TOEFL Scores and Cancellation of TOEFL Scores

The scoring in the TOEFL examination is very simple. Your scores reflect your performance in the exam. For obtaining an official score report, you need to complete at least one task in each section, i.e. the reading, listening and speaking and one essay in the writing section, failing which your exam will not be officially reported. For the iBT, you will receive via e-mail and post your test scores that are scaled in the following format,

1. Reading section : 0-30

2. Listening section : 0-30

3. Speaking section : 0-30

4. Writing section : 0-30

The total score would be the sum of the individual scores and not an average like the IELTS examination, so it will be on a scale of 0-120.

Scoring Method

TOEFL scoring is done both by human examiners and computers with automated scoring mechanisms. The two methods are employed to give an exact score based on the candidate’s performance that is directly related to his ability. Computers that are used in the scoring are good, but have some disadvantages too. They cannot measure the accuracy of the language perfectly and also the appropriateness of the content. The automated scoring is not always correct, it is sometimes not accurate. When humans grade the test, especially the writing section, the scores would be more precise, as they can grade the content, wide range of ideas and the structure of the essays.

In the TOEFL test, both automated scoring as well as human scoring is employed of the writing tasks. Proper scores can be obtained by taking into account both these ways of scoring.

Score Reporting:

The score for the TOEFL iBT is on a scale from 0-120. The score card that arrives by e-mail and post shows the individual scores of each section, namely the reading section, listening section, writing section and the speaking section, out of 30. They can be viewed on the ETS website after 7-15 days after the exam. The report will arrive by post another 15 days later. For sending the scores to universities to which you want to apply to, you can select them before the test. You can send scores officially to four colleges for free. You can select them by logging into the TOEFL website at least 24 hours before your exam. For additional score reports to be sent to colleges apart from those 4, each report costs $17, these can be done after writing the exam also.

Cancellation of TOEFL Test Scores:

After you finish writing your test, you will have an option of canceling your scores if you want to. If you feel you haven’t done the test well, you can choose this option. If you choose this, then your scores will not be reported to the universities that you selected. Even you cannot see them. In case, after canceling, you want to reinstate your scores, you can do so within 10 days of your test date by paying a fee of $20.