TOEFL iBT Test Content - A Breakdown of Test Sections

Test Section and Timing Overview

Use the table below to view the breakdown of each TOEFL iBT test section.

Test Section	Task type	Number of items	Approx. Base Time
Reading	Complete the Words Read in Daily Life Read an Academic Passage	50	30
Listening	Listen and Choose a Response Listen to a Conversation Listen to an Announcement Listen to an Academic Talk	47	29
Writing	Build a Sentence Write an Email Write for an Academic Discussion	12	23
Speaking	Listen and Repeat Take an Interview	11	8

Test time does not include directions. Please allow approximately two hours to complete the test. As the test adapts, test time and items may vary.

Visit our resources hub to prepare for the TOEFL iBT test.

The TOEFL iBT test is offered two ways:

TOEFL iBT test: on a computer at an authorized test center
TOEFL iBT Home Edition: on a computer at home, monitored by a live human proctor

Receive four section scores, as well as an overall score, on the 1 – 6 scale.
The overall score will be the average of all four sections, rounded to the nearest half band (for example, if the average of a student's section scores is 5.125, they will receive an overall score of 5).
For a two-year transition period after January 2026, students will also receive a comparable overall score on the 0 – 120 scale.
For more details on scoring visit our Score Guidance page.