What is TOEFL Essentials? | UP-STUDY Educational Center

TOEFL Essentials Introduction

TOEFL Essentials is an online English test lasting about 1.5 hours. The test covers four main areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and includes both general and academic English. The newly designed TOEFL Essentials is more affordable, more convenient in terms of location, and more accurately measures the test taker's level compared to the traditional TOEFL iBT exam. Additionally, more and more educational institutions are accepting TOEFL Essentials scores. However, before choosing the test type, it is recommended that test takers check with their target universities to ensure that they accept the test scores to avoid any situations where the scores are not accepted after taking the exam.

TOEFL Essentials Highlights

• Test Duration: TOEFL Essentials takes approximately 1.5 hours (non-stop), which is shorter and faster compared to the TOEFL iBT exam.
• Test Fees: The test fee is around $100–120, which is about $100 cheaper than the TOEFL iBT exam.
• Online Test: In response to the convenience of digitalization, as long as test takers have prepared the necessary equipment beforehand, they can choose their test location and take the test at home. Learn more about the equipment requirements here.
• Adaptive Testing (Multistage Adaptive Format Design): The "listening, reading, and writing" sections include adaptive testing, where the system adjusts the difficulty of the questions based on the test taker's accuracy. This allows for a more accurate assessment of the student's English proficiency.

For example: if the test taker answers the first half of the listening section correctly, the system will adjust to more difficult questions in the second half. Conversely, if the test taker answers incorrectly in the first half, the questions in the second half will be easier.

• 5-Minute Personal Statement Video: In addition to the listening, speaking, reading, and writing sections, a new personal statement video has been added to give schools a better understanding of each test taker's personality. While the video is not scored, it offers a quick way for international students to present their personal style to schools. The video includes two questions, with 30 seconds to prepare for each question and 2 minutes to respond.
• Basic Skills: The score report not only shows scores from 0 to 12 for each section, but also includes an analysis of the test taker's proficiency in "Sentence Construction" and "Vocabulary Knowledge". This allows both students and schools to understand whether the student meets the required English proficiency in basic areas.
• High Acceptance by Schools/Educational Institutions: Currently, about 90% of educational institutions may accept TOEFL Essentials scores as part of the 2022 admissions process. Around 95% of institutions believe that the TOEFL Essentials test helps attract high-quality candidates and have expressed strong interest in this new test.

TOEFL Essentials V.S. TOEFL iBT

Other Questions

•  Which test is right for me: TOEFL Essentials or TOEFL iBT?

TOEFL iBT takes longer to complete, so the preparation time is usually longer compared to TOEFL Essentials. If test-takers want a cheaper and quicker way to assess their English proficiency, they can choose TOEFL Essentials. However, most universities and institutions still use TOEFL iBT as the standard for assessing English proficiency, so it is recommended that candidates base their decision on personal needs or the requirements of the school or institution.

• Which schools or educational institutions accept TOEFL Essentials?

If you're unsure whether your target university accepts TOEFL Essentials scores, you can check by visiting this website link and entering the country or school name to search.