TOEFL vs IELTS: Which English Test to Choose

By Muntasir Jul 14, 2026 14 min read

TL;DR

TOEFL and IELTS test the same four skills, so the choice comes down to format, speaking style and what your programs accept. TOEFL finishes in under 90 minutes of test time with recorded speaking. IELTS runs 2 hours 45 minutes with a face-to-face speaking interview.

Feature	TOEFL iBT	IELTS
Test time	1 hr 23 min to 1 hr 29 min	2 hr 45 min
Speaking	Recorded, 8 minutes	Face to face, 11 to 14 minutes
Score scale	1 to 6, half bands	Band 0 to 9, half bands

Pick IELTS Academic for degree study, General Training for migration. IELTS allows one skill to be resat within 60 days of the full test. TOEFL has no single-section retake.

TOEFL vs IELTS: Which English Test to Choose

TOEFL and IELTS both prove your English to universities, employers and immigration authorities. Both cover reading, listening, writing and speaking, and both are accepted across the main English-speaking study destinations. The real differences sit in test length, speaking delivery, the scoring scale and the retake rules. Those four points decide which test suits you, so this comparison works through each one.

Both tests changed recently. ETS rebuilt the TOEFL iBT for January 21, 2026, shortening the sitting, making Reading and Listening adaptive, and moving score reports to a 1 to 6 scale. IELTS kept its 9-band scale, added the One Skill Retake, and plans a handwritten writing option from mid-2026. Every number below comes from ETS or ielts.org, with the source linked on the claim.

TOEFL vs IELTS at a Glance

The two tests split most clearly on length, speaking delivery and scoring. ETS publishes the TOEFL blueprint and IELTS publishes its test format, and the table below sets the headline facts from both side by side.

Feature	TOEFL iBT	IELTS
Run by	ETS	British Council, IDP IELTS and Cambridge University Press and Assessment
Skills tested	Reading, Listening, Writing, Speaking	Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking
Test time	1 hour 23 minutes to 1 hour 29 minutes	2 hours 45 minutes
Delivery	On computer	On computer only, with a Writing on Paper option in selected markets
Speaking	Recorded on computer, 11 items in 8 minutes	Face to face with a human examiner, 11 to 14 minutes
Score scale	1 to 6 per section and overall, half-band steps	Band 0 to 9 per skill and overall, half-band steps
Overall score	Average of the four sections, rounded to the nearest half band	Average of the four skills, rounded to the nearest half band
Versions	One test	Academic and General Training
Partial retake	None, the whole test is resat	One Skill Retake, sat within 60 days

IELTS is jointly owned by the British Council, IDP IELTS and Cambridge University Press and Assessment, so you book through whichever partner runs testing in your country. TOEFL is run by ETS alone, so registration follows one route everywhere. The practical effect shows up in price and dates, since IELTS fees and availability are set locally by each partner center. Check both before you assume one test is cheaper or faster to book where you live.

Format and Timing

TOEFL finishes in roughly half the clock time of IELTS. The section counts and timings below come from the official specification documents for each test. Compare the two tables before you decide how long a sitting you want to sustain.

TOEFL iBT Sections

The 2026 TOEFL blueprint lists 120 items across four sections, with total test time between 1 hour 23 minutes and 1 hour 29 minutes. Here is how the items and the minutes split.

Section	Items	Time
Reading	50	18 to 21 min router, then 9 min module
Listening	47	18 min router, then 7 min lower module or 11 min upper module
Writing	12	23 min
Speaking	11	8 min

Reading and Listening run as two-stage adaptive tests. You take a router set first, and your performance on it sends you into a lower or an upper module. Writing and Speaking are linear, so everyone sitting a given form works through the same task set. The variable total comes from the routing, since a lower or upper module shifts your finish time by a few minutes rather than by a whole section.

IELTS Sections

IELTS runs 2 hours 45 minutes in total. The official format page lists these timings for both Academic and General Training.

Section	Time
Listening	About 30 minutes, plus 10 minutes to transfer answers
Reading	60 minutes, including transfer time
Writing	60 minutes
Speaking	11 to 14 minutes

Listening and Speaking are identical across Academic and General Training, so preparation for those two skills transfers between the versions. Only Reading and Writing differ. Watch where transfer time sits: Listening adds 10 minutes on top of about 30 minutes of audio, while Reading holds its transfer time inside the 60 minutes. Plan your Reading pace around it, since no extra minutes arrive at the end.

Delivery Modes and Writing by Hand

TOEFL is delivered on computer from start to finish. You read on screen, type your Writing responses and speak into a microphone for the recorded Speaking section. Keyboard speed and on-screen reading stamina therefore affect the whole sitting.

IELTS is computer-delivered worldwide. The official delivery update confirms IELTS is no longer offered as a paper-based test from mid-2026, so every sitting now runs on computer across Academic and General Training. One consequence goes beyond comfort: the One Skill Retake is offered only after a completed computer-delivered test, which every current sitting satisfies.

