The cost of taking the TOEFL was adjusted in some countries this week. As was announced earlier, test takers in Japan now pay $195 to take the test (a $50 decrease). Meanwhile, their neighbors in nearby Korea must now pay $228 (an $8 increase). The price hike in Korea is the only increase I’ve been able to spot so far.

Prices have been adjusted downward in some (but not all) EU countries so that changes related to VAT collection no longer make the TOEFL wildly more expensive than other tests. I complained quite a lot about that when ETS first started collecting VAT in Europe some months ago, so I am happy to see this course correction.

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.

Supplementary GRE fees were just hiked. It now costs $40 to send a score report after the test (a $5 increase). Rescheduling a test date now costs $55 (also a $5 increase).

I’m glad to see that the GRE website has already been updated to reflect these changes. Remember that while supplementary TOEFL fees were hiked about a month ago, the TOEFL website still lists the old prices. As a result, many test takers only learn the actual cost of essential services after they have financially committed to taking the TOEFL. That’s not good; indeed, some* have argued that it raises ethical concerns related to ETS’s commitment to fairness and transparency.

*Just me, really.

A quick update to my post about the fee for express scoring of the TOEFL test.  I mentioned a few days ago that the fee was increased to $149.  There is an exception, however.  For tests taken in India, the fee is about $75.

This is the sort of thing that drives test takers bonkers.  Though they all understand the concept of regional pricing, it does stick in the proverbial craw.

As I’ve mentioned here many times, a student who takes the TOEFL from his bedroom in Palestine pays $270 to ETS.  Meanwhile, a student here in Korea is charged $220 to take the test at home.  Some other kid, taking the test from his bedroom in Switzerland, will pay $470.  Though the tests are the same and the delivery method is the same, the prices are quite different.

Test takers are bright enough to know why it has to be that way… but some find it unfair.  In earlier posts I’ve explored how newer tests have increased their popularity by instituting a single global price for at-home administrations (or something very close to a single price).

Right now, it seems like Pearson is somewhat disinterested in at-home testing for the PTE. Meanwhile, the at-home IELTS remains limited to a relatively small handful of countries. I certainly admire ETS’s continued commitment to this delivery method… but I think they could do a bit better.

 

I read that the cost of taking the IELTS in India will increase to ₹18,000 on March 1. That’s an increase of ₹1,000.  Social media posts from IELTS are urging people to register before the increase comes into effect. I don’t really track IELTS prices because it is difficult to do so, but in the last few weeks I’ve received a few emails and DMs about increases in various countries.

If anyone knows an easy way to keep up with price changes around the globe, do let me know.

The South China Morning Post reports that residents of mainland China will no longer be permitted to take the paper-based IELTS in Hong Kong unless they can prove that they are legal residents of the city.  This mirrors recent IELTS policy changes in countries around the world which have also barred non-residents from accessing the paper-based test.

Interestingly, a British Council representative linked this change to fraud prevention. They are quoted as saying that “the analysis by the IELTS partners shows that there is a link between non-resident access to IELTS on paper and fraudulent test-day activity.”

And also that “By limiting the access to residents, much of this risk will be mitigated.”

They also noted that the change would “enhance the security of the test and… protect IELTS customers from becoming victims of fraud.”

This is the first time I’ve seen an IELTS official explicitly link the new policy to fraud prevention efforts. Unstated is what sort of fraudulent activity is occurring at administrations of the paper-based IELTS. The British Council’s most recent fraud report cited only 22 instances of exam misconduct across all administrations (paper and computer) worldwide in 2022/23.

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…

Express scoring for the TOEFL is available again.  Test takers who pay a fee of $149 will receive their scores within 24 hours of taking the test.  Otherwise, scores are reported in 4-8 days. This option first appeared near the end of 2024, but was quickly withdrawn. At that time the fee was $99.

Interestingly, this option only appears when the test is to be taken at a test center. I don’t see it when attempting to book an at-home test.

Having this option is better than not having it.  But note that IELTS scores are now delivered in 1-2 days without an extra fee and that Pearson promises to deliver PTE scores in 2 days without asking for any additional payment either.

There is a wonderful new article in Language Testing Journal by Emma Bruce, Karen Dunn and Tony Clark which explores test score validity periods for high-stakes tests.  It isn’t in open access, though, so you’ll need institutional access or a healthy billfold to read it.

As most readers know, institutions and regulatory bodies generally won’t accept scores from tests taken more than two years ago.  This is based on research and advice from test makers, though the authors note that:

“While the role of test providers and language testing researchers is not to set the policy for test score use, it is becoming apparent that the messaging surrounding validity periods may benefit from consideration through a contemporary lens. While it is certain that test developers have a responsibility to communicate the idea that the fidelity of a test score in reflecting test-takers’ language proficiency may change over time depending on the circumstances of the test-taker in the period between taking the test and using the score, it is of equal import to communicate–especially to policymakers–the possibility of adapting the 2-year requirement according to risk or need in any given setting.”

Unmentioned is the fact that even if institutions desire to accept scores that are older than two years, it can be exceptionally difficult to actually receive those scores.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that none of the big four tests (TOEFL, IELTS, PTE and DET) allow test takers to send scores to recipients more than two years after a test date. In this way, it seems like the test makers are semi-enforcing a two-year validity period. I can’t even view the scores from my 2022 attempt at the TOEFL within my account on the ETS website.

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.