Courses for STEP, IELTS, TOEFL and everyday English
Module 1
9 min read
لم تحدد مستواك بعد؟ اختبار من خمس دقائق يفتح لك الشرح بالعربية في الدروس الأولى.
ابدأ اختبار تحديد المستوىBefore anything about English, one fact about the test. On 21 January 2026 the TOEFL iBT was rebuilt: shorter, adaptive in two sections, scored on a new scale, and rewritten around task types that did not previously exist. Preparation books, courses and practice sets written before that date describe an examination you cannot sit.
The most consequential removal: the integrated tasks that asked you to read a passage, listen to a lecture that contradicted it, and write a response. Those defined TOEFL for two decades and are gone. A candidate who spends a month practising them has prepared for nothing.
Thirteen task types in total, and eight of them have no equivalent in IELTS. Speaking is now about eight minutes rather than seventeen, and contains no long prepared turn at all.
The 0 to 120 total was replaced by a band scale from 1.0 to 6.0 in half-band steps, aligned to the CEFR. Each section receives a band, and the overall score is the average of the four rounded to the nearest half band. A transitional comparable score on the old scale was provided during the changeover.
The requirement problem
A university website may still say "TOEFL iBT 80". That number belongs to a scale the test no longer reports directly. Before you book, write to the admissions office and ask which scale they now accept and what band satisfies their requirement. Doing this early costs one email; doing it after results arrive can cost an application cycle.
Reading and Listening are adaptive: the difficulty of what you are given responds to how you are performing. ETS states that test time and the number of items may therefore vary. It does not publish exactly how items are selected, so treat any source that explains the mechanism in detail with caution, including this one. What follows safely is that early items deserve your full attention rather than a rushed start.
Try it now
Open whatever TOEFL material you already own and look for integrated writing, or for a score out of 120. If you find either, the material predates the current test. Then send one email to your university asking which scale they accept.
A few quick questions. You'll see an explanation after each one.
Question 1 of 4
Which task type does the current TOEFL no longer contain?