TOEFL Exam Pattern: Full Guide about TOEFL Exam Structure

If you want to get good scores in an exam, then the first thing you should do is understand the pattern of that exam.

That’s why if someone asks me how they can achieve good scores in the TOEFL Exam, then the first thing that I mostly say to them is to understand the TOEFL Exam pattern.

By understanding the TOEFL exam pattern, you can make a strategy that can make your preparation for this exam easy and efficient.

I think now you have the idea about the importance of this exam pattern, but now the question is how you can get detailed information about it.

I have an answer for this.

Read this blog till the end because, in this blog, you will get complete information about the pattern of the TOEFL exam.

This is going to be a detailed blog in which we will discuss all the sections like speaking, reading, listening and writing of this exam, so read this blog till the end.

Table of Contents

Basic Information about the TOEFL Exam Pattern

Let’s start with some basic information about the pattern of this exam; this will help you to clear your concepts regarding it.

There is a table below that will help you in this and will provide you with all the basic information that you should have at the start.

Section	Time Limit	No. of Questions	Tasks
Reading	Candidates will have about 54 to 72 minutes to complete this section.	There will be around 30 to 40 questions in this section.	In this section, candidates have to read some passages, and then they have to answer the questions regarding those passages.
Listening	Candidates will have about 41 minutes to 57 minutes.	There will be around 28 to 39 questions in the Listening section.	Candidates will listen to some lectures or discussions and then have to answer questions regarding those lectures and discussions.
Then there will be break of 10 minutes
Speaking	Candidates will have about 17 minutes to complete the speaking section.	There will be 4 tasks that candidates have to complete in this section.	In this, candidates will be given a topic, and then candidates have to speak on that topic.
Writing	Candidates will have about 50 minutes to complete the writing section.	There will be 2 tasks in the sections.	In this, candidates will read a passage or will listen to a recording and then they have to write something in response to those recordings and passages.

You May Read -: What is TOEFL? Test of English as a Foreign Language Guide

Exam Pattern of TOEFL in Detail

Now let’s discuss the pattern of the TOEFL exam in little more detail.

The information that I shared above was just like the teaser of a movie, but the real picture will start now.

You already know that there are four sections in the TOEFL: Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing.

In each section, candidates have to solve some given questions types or tasks.

TOEFL Reading Test Format

Let’s start from the reading section of this exam; as you already saw in the above table, in this section, you will have 30 to 40 questions that you have to solve in about 54 minutes to 72 minutes.

In this section, there will be 3 to 4 passages whose length will be around 700 words, and the ten questions will be set there for each passage.

Passages	3 to 4
Total Questions	10 Questions Each
Total Duration	54 Minutes to 72 Minutes

The main goal of the reading section is to test how a student can read and understand the materials, that’s why in this section, candidates get some passages, and they have to answer some questions that are based on those passages.

Candidates will get different types of questions in those passages, below are the most important question types of reading section:

Inference and Rhetorical

Reading Vocabulary

Sentence Simplification

Factual Information and Negative Factual Information

Prose Summary

Insert Text

TOEFL Listening Test Format

In the listening section of the TOEFL exam, candidates will listen to 3 to 4 lectures or discussions; the length of the lectures or discussions will be around 3 to 5 minutes.

There will be six questions for each lecture or discussion that candidates have to answer in the listening section.

Moreover, there will be 2 to 3 conversations which will be around 3 minutes long, and candidates have to answer about five questions for each conversation.

Lectures or Discussions	3 to 4 (6 Questions Each)
Conversations	2 to 3 (5 Questions Each)
Total Questions	28 to 39 Questions
Total Duration	41 Minutes to 57 Minutes

The main goal of the listening section is to test the candidate’s ability to understand how good English he can understand, if someone says something to them.

These are some basic listening abilities that the listening section of the TOEFL exam checks of the candidate:

Listening for pragmatic understanding

Listening for basic comprehension

The Listening for synthesizing information

TOEFL Speaking Test Format

In the speaking section of the TOEFL exam, candidates have to complete four tasks in the time duration of 17 minutes.

There will be two types of tasks in the speaking section:

Integrated task
Independent task

In an independent task, candidates have to express their opinion on a given topic.

The topic can be of any type, but it will be something that candidates are familiar with; it rarely happens that candidates are unfamiliar with the given topic.

The other three tasks will be integrated, which will be based on the reading and listening section of the exam.

In the speaking test, candidates will get 30 seconds to prepare for their answer, and then they will have around 1 minute to respond to the answer.

Total Tasks	4 Tasks
Independent Task	1 Task
Integrated Tasks	3 Tasks
Total Time Duration	About 17 minutes

The main goal of the speaking test is to check the fluency and pronunciation of the candidate.

TOEFL Writing Test Format

In the writing section of the TOEFL exam, candidates have to write two tasks; they will have around 50 minutes to complete this task.

The writing test of the TOEFL exam also has two types: Independent Writing Test and Integrated Writing Test.

The candidates will read a short passage in the integrated writing task and listen to a lecture recording.

After this, candidates have to write their answers on the basis of all the information that they got through the passage and the lecture.

In the independent writing task, the candidates will be given a topic.

Then the candidates have to write an answer on that topic on the basis of their experiences, opinion and knowledge.

Total Tasks	2 Tasks
Independent Task	1 Task
Integrated Tasks	1 Task
Total Time Duration	About 50 Minutes

You will get 50 minutes to complete both the tasks; many experts advise that candidates should complete the integrated writing task in 20 minutes.

By this, they will have around 30 minutes to complete the independent writing task, which will be enough to complete that task efficiently.

The Writing test checks many factors; it checks a candidate’s grammar, spelling, etc.

Information about the TOEFL Exam Fees

The fees of the TOEFL Exam can vary with the country, but let me give you a little detail about it, by which you can get a general idea about the TOEFL exam fees.

The registration fee for the TOEFL exam in the USA is around 194 dollars.
The late registration fee for this exam is about 40 dollars.
If you want to reschedule your TOEFL exam, then you have to pay about 20 dollars.
If you want to review your speaking or writing section score, then the TOEFL exam provides you with this facility, but you have to pay 80 dollars for each section.

Conclusion

So, this is the end of this blog, in which I have shared all the information about the TOEFL exam pattern.

If you want to get good scores in your TOEFL exam, then you must have information about the format of this exam.

It will not only help you in your preparation, but it will help you on your exam day also.

If you already know which type of questions you will see in your exam, then you will have a very high chance of answering those questions correctly.

So, this is all that I want to tell you in this blog, stay connected to the course mentor for more amazing content.

FAQ about TOEFL Exam Pattern

What is the pattern of the TOEFL exam?

There are four sections in the TOEFL exam: Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking. The candidates have to solve different types of questions and tasks in each section to get good scores in the TOEFL Exam.

Is the TOEFL test hard?

It totally depends on personal perspectives; some people consider it hard. On the other hand, some people consider it easy, but if we compare it with some common tests like SAT, ACT, GRE, then the TOEFL exam is generally considered as an easy exam.

What is a good TOEFL score out of 120?

A score of 80 is considered as a decent score in the TOEFL exam, but you should never be satisfied with your score because the more score you will get in this exam, the more chances you will have to get a visa.