ETS has announced major changes to the TOEFL iBT that will roll out over the next few months. Noteworthy changes include:
- The reading and listening sections of the test will be adaptive, starting January 2026.
- Test content will be adjusted. According to ETS, “traditional content will be supplemented with modern, equitable topics.” This will also happen in January 2026, I assume.
- In addition to the traditional 1-120 scoring scale, a 1-6 banded scale will also be included on score reports.
Beyond changes to test content, a few other things have also been announced:
- Scores will be available in 72 hours.
- New preparation resources will be made available.
- Test centers worldwide will be given new headphones.
Changes to the at-home experience are also mentioned in the announcement, but these are things I’ve written about already – new ID verification, in-house proctoring and simplified registration.
This is the third major revision to the test since 2019. I’m optimistic that this will be the one which sticks.
Check out the press release for all of the details. I’ll post more as soon as I learn it.
Update from June 13:
A few more details have become known. Read on for a summary (or check out the main blog post on the topic):
- The reading and listening sections will each have two stages.
- The reading section will feature shorter reading passages. Some will be from academic textbooks, but others will be from things like websites, magazines and newspapers.
- The listening section will still feature academic lectures and teacher-student conversations, but it will also include “peer to peer conversations” between students.
- A new “writing an email” task will be added to the writing section of the test. The academic discussion task will be retained. Not sure about the integrated writing task.
- A new “virtual interview” task will be added to the speaking section. It will be a series of short questions about the same topic. Some or all of the existing speaking tasks will be retained.
- New practice tests will be available July 6.
- The new test is scheduled to launch on January 21