All about the TOEFL iBT
Four sections and twelve task types in about ninety minutes, scored on a six-band scale.
The TOEFL iBT was redesigned for tests taken from 21 January 2026. The new format runs about ninety minutes across Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking, with shorter, more varied tasks than the previous three-hour test.
Reading and Listening are adaptive: each is delivered in two modules, and how you do in the first decides the difficulty of the second.
- Book a test centre appointment or the at-home delivery.
- Sit the four sections in one session of about ninety minutes.
- Receive band scores per section and overall on the new six-band scale.
Flowy gives you one place for everything the TOEFL iBT format asks of you, and walks you through the preparation so test day holds no surprises.
The TOEFL iBT is open to any candidate who needs to prove their English for study, work or migration — there is no prerequisite beyond booking a seat.
Practice sets, full mocks and expert-reviewed feedback all sit under one login, so the hours you spend preparing land on the parts of the TOEFL iBT that actually move your score.
Important things you need to know about the TOEFL iBT format:
- Total testing time is about ninety minutes.
- Scores are reported as bands from 1 to 6, in half-band steps.
- Reading and Listening each run as two modules, the second adapting to the first.
- Twelve task types spread across the four sections.
- Writing includes an email, an academic discussion post and a sentence-building task.
- To know more about the format, try out a free mock test on Flowy.
To know more about the TOEFL iBT format — try out a free mock test on Flowy
Major aspects of different modules of TOEFL iBT structure
- Section 1
Reading
about 30 minutes
- Complete the Words
- Read in Daily Life
- Read an Academic Passage
- Two adaptive modules
- Section 2
Listening
about 29 minutes
- Listen and Choose a Response
- Listen to a Conversation
- Listen to an Announcement
- Listen to an Academic Talk
- Section 3
Writing
23 minutes
- Build a Sentence
- Write an Email
- Write for an Academic Discussion
- Section 4
Speaking
about 8 minutes
- Listen and Repeat
- Take an Interview
How does the TOEFL iBT format test a candidate's knowledge from each module?
Reading
Short everyday texts and academic passages, delivered adaptively — accuracy in the first module raises the level of the second.
Listening
Conversations, announcements and academic talks, answered on a per-question clock once the audio ends.
Writing
A sentence-building warm-up, then two authored responses — an email and a discussion post — scored against the official task criteria.
Speaking
Repeat-after-audio sentences and a scripted interview, scored from your recordings for pronunciation, fluency and content.
TOEFL iBT
Score Guide
01
Readingabout 30 minutes
Fill letter gaps in a short text.
02
Listeningabout 29 minutes
Pick the natural reply to a short exchange.
- Listen to a Conversation
- Listen to an Announcement
03
Writing23 minutes
Arrange word tiles into a correct sentence.
04
Speakingabout 8 minutes
Reproduce sentences you hear, one at a time.
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