what is exam pattern of TOEFL?

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

The TOEFL is the best-known exam that measures candidates English language proficiency from three aspects: reading, listening and writing. The TOEFL test gives the candidate the skills needed to communicate in real-life, academic situations.

The TOEFL test is developed and administered by the US-based "Educational Testing Service" (ETS). ETS sets the questions, conducts the test, and sends each examinee the score report. For the conduct of the test, ETS has appointed Testing Agencies in various countries, which act as franchisee for ETS. In India, this agency is the "Prometric Testing Services Pvt Ltd" which administers the test on behalf of ETS.


TOEFL is accepted by more institutions than any other English-language test in the world — including the top colleges and universities. There are about 6,000+ institutions in 110 countries including almost every university in the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, that rely on TOEFL scores for admissions, scholarship and graduation decisions.

The entire test is taken in one day and there are more than 4,000 test centers to choose from. The candidate can retake the test in just 7 days, if he/she wants to improve their scores.

Exam Pattern/Syllabus

TOEFL is offered in two formats: Internet-based Test (iBT) or the Paper-based Test (PBT). In India however the test is offered in Internet-based Test (iBT).

The TOEFL iBT measures how well the candidate can read, listen, speak and write in English and use these skills together in the university classroom. The TOEFL iBT requires candidates to combine 2 or more of these skills to respond to a question. For example, candidate might read a passage or listen to a lecture in English, and then write or speak their answers in English.

The Test Of English as a Foreign Language (or TOEFL , pronounced "toe-full") evaluates the potential success of an individual to use and understand standard American English at a college level. It is required for non-native applicants at many US and other English-speaking colleges and universities.

The Computer Based Test for TOEFL called the CBT , is an adaptive test; meaning that your next question's difficulty level depends on the correctness of your response to the current question. This helps TOEFL to grade the person's knowledge on the English language; by assuming him/her to be of an average capability at the beginning of the test, and with the responses received at the every question the program decides to give you a tougher or easier question based on whether your question was answered correctly or not. The CBT follows computer adaptive test strategy for the Listening and Structure section alone. The reading comprehension and Essay writing are not computer adaptive.

The test consists of four sections:

* Section I: Listening Comprehension
* Section II: Structure and Written Expression
* Section III: Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary
* Section IV: Essay Writing