SCORES

SCORES

EXAMINEE'S SCORE RECORD / OFFICIAL SCORE REPORTS
Your TOEFL test payment entitles you to:

Score report recipients can be added or deleted through the TOEFL iBT online registration system until 10 p.m. (local test center time) on the day prior to the test date. ETS will send an examinee score record to you (if requested) and official score reports to your designated institutions approximately 13 days after you take the test. The printed score record that is mailed to you will contain all of the final section scores as well as your total score.

NOTE: You can also download a PDF copy of your Test Taker Score Report from your TOEFL iBT account. On the "View Scores" page, select the "Download" link under "Score Details." The list of dates (PDF) gives an estimate of when your PDF score report will be available.

SCORE REPORT POSTING AND MAILING
Scores are posted on the TOEFL iBT online registration system approximately 10 days after the test date (with a few exceptions) and then mailed to you and your designated score recipients. See the list of dates (PDF) for an estimate of when you will be able to view your scores. You will need your user name and password to view your scores online. Allow 7 to 10 days for delivery of mail within the continental United States and additional time for delivery to other areas.

ETS will send the examinee score record to you at the most recent address you provided. If the postal service returns your score record as undeliverable, ETS will send it again only if there is a new address on file. If your address changes after you take the test, go online and update your profile or contact ETS.

For a fee, you may also request additional official score reports for institutions you did NOT identify when you registered to test. Your request may be made online, by phone, mail, or fax. You may order additional score reports through the TOEFL iBT online registration system or by using the Score Report Request Form. This form can be downloaded from the TOEFL website.

NOTE: Test centers do not provide receipts or printed scores for the test.

INTERPRETING YOUR TOEFL IBT SCORES
Your scores are based on your performance on the questions in the test. You must answer at least 1 question in each Reading and Listening section, write at least 1 essay, and complete at least 1 Speaking task to receive an official score report. You will receive 4 section scores and a total score:

In addition to numeric scores, your examinee score record also includes performance feedback that indicates your performance level and a description of the kinds of tasks that test takers within the reported score range can typically do.

On August 1, 2019, ETS introduced a feature called MyBest scores, which combines test takers' best scores for each section from all of their valid TOEFL iBT scores in the last 2 years. Everyone has a bad day once in a while, and MyBest scores give test takers a way to show their best overall test performance. Test takers do not have to do anything to take advantage of this feature. All TOEFL iBT score reports automatically include MyBest scores along with the traditional scores from selected test dates.

CANCELING YOUR SCORES
At the end of the test session, you will be given the option to cancel your scores. You cannot cancel your score for one section of the test and have the scores for the remaining sections reported. Although you have the option to cancel your scores, consider very carefully before doing so. Your scores will be reported to institutions only at your request. If you cancel your scores, they will NOT be reported to you or any institutions, and no refund will be made. Canceled scores are deleted from your permanent record. If you wish to take the test again, you must reregister and submit another test payment.

Canceled scores can be reinstated if your request is received at ETS within 60 days after your test date. You may call, fax, or mail a written request to ETS. The fee for TOEFL iBT score reinstatement is U.S. $20. Your request should include your:

Scores will be reinstated and reported online approximately 3 weeks after receipt of your request. Your scores will be mailed to you and your designated institutions shortly thereafter.

ORDERING ADDITIONAL OFFICIAL SCORE REPORTS
You can have official score reports mailed to institutions you did not identify when you registered to test. Additional score reports can be ordered online through the TOEFL online registration system or by completing the Score Report Request Form. This form is available on the TOEFL website. You will receive an acknowledgement confirming that your score reports were mailed.

The Score Report Request Form will be returned to you if you do not include complete and accurate information and the correct fee. Designated institutions cannot be changed or deleted after you submit the request. No refunds will be made.

The best way to order additional official score reports is to do it online. If you order online, reports will be mailed approximately 4 to 7 days after your request. The fee is U.S. $19 for each report ordered.

If you order by mail or fax, follow the instructions on the back of the Score Report Request Form for completing and mailing your request and payment. Reports will be mailed 2 weeks after receipt of your request form. The fee is U.S. $19 for each report ordered.

