How to register for the TOEFL iBT in 2026, and pick your test date

ETS says you register online through your ETS account, or by phone using the contact details for your country. ETS’s pages don’t list the screens in order, so what you see may differ a little. These are the things you’ll do, and in roughly this order.

1. 1

   Check what your schools need first

   Which test (the TOEFL iBT), which score, by what date, and whether they accept Home Edition. A booking is easier to fix before you pay than after.

2. 2

   Create your ETS account

   Go to ets.org/toefl and sign up. The name you type here has to match your ID exactly (more in the next section). ETS says your account and your registrations aren’t transferable, so make it in your own name.

3. 3

   Choose a test center or Home Edition

   ETS says appointments run up to 6 days a week, and you can find a location and date on its Schedule Your Test page or in your account. For home, check ETS’s equipment and room rules first. Our test day guide covers both.

4. 4

   Pick your date and time

   Choose with your application deadline in mind (see “Picking your date” below), and keep the registration deadlines in the next section handy.

5. 5

   Choose up to 4 schools for your free score reports

   ETS says your fee covers up to 4 reports sent to the schools or agencies you pick, and that you can add, delete or change them until 10 p.m., test center time, the day before your test.

6. 6

   Pay

   By card, e-check, PayPal or Alipay, in your account. The fee depends on your country, and our fees guide shows how to find yours.

Once you’re registered, your ETS account is also where you view, reschedule or cancel your booking, order extra score reports and later see your scores.

This is the mistake ETS warns about most. The name and date of birth you register with must exactly match the ID you show on test day. ETS says that if they don’t, you won’t be able to take the test and your fee won’t be refunded. These are ETS’s rules for the name:

• Spell it exactly as printed on your ID, but leave out accents. ETS’s example: a last name of Fernandez de Córdova is entered as Fernandez de Cordova.
• Use your whole first name. ETS says not to register under a nickname, or with only an initial as your first name.
• Give your whole last name, including both parts if it has two. A middle initial is allowed but not required.
• The same goes by phone. Register under your full first and last names as they appear on your ID.

The ID itself must be an original, physical document, not a photocopy or a picture on your phone. It must be valid (not expired), government-issued, with your full name, date of birth, a recent photo and your signature. A passport, driver’s license or national ID card is usually fine, but ETS’s Bulletin says what counts depends on where you test and your citizenship, so check ETS’s ID Requirements page for your location. The Bulletin also lists some documents that are never accepted, including a birth certificate, a credit or debit card, an employee ID and the Aadhaar Card.

• Can’t meet the ID rules? ETS’s Bulletin says people granted asylum, with refugee status, or otherwise unable to meet them must contact its Office of Testing Integrity at least 7 days before registering, and get approval first.
• Testing at home? ETS says you may need to verify your identity in a mobile app before the test. If that applies to you, do it at least 48 hours before your test time.

Everything here is ETS’s 2026–27 Bulletin, and it counts days before the test date. Here are the deadlines for a test date, in the order they arrive. Express registration costs more, and our fees guide has the amounts.

1. 1

   At least 7 full days before: regular registration closes

   After that, ETS charges an express fee. ETS gives no weekday example for this one, so don’t book on the last possible day.

2. 2

   4 full days before: your last chance to reschedule or cancel

   ETS’s example: for a Saturday test, you must reschedule or cancel by Tuesday. Cancel in time and ETS refunds 50% of your fee. Miss it and nothing is refunded. It must be done in your ETS account or by phone, not by mail, email or at the test center.

3. 3

   2 days before: express online registration closes

   ETS’s example: if the test date you want is a Saturday, the last day you can register online is Thursday. Phone registration with the express fee closes at 5 p.m., local test center time, the day before.

4. 4

   The evening before, 10 p.m. test center time: free score recipients lock

   Until then you can add, delete or change your 4 free schools. After that, ETS charges a fee.

5. 5

   Test day: arrive 30 minutes early, or check in on time at home

   At a test center, ETS says to arrive at least 30 minutes before your start time, and that arriving after it means no test and no refund. For Home Edition you can start checking in 15 minutes early and have up to 30 minutes after your time.

6. 6

   About 3 days after: your scores

   Official scores appear in your ETS account. Our test results guide covers the rest.

ETS’s own advice is the best place to start: pick a test date at least 2 to 3 months before your earliest admissions deadline. ETS’s India pages add one more: register 4 months before the date you want. Past that, three things matter. Putting them together is our advice, built on ETS’s facts.

• Scores don’t arrive instantly. ETS’s score reports FAQ says reports reach your schools within 11 business days after the test, sometimes sooner. ETS’s Schedule Your Test page gives a wider range, 4 to 16 business days, depending on how each school receives them. We’d plan with the longer one.
• A retake needs room. ETS says you can retake as often as you like, but not more than once in a 3-day period, even if you canceled your first scores. Your first scores show up about 3 days after the test, so you can see them before you book a second try.
• You should know your level first. Take a timed practice test before you book. If you’re far from your school’s score, a later date gives you the weeks you need.

A worked example. Say your application is due on March 31, 2027. This is our arithmetic from ETS’s rules, counting weekdays only (a public holiday pushes everything earlier). Here are the dates that matter:

Don’t book your backup before you see your first scores if you can avoid it. Cancel by the 4-day deadline and ETS refunds only 50%, so a backup you don’t need costs money. In the example, you see your scores on February 9 and still have until about February 19 to book February 27. To see the dates for your own test day, try the tool in our test results guide.

• Test centers: ETS says test dates at test centers are offered more than 170 times a year, at thousands of authorized centers, and appointments are available up to 6 days a week.
• Home Edition: ETS says it’s available 24 hours a day, 4 days a week.
• Retakes: as often as you like, but not more than once in any 3-day period. If you already have an appointment, you can’t book another within 3 days of it.

We don’t list exact dates here, because ETS doesn’t publish a fixed calendar on the pages we checked. What’s open depends on your country and your test center, and ETS says to find your location and date on its Schedule Your Test page or by logging in to your ETS account. Look early, so you have choices.

• Mainland China. For a test center, ETS says to register through the National Education Examinations Authority (NEEA) at toefl.neea.cn, with an NEEA account. For Home Edition, ETS says to buy a voucher from the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA), then buy your test through an ETS account. Details are at toefl.cn/at-home. ETS’s Bulletin says some policies there differ from the Bulletin’s.
• India. ETS’s Bulletin says people testing in India should read the TOEFL iBT Information Bulletin for Testing in India, and gives www.etsindia.org as the address. When we followed it, we landed on ETS India’s site, and we couldn’t find a separate India bulletin there, so read what ETS India shows you before you pay. Its registration pages do advise registering 4 months before your desired date.

Our fees guide notes the same two places. Anywhere else, the steps above are the ones ETS’s main pages describe.

The best date is one you’re ready for. A timed practice test shows your likely band in each section, so you can book a date with the right number of weeks of study behind it.