Formats of the TOEFL

Internet-based Test (iBT)
Since its introduction in late 2005, the Internet-based test (iBT) has progressively replaced both the computer-based (CBT) and paper-based (PBT) tests. 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 demand for test seats remains very high even after almost a year after the introduction of the test, candidates have to wait for months since short-term test dates are fully booked. The four-hour test consists of four sections, each measuring mainly one of the basic language skills (although some tasks may require multiple skills) and focusing on language used in an academic, higher-education environment.

The TOEFL Internet-based test emphasizes integrated skills and measures all four language skills, including speaking. The content on the test is authentic, and the language is consistent with that used in everyday, real academic settings.

The test has four sections
Reading
Listening
Speaking
Writing
• Reading measures the ability to understand academic reading matter.
• Listening measures the ability to understand English as it is used in colleges and universities.
• Speaking measures the ability to speak English.
• Writing measures the ability to write in a way that is appropriate for college and university course work.

Detailed descriptions and samples are available at the official website.

Computer-based Test (CBT)
The computer-based test was abolished on September 30th 2006. It is divided into four sections, measuring language proficiency in listening, structure (grammar), reading and writing.
1. Listening Comprehension (45-70 minutes)
  • Type of Questions: Conversations between two or more people in academic environments. Short conversations between students, and lectures may be possible conversations. Questions are basically of the who said what type.
2. Structure (grammar) (15-20 minutes)
  • Type of Questions: Identify the erroneous word(s) in the sentence. Fill in the blanks using the appropriate word.
3. Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary (70-90 minutes)
  • Type of Question: Questions are posed about content, intent of the author, and ideas inferred from each of the 3-4 passages given.
4. Essay Writing (30 minutes)
  • Type of Question: To write an essay on a given general topic, and take a position towards it.

The Listening and Structure sections are computer-adaptive, meaning that the difficulty level of each question depends on the correctness of previous responses.

Three sub scores are obtained, each of which is given on a 0-30 scale: Listening, Structure/Writing (combined), and Reading. These sub scores are averaged to obtain the final score, which is in a 0-300 scale. The Writing score is also reported separately, on a 0-6 scale.

Paper-based Test (PBT)
In areas where the iBT and CBT are not available, a paper-based test (PBT) is given. The PBT tests essentially the same skills as the CBT, albeit with some differences, noticeably the number of questions (which is higher in the PBT) and the score scales. The final PBT score ranges between 310 and 677, and is based on three sub scores: 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 from 0 to 6.