The exam has undergone many revisions over the years: there used to be a paper-based test and a computer-based test, and now only an internet-based test – TOEFL iBT®. It measures the candidate’s ability to understand and use language at an academic level and assesses the candidate’s reading, listening, speaking and writing skills in an academic setting. Some of the sections include integrated tasks which test the combined use of two or more of these skills in an answer to an academic task type – for example, you may be asked to read a passage and/or listen to part of a lecture and then you have to say or write something based on the information in those sources. Either the Reading or the Listening section will be in a long format and will include additional experimental questions. Since there is no way to know which questions are experimental and will not count towards your score, you have to do your best on all questions.

 

Reading

60 minutes (or 80 minutes)

3 parts (or 4 parts)

42 questions (or 56 questions)

 

Listening

60 minutes (or 90 minutes)

6 parts (or 9 parts)

34 questions (or 51 questions)

 

Speaking

up to 20 minutes

6 parts

6 questions

 

Writing

50 minutes

2 parts

2 writing tasks

The TOEFL exam is administered by ETS (Educational Testing Service) through about 4500 registered test centres in about 165 countries around the world. In Bulgaria you may sit the test in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Veliko Tarnovo, Blagoevgrad and Gotse Delchev and the different centres offer a different number of test dates a year. The test is taken on one day and is about four hours long.

The result is based on your performance on the test questions. The test consists of four parts which are equally weighted towards the final score. To get an official score, you must attempt at least one question in the Reading and Listening sections, write at least one essay in the Writing section and answer at least one prompt in the Speaking section. You will receive points converted to a 0-30 score scale for the four sections, as well as a total score. The maximum overall score is 120 points. Besides a number score, you will receive a text commentary of your performance and a descrition of the skills typically possessed by students at that level. There is no pass or fail score on the TOEFL. Every educational institution or organization sets its own requirements for the minimal acceptable score. The exam is scored by both certified examiners and automated systems. TOEFL iBT Test takers can view their scores online 10 working days after they take the test. You will also receive a copy of your score report by mail. The test resultis valid for a period of 2 years after the test date.