The TOEFL Bulletin has been updated for the 2025/26 testing season. Just a couple of things are notable:

1. The bulletin now confirms that certain test takers must pay a fee to update their address after taking the test. I’ve already heard from a few test takers that don’t like this fee.
2. The bulletin indicates that a fee may be charged to test takers who opt to receive a paper copy of the score report. To date, this has been provided at no charge.

Note that the TOEFL program has instituted a “country change fee.” If test takers who have completed a home edition test wish to change the address in their TOEFL account to a new country they are now required to pay a $99 “country change” fee.  I repeat:  the fee is charged if you want to change your address after taking the test.

Needless to say, this is the stupidest thing I’ve heard all week.

The pop-up message (pictured) from ETS is so poorly worded as to be incomprehensible. But test takers have reported that declining to pay the fee after changing their address has resulted in them being locked out of accessing (or sending) any existing TOEFL score reports.

As many readers know, the TOEFL test is often taken by individuals seeking to study at an educational institution outside of their country of origin. As a result, it is not uncommon for test takers to change their address sometime after completing a TOEFL test.

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) has published a few charts illustrating how the new 1-6 TOEFL scoring scale will work and how to convert between old (1-120) TOEFL scores and new (1-6) TOEFL scores. As illustrated below, the scale will increase at increments of 0.5. It has been confirmed that the overall band score will be calculated by averaging the four section scores and rounding to the nearest 0.5.

Notably, ETS has also confirmed that the current 0-120 scale will be eliminated entirely starting in 2028.

A pleasant feature of the new scale is that it will provide more consistency when linking section scores to the CEFR. Currently that is somewhat confusing. For instance, a score of 22 in the TOEFL listening section represents C1 fluency, while a score of 22 in the reading section represents only B2 fluency. Come January, this will no longer be an issue.

The cost of taking the TOEFL test in Iran was lowered near the end of May.  The fee is now $220, down from $300.  Regular readers will remember me whinging about the cost increasing there back in January, so needless to say I’m happy about this price cut.

Due to frequent collapses in the value of the Iranian rial versus the USD, test fees can be extremely onerous for students in that country.  Here’s a short piece in “Science” from a couple of years ago which discusses this topic.

Interestingly, Iran has always been a big market for the TOEFL.  It has been in the top ten countries sending traffic to this website for many years.  Despite everything, the USA remains a top destination for Iranian scholars.  Looking at my traffic for the past month, I can see that I’ve gotten more visitors from Iran than other big markets like Vietnam, the Philippines, Mexico and Germany.

That said, teachers currently in Iran have told me that President Trump’s recent travel ban has Iranian students eying alternative destinations, including Canada and the UK.  That may depress TOEFL volumes in the country.

ETS has announced major changes to the TOEFL iBT that will roll out over the next few months.

UPDATE:  Best to just go to this new post with all the news.

Update:  If you are a publisher or test prep company and need some help adjusting to the changes, feel free to reach out:  mgoodine@gmail.com

  Noteworthy changes include:

1. The reading and listening sections of the test will be adaptive, starting January 2026.
2. 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.
3. 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:

1. Scores will be available in 72 hours.
2. New preparation resources will be made available.
3. 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

Many people have complained on social media (and via email) that they didn’t get the email from ETS with a QR code to verify their passport before taking the TOEFL Home Edition.  This makes them nervous, because apparently they are supposed to verify their ID via the IDVaas mobile app at least 48 hours before taking the test.  I’m not sure why the email isn’t being sent, but if you find yourself in this situation you should probably just connect to the home edition at your scheduled time without using the ID verification app.  The proctor can probably walk you through whatever verification is required.

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.