What is a good TOEFL score out of 120? TOEFL is the short form for “Test Of English as a Foreign Language.” This test checks the English language ability of a candidate who is not a native English speaker. A non-native English speaker is a person whose first language is not English. ETS (Educational Testing Service) conducts this exam. It was first launched in 1964, and since then, it has undergone many changes. The latest version of the TOEFL exam took place in 2005.
On the TOEFL exam, the candidate’s English language ability is measured in the range of 0 to 120. “What is a good TOEFL score out of 120?” is the first question that comes into a student’s mind before practicing for the TOEFL.
If you are planning to go abroad, then you have to take the TOEFL test. Top-ranked universities worldwide demand an English language test like TOEFL to start your enrollment process if you are not from an English-speaking native country.
Required TOEFL Score By Universities
Every university has different requirements for the TOEFL test score. Some universities can give you admission with a 70 TOEFL score, whereas some require an 80 or 90+ TOEFL score.
Universities such as Yale University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Pennsylvania demand a TOEFL score of a minimum of 100. And the University of Oxford accepts candidates with a TOEFL score of 110. The requirement for a TOEFL score varies with the university or college. Different universities or colleges require different TOEFL scores.
In the upcoming paragraphs, we will discuss the most common characteristics of the TOEFL exam. We will discuss how the overall TOEFL test score is created and what is a good TOEFL score out of 120. Along with this, we will also discuss how you can check your TOEFL score online at home. And also if you want to know the TOEFL exam pattern, then you can read out blog on this.
At the end of the test, there will also be a table of comparisons of TOEFL, IELTS, and PTE scores.
What is a good TOEFL Test Score out of 120?
What is a good TOEFL score out of 120? To know what an ideal score is for the TOEFL exam, you must know when to check your TOEFL exam score. After that, you need to understand how you can check that online. What is the official and unofficial test score for the TOEFL test?
What is a good TOEFL Test Score?
What is a good TOEFL score out of 120? Every candidate who plans to take the TOEFL exam test wonders what a good TOEFL score is out of 120. As discussed above, every university has its own requirements for the TOEFL exam. Some top universities even asked candidates to achieve at least a 100 score on the TOEFL exam.
In some universities, there is a cut-off score for TOEFL, so the candidate who has scored above the cut-off score will get admission to the university.
It is advised that students always try to achieve more TOEFL scores than their requirements. This will increase your chances of getting admission to your desired university.
To help you understand more clearly, there is a table below about the TOEFL score and user level.
| TOEFL score | User Level |
| 115-120 | Expert |
| 102-114 | very good |
| 79-101 | Good |
| 46-78 | Competent |
| 32-45 | Modest |
| 0-31 | Intermittent or limited users |
What is a good TOEFL Test Score out of 120? As there is no passing or failing system in the TOEFL exam, whatever score you get is a good score unless or until you get admission to your choice of university. But if you get a high score, there are chances that you will get admission to a higher-level college or university. So always try to aim more than your requirement because it will help you to achieve an 80 or 90 plus score on the TOEFL, which is said to be a good score on the TOEFL.
This is a good TOEFL Test Score because, with this score, you can get admission to most top-ranked universities, except Yale University, the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, and Oxford University, which require a score of more than 100 on the TOEFL.
Here is a list of some top universities or colleges in the USA and their required TOEFL score.
| University/college name | TOEFL score requirement |
| Andrews University | 80 iBT |
| Bentley University | 100 iBT |
| Boston University | On iBTReading: 21Listening: 18Speaking: 23Writing: 22 |
| Brown University | 90 iBT, 577 PBT. |
| Brandeis University | Varies with choice of course, but usually 100 iBT or 600 PBT. |
| Bryn Mawr College | 100 iBT, 600 PBT |
| Carleton College | 86 iBT, 580 PBT |
| Cornell University | On iBTReading: 20Listening: 15Speaking: 22Writing: 20 |
| Florida Institute of Technology | 79 iBT |
| Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) | 90 iBT and 550 PBT |
| Lynn University | 80+ iBT and 550+ PBT |
| Purdue University | 80 iBT, 550 PBT |
| Rice University | 90 iBT, 600 PBT |
| Suffolk University | 80 iBT, 550 PBT |
| University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | 87 iBT, 560 PBT |
These are some top-ranked universities and colleges with their required TOEFL Test Score.
Let us now move to the official and unofficial TOEFL test scores to learn more about what a good score is on the TOEFL test.
