Since I’m on a roll, here’s one more item about TOEFL test takers deserving better.

Back in 2023, the TOEFL program introduced “enhanced score reporting.”  This mostly consisted of AI-powered insights about various aspects of test taker performance being added to all TOEFL score reports.  It was pretty cool – test takers basically got e-rater and SpeechRater reports for the answers they submitted on test day, covering things like delivery, language use and topic development.  Nice, right?

Alas, it was discontinued around the end of 2024.

Sadly, the TOEFL website has not yet been updated to reflect the discontinuation of this feature.

The TOEFL website still promises that “after you take your TOEFL iBT test, you’ll receive more than just a score. TOEFL iBT enhanced score reporting provides you with personalized feedback and performance insights to help you focus future studying efforts and realize your academic dreams. You’ll receive…”  And then it lists a bunch of things that are no longer provided.

Needless to say, many people pick an English test based on the information provided by the big test makers. And, of course, the test they pick likely represents a significant financial burden.

For this reason, it is incumbent on test makers to provide information that is as accurate as possible.  That’s why I wrote about the Aadhaar Card slipup a few days ago, and about inaccurate pricing information a few days before that.

My friends at ETS might protest that it is hard to update their website because their webserver is a bunch of scantron machines hooked up to a modem.  Regardless, they have to put in the effort.  Their customers are owed as much.

One more of these stories next week and then I promise I’m done.

Here’s the new version of the “Score Cancelled Due to Unauthorized Software” email from ETS:

Dear [Name]

Your TOEFL iBT® Home Edition scores from your test on March 19, 2025 could not be reported because you had an unauthorized software operating during the test administration.

Please be advised that as indicated on the TOEFL iBT® Home Edition website, the use of any screen-sharing or remote access software (such as Zoom®, Skype®, TeamViewer®, Microsoft Teams®, Apple Remote Desktop, AnyDesk®, Grammarly® and Spell Check) are prohibited and that repeated violations may result in score cancellation and/or your exclusion from future testing.

If you have further questions concerning this matter, contact us by replying directly to this email or calling 1-609-406-5430 (option 6).

It seems a bit more polite than the old version.

Sadly, there isn’t really an appeals process for this.  You are unlikely to get your score or a refund.  You’ll have to pay to take the test again.  Obviously you should call the number and plead your case… but just keep your expectations realistic and always remember your deadlines.

Generally, when this occurs you can take the TOEFL again if you pay the full fee.

The cost of registering for the TOEFL Test in Japan will be reduced to $195, starting April 1.  That’s a $50 reduction.  This appears to be a permanent change.

Obviously, this adjustment will be welcomed by test takers. A prominent pain point for those seeking to take the TOEFL (all around the world) is that the test fee is denominated in USD (with two exceptions: India and China).  This can be frustrating, as it is natural for most currencies to decline against the USD over time.

In recent years, this issue has pushed many test takers in the direction of tests with fees that are more likely to be fixed in local currencies.  Such tests include the IELTS and PTE.

In Japan, for instance, the cost of taking the IELTS has been fixed at 27,500 yen since last year.  That’s about $184.  Needless to say, the $245 TOEFL has been a tough sell for quite a long time.

Ten years ago, about 80% of the students coming to me for help with the TOEFL were Japanese.  They were mostly older students hoping to earn an MBA or LLM from a top school in the USA or UK.  Over the past decade, that key demographic has shifted slowly but surely to the IELTS. Cost is not the only reason for this, but it plays a part.

This is problematic for my friends over at Team TOEFL.  While the undergraduate cohort has overwhelmingly embraced the DET and PTE (and will probably never be recaptured) the graduate cohort is an area where legacy tests remain competitive. There is still much market share to lose.

So, express scoring for the TOEFL has disappeared again.  As you may recall, first it was offered in December for $99.  Then it went away.  Then in February it returned, costing $149.  Now it is gone again.

Update:  It is back!

Some of the supplementary TOEFL fees have been hiked. It now costs $29 to send a score report to each recipient beyond the four that are selected before test day. That’s an increase of $4 per recipient.

Express registration (seven days or less before the test) now costs $49. That’s a $9 increase.

I don’t know when these increases were implemented, but it must have been quite recently, as they are only viewable within the user account. The TOEFL website still lists the old prices.

Since the website lists incorrect information I am unsure if other supplementary fees (score review, reinstatement of cancelled scores, returned payments, etc) have also been increased.

Update:  A reader mentioned that the cost of rescheduling a test has increased by $9 (to $69).  I can’t confirm this myself since I don’t have any tests to reschedule…

I caught a bit of flak in my earlier post for failing to mention, in my post about the scrubbing of references to DEI from the ETS website, that ETS has contracts with the Department of Education that last year paid them about $67 million dollars. That equaled about 5% of their overall operating revenues.  Those revenues, one imagines, were a consideration when that decision was made.  As we all know, the new American president and his team don’t like DEI.  I should have mentioned that. Mea culpa.

But the ETS team may have jumped the gun. President Trump has begun efforts to wind down the Department of Education, so those revenues might be impacted in any case.

I’ll end with a bit of editorializing.  Here you go:

It seems to me that organizations which spend the next four years laying low in an effort to avoid being noticed run the risk of losing their seat at the table in the post-Trump world.  The leadership team at ETS has often mentioned their dream of “rebuilding the pillars of education” together with the Carnegie Institute.  Opportunities to do that sort of work may end up falling on other shoulders.  So to speak.