IELTS has announced one further change for IELTS on computer. A Writing on Paper option is rolling out in selected countries from mid-2026, so check availability with your local center. Questions appear on screen and answers are handwritten on paper. It covers both Academic and General Training, and it is excluded from IELTS for UKVI. A November 2025 field trial found handwritten scores effectively equivalent to typed responses, so treat the mode as a comfort choice rather than a scoring advantage.

Speaking: Recorded vs Face to Face

Speaking is the widest experience gap between the two tests. One puts you in front of a microphone with a countdown, the other puts you in front of a person for a conversation. Pick deliberately, since the format changes both how you prepare and how you perform under pressure.

How TOEFL Speaking Works

The TOEFL specification sets Speaking at 11 items in 8 minutes and describes the target skill as speaking spontaneously and meaningfully in response to questions in an interview format. Responses are recorded and scored by automated systems built on natural language processing and machine learning. No live examiner sits with you: prompts appear on screen, a timer runs, and the microphone captures each answer. Every test taker on a form receives the same prompts, since Speaking is linear rather than adaptive.

How IELTS Speaking Works

IELTS Speaking is a face-to-face interview with a human examiner, and the session is recorded as well. It runs 11 to 14 minutes across three parts.

Part	Length	What happens
Part 1	4 to 5 minutes	Introduction and interview questions
Part 2	3 to 4 minutes	Long turn: 1 minute to prepare, about 2 minutes to talk
Part 3	4 to 5 minutes	Two-way discussion linked to the Part 2 topic

Part 1 covers familiar ground about you and your life, so it works as a warm-up. Part 2 gives you one minute with a pen before roughly two minutes of uninterrupted talk on a set topic. Part 3 follows no script, since the examiner reacts to your answers and pushes the topic further. Preparing for the three parts as three separate tasks beats treating the interview as one block.

Picking the Speaking Format Suiting You

Decide by how you perform in each setup rather than by which one sounds pleasant. The matches below cover the common cases.

You speak better when a person reacts to you: IELTS fits
A microphone and a countdown feel calmer than an examiner: TOEFL fits
You want questions adapting to your answers: IELTS Part 3 delivers it
You prefer identical prompts for everyone and automated scoring: TOEFL Speaking is linear and machine scored
You freeze in interviews: record yourself under a timer and check whether the pressure drops

Test the assumption before you book instead of trusting a guess about yourself. One recorded practice attempt in each style tells you more than any description of them. Our free TOEFL and IELTS practice covers speaking tasks in both formats, so the comparison costs you nothing but time.

Scoring Scales Compared

The two scales look nothing alike, and the numbers are not interchangeable. Underneath, both work the same way: four skill scores, averaged into one overall figure, rounded to the nearest half band. What differs is the range, plus the dual reporting running through the TOEFL transition period.

TOEFL: Bands 1 to 6

Since January 21, 2026, TOEFL score reports use a 1 to 6 scale in half-point increments for each of the four sections and for the overall score. The overall score is the average of the four section scores, rounded to the nearest half band. For a two-year transition period after January 2026, reports also show a comparable overall score on the legacy 0 to 120 scale, taken as the midpoint of the corresponding range. Programs still publishing a 0 to 120 minimum read the comparable figure on your report. The redesigned test is built to cover the full CEFR range from A1 to C2 across skills, so your band maps onto a common European reference level as well.

IELTS: Bands 0 to 9

IELTS reports on a 9-band scale from 0 to 9. You receive a band for Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking, plus an overall band. The overall band is the average of the four skill bands, rounded to the nearest half band, so an average of 6.25 rounds up to 6.5. Half a band in one skill therefore moves your overall result, which is the reason a single weak skill hurts and the reason the One Skill Retake exists.

Comparing a TOEFL Score With an IELTS Band

No official conversion makes the two scales equivalent. Each institution sets its own minimum per test, and the figure printed on your program page is the one binding you. For a planning estimate while you decide, use our IELTS, TOEFL iBT, PTE and Duolingo score converter. Treat the output as a rough guide for target setting, never as an admissions promise.

IELTS Academic vs General Training

IELTS comes in two versions, and the split is by purpose. The official test type pages define them.

Version	Built for	Sections differing
Academic	Undergraduate and postgraduate study, and professional registration such as doctors and nurses	Reading and Writing
General Training	Migration to Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the UK, and study or training below degree level	Reading and Writing

Listening and Speaking are the same in both versions, so preparation for those two skills carries over. Reading and Writing change, and sitting the wrong version wastes the fee when your institution demands the other one. Degree study and professional registration point to Academic. Migration to Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the UK, and study below degree level, point to General Training.

The TOEFL iBT is a single test with the same four sections for everyone, so no version choice applies there. Confirm the required IELTS version in writing on the program or visa page before you register. A booking mistake here costs a full fee and several weeks of your timeline.

