What are good TOEFL® scores?

What is a good TOEFL score?

TOEFL is not a pass/fail exam. So regardless of how well or bad you do in your exam, you will always have a score. It is comforting to know that you cannot fail a test. You can come in the exam room more relaxed and take the exam more confidently.

However, if there is no standard pass/fail score, then how do you know what a good score is and what is not? Well, we are here to help you answer that question.

According to your university and college

The admission requirements from your universities and colleges will help take out the guesswork; they will state out clearly what score a student needs to qualify for their programs.

It is difficult to say what the average TOEFL score requirement is from school to school because there is a huge range between colleges and universities. Some require as low as 70/120, while other schools require as high as 110/120. Therefore, a good TOEFL score is one that qualifies you for your program of choice. If you want to get a general idea of where you stand, then check out our TOEFL test simulator. It can take up to 4 hours to complete just like an actual TOEFL exam and you will be scored on all 4 sections.

Together with the TOEFL, you may also take the SAT or GRE exam. You may have heard people or yourself keep scraping up as many points as possible from the SAT and GRE. The higher your scores are the better chance you have for competition with other applicants. It is not uncommon for people to spend months studying and keep retaking the test over and over to get a higher score. There is nothing wrong with it. It is even recommended since you will never know how a few scores higher on the SAT or GRE can make a big difference for your future.

On the other hand, the TOEFL is a little different, as its a requirement standard. When a school states a score as their admission requirement, that is what they need and nothing more. As long as you meet the requirement, you pass. Gaining more points than the requirement does not give you much benefits or advantages over other applicants. So if your TOEFL score already meets the required score, then there is no reason to retake the TOEFL.

According to ETS

Another way to see if your score is good or not is to compare with the rest of the test takers. This method of score comparison is not as practical as the admission requirement from the universities. However, it will give you a general idea of where you stand compared to your peers.

When you get your TOEFL scores, your scores will be sent together with a document called ‘performance feedback.’ This document will include a summary of your general level. The scores will be broken into levels so you can see how good your scores are overall.

Here is the summary of what each score belongs to what level: