How to register for TOEFL in India, step by step

The registration steps

1. Create an ETS account. The same account holds your booking, your scores and your score reports.
2. Enter your name exactly as it appears on your passport, in the same order.
3. Choose your testing option — an authorised test centre, or the TOEFL iBT Home Edition.
4. Pick a date, leaving more than seven days to avoid the express registration fee.
5. Pay the US$173 registration fee, plus applicable taxes.
6. Add your score recipients — up to four, free — before 10 p.m. on the day of your test.

The 10 p.m. rule, in plain terms

Your fee includes four official score reports, but only if you name the recipients through your ETS account by 10 p.m. on your test day. Miss that and every report costs US$29.

Students routinely miss it because they want to see the score first. If you are applying to four or more universities, the saving is US$116 — add them before you test, and remember that you can send more later if the score is good.

If you are taking the Home Edition

• Check the equipment and room requirements before booking, not after.
• You need a working camera and microphone and a permitted browser setup.
• The room must be private, quiet and clear of materials, and you will show it on camera.
• Your passport is checked on camera before the test starts.

Changing or cancelling

• Rescheduling costs US$69.
• Reinstating cancelled scores costs US$20.
• Deadlines and the full policy are in the TOEFL iBT Information Bulletin, which is the document that governs — read it before you need it.