Where Each Test Is Accepted

Acceptance is decided institution by institution, and neither ETS nor ielts.org publishes a country preference list, so read the following as general tendencies rather than rules. Across the main study destinations, meaning the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, universities commonly accept both TOEFL and IELTS for admission. General Training is the IELTS module built for migration to Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the UK. Every one of these tendencies needs checking against your own program list and the authority handling your application.

Tendencies do not book tests. Work through these checks before you pay for anything.

Open the admissions page for every program on your list and record the accepted tests and minimum scores
Note per-section minimums, since many programs set a floor per skill on top of the overall requirement
For IELTS, confirm whether the program wants Academic or General Training
For a visa, confirm the accepted test list with the authority handling your application
Check score validity and score-sending rules with the receiving institution before you pick a date

When every program on your list accepts both tests, the decision falls back to format, speaking style, local price and date availability. When one program on the list accepts a single test, the choice is made for you. Run this check early, since requirement pages get updated between admission cycles.

Fees and What Varies by Country

Neither test publishes one global price. Both set the registration fee by country and test center, so the only reliable figure is the one shown for your own location. ETS lists TOEFL fees by test location, and the amounts exclude VAT except in EU countries. The add-on service fees are fixed and published in full.

TOEFL service	Fee
Express registration	$49
Rescheduling	$69
Reinstatement of canceled scores	$20
Additional score report, each	$29
Speaking or Writing section score review	$80
Speaking and Writing section score review	$160

Score review covers Speaking and Writing only, so a Reading or Listening result stands as reported. For IELTS, the test fee is set where your test is run, so ask your local British Council or IDP center for the current list. Budget the full picture rather than the headline fee: registration, any retake, and extra score reports. A lower base fee stops being the cheaper option once a second sitting enters the plan.

Retakes and Fixing One Weak Skill

Retake policy is where IELTS offers something TOEFL has no equivalent for. One weak skill drags your overall result down under both systems, since both average four skills into one figure. IELTS lets you resit the weak skill alone under tight conditions, while TOEFL requires the whole test again.

IELTS One Skill Retake

The IELTS One Skill Retake lets you resit one of the four skills instead of the whole test. The rules are tight.

Retake one skill only: Listening, Reading, Writing or Speaking
Sit the retake within 60 days of your full test
Available only after a completed computer-delivered IELTS at a participating center
Allowed once per original test
You receive a new Test Report Form showing the updated overall band

The option is widely available and expanding monthly, though it runs only at participating test centers, so a center near you is not guaranteed. It is center based, which rules out online delivery. Confirm your center takes part before you build a plan around the option, and book the computer-delivered test there to keep it open. Miss the 60-day window and the whole test goes back on the table.

Retaking the Full Test

TOEFL has no single-section retake, so lifting one score means sitting all four sections again and paying the registration fee again. The same applies to IELTS whenever the One Skill Retake is out of reach, for example at a center outside the One Skill Retake rollout, or once the 60-day window has closed. Attempt limits and the spacing required between sittings are set by each test owner and get updated from time to time. We keep the current rules in dedicated guides, so read our TOEFL retake policy guide and our IELTS retake policy guide before you book a second date.

Two TOEFL fees are worth knowing before you commit to any date. Rescheduling costs $69 and reinstating canceled scores costs $20, both listed on the ETS fees page above. Weigh those two against the cost of a fresh registration when your plan shifts.

How to Choose

Run the decision in this order. Stop as soon as one step rules a test out.

List your target programs and record the tests and minimum scores each accepts
Remove any test not accepted across your whole list
If IELTS stays in, pick Academic for degree study or professional registration, General Training for migration or sub-degree study
Compare the two speaking formats and decide where you perform better
Compare local price and the next available dates for both
Sit a timed practice test in each format before you pay for anything

Session length works as a tiebreaker at the end. TOEFL packs four sections into under 90 minutes of test time, while IELTS spreads them across 2 hours 45 minutes and adds a separate speaking interview. Decide whether one short intense sitting or a longer paced one suits your concentration. Price and the next open date settle most of what is left, and both are local figures rather than global ones.

Practice Both Before You Book

The cheapest way to choose is to sit both formats once under timed conditions. Our practice is free and needs no signup.

Full-length mocks, section practice and drills for TOEFL on our TOEFL practice page
Full-length mocks, section practice and drills for IELTS on our IELTS practice page
Every exam we cover on the practice tests page
A wider comparison across English tests in PTE vs IELTS vs TOEFL vs Duolingo compared

Sit one timed TOEFL mock and one timed IELTS mock in the same week under test conditions. Compare the recorded speaking tasks against the face-to-face style tasks, then book the test where your practice result sits furthest above the requirement. Both mocks are free on our site and need no signup, so the only cost is the afternoon. Start with our TOEFL practice tests and our IELTS practice tests.