Major international English test gets major overhaul in structure and scoring

Bài thi tiếng Anh quốc tế lớn hàng đầu 'đại phẫu' cấu trúc và thang điểm - Ảnh 1. — After 3 years, TOEFL iBT will continue to change its structure, starting from 2026

International English test increases applicability

TOEFL iBT is an international English test designed and developed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). After announcing the test's improvements in May, ETS recently updated information on many changes "to enhance practical application, optimize the test taker experience, and better meet the requirements of language use in a global environment."

Specifically, according to information from IIG Vietnam - the national representative of ETS, authorized to deploy the company's products in Vietnam - the upcoming TOEFL iBT exam will have many "important improvements", applied from January 21, 2026 globally, including Vietnam.

First, the TOEFL iBT is about to adopt multistage adaptive testing - the method that is currently the "backbone" of some other English tests such as DET (part of Duolingo) or Envoy (IDP) - for the two reading and listening sections. Accordingly, the number of questions is adjusted based on the test-taking ability of each candidate and the difficulty of the questions also changes based on the candidate's previous answers.

This change also potentially reduces the exam duration by half, from 116 minutes to about 67 - 85 minutes. Not to mention, the time to return exam results is also shortened by half, from 5-7 days to only 3 days.

Second, the exam will eliminate overly academic content and increase practical application through tasks taken from academic contexts and student life, such as reading passages from textbooks or social networks; listening to lectures, announcements...; writing emails, online discussions; simulated interviews or accurately retelling certain information.

The new structure of the TOEFL iBT test is as follows:

Bài thi tiếng Anh quốc tế lớn hàng đầu 'đại phẫu' cấu trúc và thang điểm - Ảnh 2. — New TOEFL iBT structure applied from 2026 compared to current structure

Third, TOEFL iBT introduced a new scale from 1-6, parallel to the old scale from 0-120. The new scale has a jump of 0.5 points and corresponds to 6 levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), in which level A1 (lowest) is equivalent to TOEFL iBT 1-1.5 and C2 (highest) is equivalent to level 6. ETS also noted that, during the transition period of 2026 - 2028, candidates will still receive the same total converted score according to both the 1-6 and 0-120 scales.

Boosting the use of AI

Another notable point is that ETS will use AI (artificial intelligence) to prevent cheating, according to a new document released by ETS. "Test security is ensured by a combination of trained proctors and AI. AI monitors the activities and environment on the test taker's computer and sends alerts to proctors when it detects unusual behavior or unsatisfactory test room conditions," ETS informed.

In addition, AI is also applied to score candidates' writing and speaking "based on criteria specified in the scoring guide", but ETS does not specify the role of human examiners, only saying: "Human scoring remains an important factor in the overall scoring process of the writing and speaking sections of the TOEFL test because automated scoring systems are trained based on human scoring data".

“Human-graded scores not only set the standard for machine learning, but also serve as oversight to ensure the accuracy and reliability of test scores,” ETS added.

This is the second time ETS has changed the TOEFL iBT test format in recent years. In 2023, ETS shortened the test from three hours to less than two hours by reducing the reading section to two passages with 10 questions each; replacing independent writing with academic discussion; and eliminating ungraded questions. The test score remained the same, with a maximum score of 120.

It is known that ETS has not yet informed its partners about whether the exam fees and certificate forms will change or remain the same after updating the new structure and score scale. This is something that many candidates are interested in, because when ETS changed the TOEFL iBT structure in 2023, the Australian Department of Home Affairs had to temporarily suspend the use of the new test results in visa procedures for re-evaluation and more than 10 months later accepted it again.

TOEFL iBT is one of the leading international English exams with more than 13,000 organizations in more than 160 countries and territories recognizing it. The new TOEFL iBT is also the shortest test currently compared to two other popular representatives, IELTS (more than 2 hours 45 minutes, 3 skills) and TOEIC (2 hours, 2 skills). Previously, in 2019, ETS had shortened the TOEFL test time by 30 minutes, down to 3 hours.

To help candidates prepare effectively for the new test format, ETS has released 4-skill practice sets with new question types completely free of charge. Candidates can access and experience HERE .

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bai-thi-tieng-anh-quoc-te-lon-hang-dau-dai-phau-cau-truc-va-thang-diem-185250629110831284.htm