The TOEFL iBT test from January 2026 · L'examen TOEFL iBT de janvier 2026
Forty correct answers do not measure four skills
- In an original fixed drill, Lina answers 40 of 50 Reading items correctly. That is 80% on this drill. She has not heard its audio, written an email or recorded speech; the result cannot establish those skills or an official TOEFL score.
- Use the four-section map to choose evidence: Reading needs text and answers, Listening needs audio and answers, Writing needs typed responses, and Speaking needs recorded spoken responses. A silent microphone is very good at keeping secrets.
Lina gets 40 of 50 items correct in the original fixed drill. What is her raw percentage on that drill?
40 ÷ 50 × 100 = 80%. This is drill accuracy, not an official TOEFL section score.
Adaptivity belongs to two sections
- In the updated TOEFL iBT introduced on 21 January 2026, Reading and Listening use two-stage adaptivity: earlier performance helps determine a later module. This does not mean you choose a difficulty or that every question changes after one answer.
- Writing and Speaking are linear for a given form. A fixed school drill can practise useful skills without reproducing ETS routing or scoring; compare your error types across drills rather than treating raw percentages as bands.
What does two-stage adaptivity in updated TOEFL iBT Reading and Listening mean?
Reading and Listening use two-stage adaptivity. Writing and Speaking are linear for a given form; adaptivity is not a candidate difficulty setting.
All four updated TOEFL iBT sections use two-stage adaptivity.
Reading and Listening do. Writing and Speaking are linear for a given form.
Match task names to the response
- Reading includes Complete the Words · Compléter les mots, Read in Daily Life · Lire dans la vie quotidienne and · et Read an Academic Passage · Lire un texte académique. Listening includes a response choice, a conversation, an announcement and an academic talk. Identify what the task asks you to do before choosing a practice method.
- Writing includes Build a Sentence · Construire une phrase, Write an Email · Rédiger un email and · et Write for an Academic Discussion · Écrire pour une discussion académique. Speaking includes Listen and Repeat and · et Take an Interview. Hearing a sentence does not make Listen and Repeat a Listening-section task: you must say it back.
Match each task to its section.
Listen and Repeat is a Speaking task, even though it starts with listening.
A base time is not an appointment length
- ETS lists approximate section bases of 30, 29, 23 and 8 minutes, in Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking order, with 50, 47, 12 and 11 items. These bases sum to 90 minutes; directions are excluded, and adaptivity can change time and items.
- ETS asks candidates to allow about two hours. Use that for planning the test session, rather than assuming the 90-minute sum is the whole appointment. Check your booked test version and instructions; these lessons cover the updated iBT format.
Add the four published approximate base times: 30 + 29 + 23 + 8 minutes.
The bases sum to 90 minutes. Directions are excluded, and ETS asks candidates to allow about two hours.
Which conclusion follows from the 90-minute sum of section base times?
Base section times exclude directions; adaptive time and items may vary. They do not fix appointment length or equal time per item.
A practice percentage is not a reported band
- The report uses 1–6, in half-point steps, for sections and overall. The overall averages all four sections and rounds to the nearest half: 5.25 becomes 5.5. Scores 5–5.5 align with CEFR C1; acceptance still depends on the receiving organisation.
- During the two-year transition from January 2026, reports also include a comparable 0–120 overall. Use the report and current receiving policy, not 80% multiplied by 6 or 120. The next lesson checks rounding and comparison ranges.
Your section scores average 5.25. What overall score does your report show?
The overall score is the average rounded to the nearest half band: 5.25 becomes 5.5.
A score of 5 to 5.5 lines up with CEFR level C1.
1 to 1.5 is A1, 4 to 4.5 is B2, 5 to 5.5 is C1 and 6 is C2.
During the two-year transition from January 2026, reports also include a comparable overall from 0 to ___.
The comparable overall is on the 0–120 scale. Use the report and the receiving policy rather than treating a practice percentage as a comparable score.
Turn the missing evidence into a plan
- Lina adds an audio task and checks which instruction she missed, writes an email for a named reader, and records an interview answer to review relevance and clarity. Keep each result attached to its activity; finishing one task does not certify the whole skill.
- Recap: identify the response, practise all four skills and keep raw accuracy separate from official scores. Facts checked on 2 October 2026: ETS content and timing, ETS test specifications, ETS score scale.
- Match practice to the evidence it can produce. Our fixed exercises are original teaching checks, not adaptive ETS items or score predictions.
Match the three distinctions from the worked case.
Use the four-section map to build a plan: reading from text, listening from audio, writing on a keyboard and speaking into a microphone. A text-only rehearsal covers part of that map.
A student completes a text-only Reading/Writing rehearsal. Which skills still need audio-based practice?
A student finishes Reading practice quickly but has never recorded a spoken answer. That result says little about whether they can answer an interview question aloud. Use the four-section map to build a plan: reading from text, listening from audio, writing on a keyboard and speaking into a microphone. A text-only rehearsal covers part of that map.
Complete the worked-case label: Reading → ____. Use the phrase in the diagram.
Use current format information to choose practice, then measure each skill with the kind of evidence it requires.