If you are paying by credit card, you may fax your form to 1-610-290-8972. Faxed requests will not be processed unless complete credit card information is provided. If you think your faxed request may not have gone through and you attempt to resend the information, write "DUPLICATE" in large letters on all repeat requests. This will help avoid extra processing by ETS and unnecessary charges to your credit card.

PROCESSING TIPS

HOW LONG ARE SCORES VALID?

REQUESTS FOR RESCORES
You can request that the Writing and Speaking section scores of your test be reviewed through a rescore process up to 3 months after your test date. You may make this request for either the Writing or Speaking section, or you may request that both sections be included in the rescore process. Only 1 request per administration can be submitted. You cannot request a review of the Speaking section and then at a later time request a review of the Writing section. The fee for a Writing or Speaking section rescore process is U.S. $60. The fee to have both sections included is U.S. $120.

TOEFL iBT Speaking and Writing sections are reviewed by scoring specialists in the rescore process. If the rescore process confirms your score, you will be notified by letter. If the review results in a change in your score, you will receive a revised examinee score record. Revised official score reports will also be sent to the institutions that you designated as score recipients. These revised scores will become your official scores.

Complete the Rescore Request Form and send it, with the required fee, to the address on the form. If you are paying by credit card, you may fax the form.

The results of the score review process will be available approximately 3 weeks after ETS receives your Rescoring Request Form and fee.

OTHER SCORE-RELATED INFORMATION

SCORE VERIFICATION
Institutions have the ability to verify examinee score records sent directly to them from examinees. If there is a difference between the official scores recorded at ETS and those on the score record you provided, the institution will be requested to send ETS a copy of the score record you submitted. At the written request of the institution official, ETS will report the official scores, as well as any previous scores recorded for you within the last 2 years. ETS or its authorized representative will also provide information about your scores at the request of an institution or agency that has a copy of your examinee score record.

NOTE: The information in your TOEFL record is the same as the information printed on your examinee score record.

ACCEPTABLE SCORES
Each institution that requires TOEFL scores decides for itself what scores or ranges of scores are acceptable. These requirements vary from institution to institution, depending on such factors as your field of study, your level of study (graduate or undergraduate), whether you will be a teaching assistant, and whether the institution offers special courses in English as a foreign or second language. There is no specific passing or failing score. If you have questions about how your scores have been used or interpreted, contact the institutions or agencies that received your test results directly.

TEST SCORE DATA RETENTION
Individually identifiable TOEFL test scores are retained in a database for only 2 years. After 2 years, all test-taker information and scores are removed. If you took the TOEFL test more than 2 years ago, you will have to take the test again to have scores sent to you, an institution, or agency.

CONFIDENTIALITY OF SCORES
The TOEFL program recognizes the right of examinees to privacy with regard to information that is stored in data or research files held by Educational Testing Service and the program's responsibility to protect information in its files from unauthorized disclosure. ETS or its authorized representative may share examinee score data with institutions or agencies for verification purposes.

TOEFL test score data and writing and speaking responses that may be used at any time for informational, research, statistical, or training purposes are not individually identifiable.

Information retained in TOEFL records is the same as the information printed on the examinee's score record and on the official score reports. Official score reports will be sent only to those institutions or agencies designated by the examinee when he or she registered to test, on a Score Report Request Form submitted at a later date, or otherwise specifically authorized by the examinee.

Scores are not to be released by institutional recipients without the explicit permission of the examinee.

NOTE: Your score record and the documents you complete that are retained at ETS (for example, your photograph) may be released to third parties, such as government agencies or parties to a lawsuit, if requested pursuant to a subpoena or required by applicable law.

TEST QUESTION INQUIRIES
Language specialists prepare TOEFL test questions. These specialists follow careful, standardized procedures developed to ensure that all test material is of consistent high quality. Each question is reviewed by several members of the ETS staff. The TOEFL Committee of Examiners, an independent group of professionals in the fields of linguistics, language testing, and language teaching that reports to the TOEFL Board, establishes overall guidelines for the test content and specifications. After test questions have been reviewed and revised as appropriate, they are selectively administered in trial situations and assembled into tests. The tests are then reviewed according to established ETS and TOEFL program procedures to ensure that all possible versions of the test are free of cultural bias. Statistical analyses of individual questions ensure that all items provide appropriate measurement information.

