TOEFL Essentials: Format and Scoring
TOEFL Essentials is an adaptive online test introduced by ETS in 2021 as a shorter, more accessible alternative to TOEFL iBT. Key format differences: TOEFL Essentials is approximately 1.5 hours (compared to TOEFL iBT's 3+ hours). It uses a Multi-Stage Adaptive (MSA) format — the difficulty of the second stage of each section adapts based on performance in the first stage. The test is taken at home (online proctored) or at a test center, with no in-person requirement. Sections: Reading (approximately 16 questions), Listening (approximately 30 minutes), Speaking (4 tasks), and Writing (2 tasks — Personal Statement and Integrated Writing). Scoring: TOEFL Essentials reports scores on a different scale from TOEFL iBT — a 1–12 scale per section and an overall 1–12 scale. The Personal Statement writing task in TOEFL Essentials is unique: it asks you to write about yourself, your goals, or your reasoning for applying — more similar to a university application statement than a traditional essay task. This task is scored by human raters and contributes to the overall Writing score. TOEFL Essentials is accepted by a growing number of institutions — check the ETS website for the current acceptance list, which expands regularly. The test is significantly less widely accepted than TOEFL iBT; most top-20 US research universities had not added TOEFL Essentials to their accepted tests list as of early 2026.