As a sort of followup to my earlier post about VAT being added to TOEFL fees in the EU, Here’s what it costs to take some of the most popular English tests in France (all prices USD):

  • IELTS Academic: $269 (inclusive of tax)
  • PTE Academic: $270 (inclusive of tax)
  • TOEFL: $324 (inclusive of tax)

Prices look similar across the EU.  The TOEFL is much more expensive in pretty much every EU country now that ETS has started collecting VAT (and passing the additional cost on to test takers).

I love my friends at ETS, but gee whiz the TOEFL is going to be a tough sell moving forward.  Is it providing some special sauce that makes it worth the added expense?  I’m not sure.

Anecdotally, it seems like ETS has begun 2025 with a really big promotional spend via Google Ads.  I’m seeing a ton of banners promoting the TOEFL as a test for destinations outside the USA.  TOEFL is also the headline sponsor of the upcoming PIE Live event in March.  Setting aside the fact that the audience there is exactly who the TOEFL team doesn’t need to influence, that sponsorship must cost a pretty penny.  Why bother spending so much money on promoting a test when you’ve got corporate policies kneecapping your potential in one of the biggest sending markets?

Who knows, who knows.

I suppose it is also worth mentioning that there are a bunch of new-ish tests (Password, LanguageCert, Kaplan, etc) with an average price somewhere close to $200.  The DET costs $65.

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