TOEFL Percentiles Explained

Your TOEFL iBT score report shows a number, but the score alone does not tell you where you stand among other test takers. Percentile rank fills this gap. It converts your score into a comparison: the share of test takers who scored at or below you, based on ETS's published test-taker data.

ETS moved TOEFL iBT to a new 1-6 scale on January 21, 2026, replacing the familiar 0-120 total. Percentile tables have not caught up with this change. The most recent official percentile data still runs on the legacy 0-120 and 0-30 scales, so you need to convert your new-scale score before checking where it lands. This guide walks through the current percentile tables, the scale conversion, and the caveats worth knowing before you set a target score.

Percentile Rank vs. Your Band Score

Your TOEFL total or band score measures your English proficiency on a fixed scale. Percentile rank measures something different: where your score falls among everyone else who tested in the same reporting period. The score itself does not change. The percentile attached to it shifts as the pool of test takers changes from year to year.

ETS reports percentile rank as the share of test takers who scored at or below a given point. A percentile of 75 means 75 percent of test takers scored at or below your total, and 25 percent scored higher. Under the legacy 0-120 scale, the 2024 Test and Score Data Summary puts the average total score at 86, with a standard deviation of 19. Section averages sit close together: Reading 21.9, Listening 22.1, Speaking 20.7 and Writing 21.1, each out of 30 points.

Official ETS Percentile Tables by Section and Total

The table below shows the 2024 Total Group percentile ranks published by ETS, covering every test taker worldwide across the full test year. Find your total score in the left column to read the matching percentile. ETS prints the ladder in four-point steps, so a total between two rows lands between the two percentiles shown.

Section Percentile Ranks

ETS publishes a separate percentile ladder for each section on the same 0-30 scale. A scale score of 25 does not carry the same rank in Reading as it does in Speaking, so read your section scores against their own columns rather than against the total. The figures below come from Table 2 of the 2024 Total Group data.

The sections do not move together. Speaking and Writing rise faster at the top: a 25 in Speaking is the 83rd percentile, while the same 25 in Reading is the 58th. Reading and Listening spread out more in the middle of the range, which is why a one-point gain there shifts your rank less. Scale scores below 10 sit at or under the 5th percentile in every section.

Use the section ladder when a program lists a minimum for each section instead of a single total. A total near the mean sometimes hides one section sitting far below the rest. The section standard deviations run 6.5 for Reading, 6.2 for Listening and 4.6 for both Speaking and Writing, which is why one extra point moves your rank further in Speaking and Writing.

TOEFL Percentiles by Applicant Group

ETS also breaks percentile rank down by the type of program an applicant plans to enter, drawn from the 2024 data summary. The same total score lands at a different percentile depending on the applicant pool used for comparison. The table reads three totals across four groups.

Graduate applicants outside business school face the toughest pool: their mean total is 88 against 85 for undergraduate applicants. The same 100 drops from the 75th percentile to the 72nd once you switch pools. ETS does not print every point on the scale, so some totals fall between rows. An undergraduate applicant scoring 90 lands between the 88 row (48th percentile) and the 92 row (57th percentile).

How Percentiles Read Under the New 1-6 Scale

ETS replaced the 0-120 total with a 1-6 scale in 0.5-point steps on January 21, 2026. Your overall score under the new system is the average of your four section scores, rounded to the nearest half band, not a sum of points. This changes how a score reads, but it does not change the underlying percentile data ETS has published so far.

The 1-6 scale lines up with CEFR levels directly, which gives you another way to judge where you stand beyond the percentile tables. A CEFR level describes what you are able to do in English, while a percentile only shows your rank against the people who tested alongside you. ETS publishes the mapping below with the new scale.

Converting Your Legacy Percentile to the 1-6 Scale

To check where a 1-6 score would have landed on the old percentile tables, convert it back to the legacy total first. ETS lists benchmark conversions between the two scales. The table below covers the four benchmark points ETS names for institutions.

A new-scale score of 5 covers a legacy range from 95 through 106, so a single 1-6 point maps onto more than one legacy percentile row. For rough international comparison, ETS also lines the new scale up with IELTS bands: an IELTS 7 sits close to a TOEFL total of 5, and an IELTS 6 sits close to a TOEFL total of 4. Read any percentile you take from a converted score as a range rather than a single figure.

When Will ETS Publish Percentiles on the New Scale?

Score reports carry the CEFR level, the 1-6 score, and a comparable 0-120 score through January 2028. The comparable 0-120 figure is the midpoint of the matching legacy range, not a reissue of your old total. Percentile data has not followed the same path yet.

The 2024 Test and Score Data Summary, covering test takers from January through December 2024, is still the newest published edition as of October 2026. It reports percentiles only on the legacy 0-120 and 0-30 scales, with no 1-6 version issued. A 2025 edition has not appeared yet. Past editions cover one calendar year of testing each and appear the following year, a pattern visible across the 2020 through 2024 editions, though ETS has not stated this as a fixed release schedule. Check the official archive directly for the newest numbers before you rely on a specific percentile.

Regional and Native-Language Score Variation

A single global percentile hides real differences tied to a test taker's first language. ETS's 2024 data shows average total scores varying by dozens of points across native-language groups. The table below lists the total-score mean for five of those groups.

A score of 90 sits above average for a Japanese-speaking test taker and below average for a German-speaking one, even though both scores land at the same global percentile. Use these figures as context, not as a target. ETS reports no mean for a group with fewer than 30 test takers, so smaller language groups are left out of the table.

Score Means by Country and Region

ETS reports the same averages a second way, grouped by geographic region and native country. The spread across countries tracks the spread across languages closely. The table below samples countries across the ETS regions listed in Table 16 of the 2024 summary.

ETS states plainly it does not endorse ranking countries by TOEFL score and calls the practice a misuse of the data. Test-taker groups differ in size, in how early English enters the school curriculum, and in how many hours a week students spend on it, so the numbers describe cohorts rather than nations. Read them as background on the pool you sit inside. A published score cutoff applies to every applicant alike, so your global percentile still shows an admissions office where you stand against the full pool.

Using Percentile Alongside a Target Score

Percentile rank tells you where you stand among other test takers. It does not tell you whether a specific program will accept your score. Treat the two questions separately.

Start with the score a program lists as its minimum or preferred requirement. Our guide to what counts as a good TOEFL score walks through typical requirement bands by program type. Once you know how your section scores combine into a total, our TOEFL scoring guide covers the 1-6 scale, the averaging rule and the CEFR mapping in full.

TOEFL scores carry weight worldwide: more than 12,500 colleges, universities and licensing agencies in over 160 countries accept them. A strong percentile helps you gauge your standing against test takers everywhere, but the number a program lists as its cutoff decides admission, not your rank against the global pool. Confirm the requirement on each program admissions page before you decide whether to retest.

Run your section scores through our TOEFL score calculator to see an estimated total. It is free and needs no signup. Enter each section score, read the total it returns, then match the total against the applicant-group table above to see the percentile your target pool would attach to it.

Sources

• TOEFL iBT Score Scale 1 to 6: CEFR and IELTS Comparison
• Compare TOEFL iBT Scores
• TOEFL iBT Test and Score Data Summary 2024
• ETS TOEFL Official Site (Test and Score Data Summary archive)