the independent task. To learn TOEFL writing tips and tactics click here.
Remember that you will be given a 10 minutes break after the TOEFL listening section, so that might be a good time to visit the restroom and get a quick snack.