Although ETS employs extensive quality control checks throughout the development of test questions and the preparation of final tests, typographical errors or flaws in questions may occasionally occur. If you suspect a problem and want to question a test item for any reason, notify the test administrator before you leave the test site. You may also write to MS 42N-208, TOEFL Test Question Inquiries, Educational Testing Service, Rosedale Road, Princeton, NJ 08541-0001, USA, or send a fax to 1-609-683-2600 immediately after taking the test. Please include the name of the test, the section of the test, the test date, the name of the center where the test was taken, and, if possible, the number of the test item being questioned. If you have a complaint about the testing facilities or the test administrator, write to TOEFL within 3 days after the test date. Be sure to give the date of the test, the name of the test center, and the city and country in which you tested.

ETS SCORE CANCELLATION POLICY
ETS strives to report scores that accurately reflect the performance of every test taker. Accordingly, ETS's standards and procedures for administering tests have 2 primary goals: giving test takers equivalent opportunities to demonstrate their abilities, and preventing any test takers from gaining an unfair advantage over others. To promote these objectives, ETS reserves the right to cancel any test score when, in ETS's judgment, a testing irregularity occurs, there is an apparent discrepancy in a test taker's identification, the test taker engages in misconduct, the test taker attempts to use the printed work or ideas of others as their own in the essay section of the test, or the score is invalid for another reason. Reviews of scores by ETS are confidential. When, for any of the above reasons, ETS cancels a test score that has already been reported, it notifies score recipients that the score has been canceled, but it does not disclose the reason for cancellation except when authorized to do so by the test taker and in certain group cases.

TESTING IRREGULARITIES
"Testing irregularities" refers to problems with the administration of a test. When testing irregularities occur, they may affect an individual or groups of test takers. Such problems include, without limitation, administrative errors (such as improper timing, improper seating, defective materials, and defective equipment); improper access to test content; and other disruptions of test administrations (such as natural disasters and other emergencies). When testing irregularities occur, ETS may decline to score the test or may cancel the test score. When in ETS's judgment it is appropriate to do so, ETS gives affected test takers the opportunity to take the test again as soon as possible without charge.

IDENTIFICATION DISCREPANCIES
When, in ETS's judgment or the judgment of test center personnel, there is a discrepancy in a test taker's identification, the test taker may be dismissed from the test center. In addition, ETS may decline to score the test or may cancel the test score and you will forfeit your test fee.

MISCONDUCT
When ETS or test center personnel find that there is misconduct in connection with a test, the test taker may be dismissed from the test center, or ETS may decline to score the test or may cancel the test score. Misconduct includes, but is not limited to, noncompliance with the "Test Center Procedures and Regulations" provided on the TOEFL website.

PLAGIARISM
ETS reserves the right to cancel the scores of test takers when, in ETS's judgment, there is evidence that an essay includes, for example, text or ideas that are substantially similar to that found in other TOEFL responses or quotations or paraphrasing, without attribution, of language or ideas from published sources. Such responses do not reflect the independent speaking or compositional writing skills that the test seeks to measure.

INVALID SCORES
ETS may also cancel scores if, in its judgment, there is substantial evidence that they are invalid for any other reason. Evidence of invalid scores may include, without limitation, unusual answer patterns and/or inconsistent performance on different parts of the test. Before canceling scores pursuant to this paragraph, ETS notifies the test taker in writing about its concerns, gives the test taker an opportunity to submit information that addresses ETS's concerns, considers any such information submitted, and offers the test taker a choice of options. The options include voluntary score cancellation or arbitration in accordance with ETS's standard Arbitration Agreement. In addition, the test taker is sent a copy of the booklet Why and How Educational Testing Service Questions Test Scores, which explains this process in greater detail. This booklet is available to any test taker at any time upon request.

NOTE: The arbitration option is available only for tests administered in the United States.