Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is a standardized test to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers wishing to enroll in English-speaking universities. The test is accepted by many English-speaking academic and professional institutions. TOEFL is one of the two major English-language tests in the world, the other being the IELTS.
To the present day, college admission criteria for international students who are nationals of some of the Commonwealth nations exempt them from taking the TOEFL exam. Nations which are part of the English-speaking world (from most Commonwealth realms to former British colonies e.g., Hong Kong SAR or former protectorates of the United States (Philippines, Puerto Rico) where English is the de facto official language automatically grants a TOEFL exemption with some restrictions (e.g., residents of Quebec are required to take TOEFL while the rest of Canada is exempt – also inclusive of Commonwealth nations where English is not an official language e.g., Mozambique or Namibia (English is co-official but spoken by 3% of the population)). However, this does not apply to some Commonwealth nations outside the Anglosphere, due to the IELTS, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc., even though they may have English as the de facto official language.
IELTS Score | TOEFL Score | TOEFL PBT Score | IELTS Description |
9 | 118-120 | ≥ 645 | Expert User |
8.5 | 115-117 | 626 – 644 | Very Good User |
8 | 110-114 | 610 – 625 | |
7.5 | 102-109 | 581 – 609 | Good User |
7 | 94-101 | 560 – 580 | |
6.5 | 79-93 | 546 – 559 | Competent User |
6 | 60-78 | 530 – 545 | |
5.5 | 42-59 | 516 – 529 | Modest User |
5 | 35-41 | 490 – 515 | |
4.5 | 32-34 | 450 – 489 | Limited User |
0-4 | 0-31 | 400 – 449 | Extremely Limited/Intermittent/Non User |