TOEFL Score Reporting and Sending Scores

ETS sends your official TOEFL iBT score to two places: your own ETS account and the institutions you choose. Both copies come from the same official record. They arrive on different schedules and through different channels. Your account copy lands first, and each institution receives its copy on a separate delivery clock.

This guide covers how many free score reports come with your test fee, the deadline for naming recipients, and the cost and window for ordering more later. It also sets out how long institutions wait for your score under each delivery method, and what your report shows under the score scale in use since January 2026. The last section walks through the steps to take when a university portal shows no score.

Free Score Reports Included With Your Test Fee

Your TOEFL registration fee covers sending your score to a set number of recipients at no extra cost. The condition is timing, because you have to name those recipients before a deadline tied to your test date. Recipients are institutions, agencies or other organizations you select inside your ETS account. Naming them early costs nothing and saves you the per-report fee charged later.

• Your test fee includes up to 4 free official TOEFL score reports, sent to institutions, agencies or other recipients you name.
• Add or remove recipients through your ETS account until 10 p.m. local test center time, on the day before your test.
• ETS does not publish a separate late-selection fee for recipients named after this deadline. Check the official sending scores page for the terms in force when you order.

Pick your recipients when you register, alongside choosing your test date, so you are not adding them the night before. The deadline runs on local test center time, so convert it if you sit in a different time zone from your center. Missing it does not block you from sending scores at all, since paid reports stay available afterwards. It does mean paying for sends your test fee already covered.

Ordering Additional Official Score Reports

Sending your score beyond your 4 free picks needs a paid order through your ETS account. You place the order yourself and pay per recipient, so the total scales with the number of schools on your list. The ordering window is tied to your test date rather than to your account, and it closes at the same 2-year mark as the score itself. Both the fee and the window come from the ETS sending scores page.

Each additional official score report costs $25 per institution or agency, ordered through your ETS account. Our TOEFL cost and fees guide covers this charge alongside the base exam fee and other costs. Budget for it once you know how many programs sit beyond your free 4. Ordering several at once still bills per recipient.

You are allowed to order additional reports within 2 years of your test date. ETS does not report or send scores after this window closes, so an older score is unusable for a late application. Plan ahead when your programs run on a longer timeline, such as deferred entry or a second application cycle. Order early enough to leave room for the institutional delivery window below.

If you retest, your earlier scores stay on file for the rest of their 2-year window. Our MyBest Scores guide covers how ETS combines your best section results across attempts on a single report. A retake carries its own test date, so the 10 p.m. recipient deadline applies again for the new registration. Set the list before test day rather than paying to send the newer score afterwards.

Your ETS Account Copy vs the Report Sent to Institutions

Your official TOEFL score reaches you before it reaches most institutions, though the underlying record is identical. Three moments matter on your side after test day: the on-screen unofficial subscores, the official posting in your ETS account, and the PDF download. Institutions sit on a separate track and receive their copy straight from ETS. The list below covers the test taker side, and the section after it covers the institutional side.

• Unofficial Reading and Listening subscores appear on screen at the end of your test, before you leave the test center or close your online exam.
• Your official scores post to your ETS account 3 days after the test date. ETS shows the exact release date at the end of your test and emails you when scores are ready.
• A downloadable PDF version of your score report becomes available 24 to 48 hours after scores post to your account.

This account copy is your own record of the official score, not a separate unofficial estimate, according to ETS. It carries the same section results ETS transmits to institutions, so nothing in the numbers changes between the two copies. What differs is the delivery route and the arrival date. ETS sends the institutional copy directly to each recipient you named, on the timeline below.

How ETS Delivers Scores to Institutions

Institutions receive your score through one of three channels, each with its own delivery window, per ETS's institutional score reporting page. The channel is the institution's choice rather than yours, so your report follows whichever route your school already runs. Institutions handling admissions data in Slate receive scores through a supported Slate integration as well. Paper Edition results take longer on both electronic channels, as the table shows.

Postal mail carries the longest total wait, because the 11 to 13 business days cover the ETS side alone. Mailing time sits on top of the ETS window and varies by destination. Electronic delivery through TOEFL Access is the fastest route at 4 to 8 business days. Count every one of these windows from your test date, not from the day your own score posts, when you line them up against an application deadline.

TOEFL Access Is Replacing ETS Data Manager

ETS is moving institutions from the older ETS Data Manager (EDM) portal to TOEFL Access for viewing scores, writing and speaking samples, and applicant analytics. Institutions sign in through the ETS Portal or migrate an existing EDM account, and credentials plus score history carry over. EDM access continues only until an institution's migration completes, with legacy links supported for a period. TOEFL Search Service and Slate or server-to-server integrations keep working through TOEFL Access, using updated URLs. ETS told institutions running API or system integrations to update them before January 21, 2026, to stay compatible with TOEFL Access and the new score format below.

None of this changes your side of the process, since you still name recipients in your ETS account and ETS handles the transmission. It does explain a slow answer from a school part way through its own migration. Ask the admissions office directly before assuming the report never left ETS.

What Your Score Report Shows Under the New Scale

TOEFL iBT moved to a new score scale on January 21, 2026. If you are testing now, your report reflects the new scale, with each section scored from 1 to 6 in 0.5-point steps and aligned to CEFR levels. The table below maps each section score to its CEFR level. Both the number and the level print on the report your recipients receive.

Your overall score is the average of your four section scores, rounded to the nearest half band. Through a 2-year transition period ending January 2028, your report also shows a comparable 0 to 120 reference score, the midpoint of the equivalent range, next to your CEFR level and new section scores. Institutions still reading the old scale are able to compare results during the transition. Check the ETS scale update page for the current report format if you test near the end of the transition.

Score Report Validity Period

Your TOEFL score stays valid for 2 years from your test date. ETS does not report or send scores once the window closes, whether to you or to an institution. The same limit governs paid score report orders, so an expired score is not sendable at any price. Work backwards from your latest application deadline when you pick a test date, and leave room for the institutional delivery window. A test taken too early in a long application cycle expires mid-cycle and forces a retake.

What to Do If a School Portal Shows No Score

A missing score in a university portal usually traces back to one of a few causes. Timing is the most common one, since the institution's own processing time sits on top of the ETS delivery window in the table above. Rule out the simple explanations in order before you pay for a resend. The steps below start with the cheapest check.

• Contact the institution directly first, to confirm whether the score arrived and check its internal processing time before assuming a delivery failure.
• Check whether your test was canceled for testing irregularities. ETS notes this as one reason a score does not appear, since a canceled test does not generate a reportable score.
• A canceled score is eligible for reinstatement within 60 days, for a fee, once ETS confirms the cancellation qualifies.

If an institution or agency reports a delivery problem on its end, the ETS contact point is TOEFL Code Control, reachable at [email protected] or 1-609-771-7091, per ETS's score reports FAQ. Score-integrity concerns route through the TOEFL iBT Score Inquiry Form to [email protected]. Give the admissions office your test date and registration details when you ask, so it is able to search its own score feed. A paid resend through your ETS account is the last step, not the first.

Confirm your target school's exact score policy in our TOEFL and university admissions guide, then work on the score itself well before test day. Our free full-length TOEFL mocks and section drills sit on the TOEFL practice page, with no signup required. Practice under timed conditions so the section scores on your report match the ones your programs ask for.

Sources

• TOEFL iBT: Sending Your Scores | ETS
• TOEFL iBT: Getting Your Scores | ETS
• TOEFL iBT FAQ: Score Reports | ETS
• TOEFL iBT: Score Reporting for Institutions | ETS
• TOEFL iBT Score Scale Update | ETS
• Quick Start Guide for Updating to TOEFL Access