The unofficial and official TOEFL score
What is a good TOEFL score out of 120? BWhen you give TOEFL iBT, a computer-based TOEFL test, you will get an unofficial or raw score of your reading and listening modules. The official TOEFL test is available on the official website of the TOEFL approximately 6 days after the exam.
The unofficial reading and listening score options are unavailable for candidates who opt for a home-based TOEFL test. Their results take about 6 to 10 days after the test date.
How to access the TOEFL score
What is a good TOEFL score out of 120? It is not difficult to check your TOEFL Test Score results yourself. But it is true that, no matter how well your exam went, there is always a fear inside you about the result.
When you give your exam after approximately 6 days, you will receive an email with your result. In that mail, there is no exam result but only a notification that your exam result is out, and you can check it on the website.
You must log in to the official TOEFL website and click “View Score” to see your TOEFL exam result. As mentioned above, home-based TOEFL exam results are available on the official website 6 to 10 days after the exam date. You will receive an email if a home-based TOEFL exam result is available, and the procedure for checking the result is the same as for TOEFL iBT.
After seeing your result for the test, you must think about what a good TOEFL Test Score is out of 120. And did you get enough scores to get a visa accepted for your dream country and university of choice? This is the next question that pops up in your mind.
When will the official test report for the TOEFL test be available?
If you have requested a paper result, it can take up to 11 days to reach your address. This process can even take longer depending upon the postal services in your area. If you want the paper result, you must request it while filling out the application for TOEFL.
You can download a pdf of your exam result as many times as you want from the official site of the TOEFL exam. The exam result pdf is available on your ETS account after 8 days of the exam date. Your TOEFL test score is valid for only 2 years.
Simple Steps To Check Your TOEFL Score
- Visit the official website https://www.ets.org/.
- Open your ETS account by clicking on member login.
- Enter your TOEFL exam credentials, that is, the username and password.
- By clicking on the view result, see the result of your TOEFL exam.
TOEFL exam validity
As discussed above, the result of your TOEFL Test Score is valid for exactly 2 years from the date of your exam. To help you understand it more clearly, let us explain it to you with the help of an example. If you appear for the exam on 02/Jan/2021, then your result will be valid till 01/Jan/2023.
This was all about the exam, the TOEFL test score, one should know. Now, the question of what is a good TOEFL score out of 120 may be clear to you.
If you have difficulty preparing for the TOEFL exam, there are some important tips you should follow.
Tips For Preparing For The TOEFL
- You should create a study routine to prepare for the TOEFL exam. A proper study routine will help you to understand the exam properly and achieve a good score on the TOEFL test.
- After that, you should practice speaking the English language, even to yourself. The benefit of this will be that you will gain confidence. And confidence will help you boost your overall score.
- You can practice timed writing. It means you have to note down the time you take to write the writing tasks for the TOEFL exam.
- You should make yourself familiar with the format of the exam.
- Pick up a study guide. This will help you to understand each and every type of question that appears on the exam.
These are some important tips you can follow if you want to know how to prepare for TOEFL exam.
TOEFL vs IELTS vs PTE
There are three different English language exams for candidates who want to go abroad.
Below is a comparison table of the scores of all three exams for the English language.
| TOEFL | IELTS | PTE |
| 118 – 120 | 9 | 86 – 90 |
| 115 – 117 | 8.5 | 83 – 85 |
| 110 – 114 | 8 | 79 – 82 |
| 102 – 109 | 7.5 | 73 – 78 |
| 94 – 101 | 7 | 65 – 72 |
| 79 – 93 | 6.5 | 59 – 64 |
| 60 – 78 | 6 | 51 – 58 |
| 46 – 59 | 5.5 | 43 – 50 |
| 35 – 45 | 5 | 35 – 42 |
| 32 – 34 | 4.5 | 30 – 34 |
| 0 – 31 | 0 – 4 | 0 – 29 |
Final Words (What is a good TOEFL score out of 120)
In this post, we have discussed what is a good TOEFL Test Score out of 120. After that, we explained how and where you could check your TOEFL Test Score.
In the end, a comparison table of the TOEFL, IELTS, and PTE scores is given, which will help you compare your scores on all the top three English language proficiency tests.
If you are talking about a good score on the TOEFL exam, there is none. Different universities require different TOEFL scores to fulfill their admission requirements.
We hope you have enjoyed reading this post about how to get a good TOEFL Test Score.
FAQs (What is a good TOEFL score out of 120)
Is TOEFL hard to pass?
Compared to other standardized test such as GRE, ACT, and SAT, the TOEFL is generally considered to be easier.
What is the highest TOEFL score?
The maximum TOEFL score is 120 points
