On 21 January 2026 ETS changed TOEFL iBT: new task types in every section, an adaptive delivery, and a new score scale. Almost every TOEFL book, course and video still teaches the previous test. This lesson exists so you do not spend six weeks preparing for it.
What the test is now. About two hours in total, including directions.
- Reading — around 50 items in about 30 minutes: Complete the Words, Read in Daily Life, Read an Academic Passage.
- Listening — around 47 items in about 29 minutes: Listen and Choose a Response, Listen to a Conversation, Listen to an Announcement, Listen to an Academic Talk.
- Writing — around 12 items in about 23 minutes: Build a Sentence, Write an Email, Write for an Academic Discussion.
- Speaking — around 11 items in about 8 minutes: Listen and Repeat, Take an Interview.
It adapts. The test adjusts as you answer, so the number of items and the time can vary. Difficulty is feedback rather than failure: a section that feels hard usually means you are being placed high, and candidates who read that as going badly start rushing, which is what actually costs marks.
The score scale changed too. Four section scores and an overall score on a 1 to 6 scale in half-point increments, aligned to the CEFR. The overall is the average of the four, rounded to the nearest half band. For a two-year transition period you also receive a comparable overall score on the old 0 to 120 scale, because institutions are still rewriting their requirements.
How to spot material that is out of date. Put it down if it teaches any of these:
- a 0 to 120 total as the score you will receive
- four speaking tasks, or preparation timings of 15 or 30 seconds
- an integrated writing task where you read, listen and report the relationship
- a reading section of three long passages with about ten questions each
- a three-hour test
One task survived the change: Write for an Academic Discussion. Material on that is still good.