After the TOEFL: when your scores arrive and when to retake

1. 1

   The moment you finish: unofficial Reading and Listening scores

   Your Reading and Listening scores appear on screen, with the date your official scores will be ready. They’re unofficial because every score goes through ETS’s quality checks first. ETS says a change after those checks is rare, but possible.

2. 2

   Still on screen: report or cancel

   You choose to report your scores or cancel them. The next section explains this choice, because it’s the one you can’t take back.

3. 3

   3 days later: official scores

   All four section scores and your overall band are posted to your ETS account, and you get an email when they’re there.

4. 4

   A day or two after that: the PDF

   You can download a PDF of your score report from your ETS account. Save a copy: you’ll want it for applications.

5. 5

   About 1 to 2 weeks after your test: schools receive them

   Schools that use ETS’s Data Manager get your scores 4 to 8 business days after they’re ready. Schools that take scores by post take 10 to 12 business days plus mailing time, which can add weeks outside the US.

After you see your unofficial scores, you decide. Report, and your scores go to you and to the schools you chose before the test. Once reported, they can’t be canceled. Cancel, and every section is canceled together, nobody sees them, and your fee isn’t refunded. If you change your mind, you can reinstate canceled scores in your ETS account within 60 days, for a fee. They’re then reported about 3 weeks after ETS gets your request.

TOEFL scores are valid for 2 years from the test date, not from the date you send them. After 2 years, ETS won’t report or send them. So a test taken on March 10, 2026 can be sent to schools until March 2028.

• Scores from before January 21, 2026 are still valid for their 2 years. They stay on the old 0–120 scale, and our score conversion chart shows the band each one compares with.
• Check which date your school counts. ETS counts 2 years from the test date. Some schools may want your scores to be valid on a later date, like when you apply, so read each school’s rules.
• Order extra score reports any time in those 2 years. Each one costs US$25 per school or agency.

Your score report shows two sets of scores: the ones from the test date you’re sending, and your MyBest scores. MyBest takes your best score in each section from all your valid TOEFL iBT scores in the last 2 years, even if they come from different test dates. Here’s an example:

• Old and new scales: if your report is for a test on the new 1–6 scale, its MyBest section converts any older 0–120 scores to the 1–6 scale. A report for a test taken before January 21, 2026 shows MyBest scores from the old scale only.
• Not every school accepts MyBest. ETS leaves it to each school, so check before you plan around it. If a school only accepts scores from one test date, your best single test is what counts.

As many times as you like. ETS sets no limit on attempts. The only rule is that you can’t take the test more than once in any 3-day period, even if you canceled your scores from the earlier test. You also can’t book a second date within 3 days of an appointment you already have.

Can you have your score checked instead of retaking? For Speaking and Writing, yes: you can ask ETS for a score review within 30 days of your test, for a fee. Your score can go up or down, and the new one becomes your official score. Reading and Listening scores can’t be reviewed. But you can’t ask for a review once you’ve chosen any school to receive your scores, and that includes the free reports you pick before the test.

This part is our advice, built on ETS’s rules above. Your overall band is the average of your four section bands, rounded to the nearest half band, with exact halves rounding up. Each half band you gain in one section adds 0.125 to your average. So before you choose what to work on, check how close you are to the next rounding line.

Take Reading 5.0, Listening 5.0, Writing 4.5 and Speaking 4.0. The average is 4.625, so the overall band is 4.5. Just half a band more in any one section makes the average 4.75, which rounds up to 5.0. The score calculator shows the average and the rounding as you try your own scores.

1. 1

   Start with your school’s section minimums

   Many programs set a minimum for each section as well as the overall band. If one section is below its minimum, that’s your retake target, whatever the rounding says.

2. 2

   Then pick the section that’s cheapest to raise

   Usually that’s your lowest section, since it has the most room to grow. If you’re one half band from the next rounding line, any section will do, so choose the one you can improve fastest.

3. 3

   Work back from your deadline

   Allow 3 days for scores and up to 8 business days for schools to receive them. With time to practise in between, sit your first test about 6 weeks before your earliest deadline, so a retake still arrives on time.

4. 4

   Practise before you rebook

   The 3-day rule is the minimum gap, not a good plan. Give yourself time to work on the section you picked, then take a full timed practice test to check that it moved.

5. 5

   Decide about a score review before you send anything

   If your deadline is close, use your 4 free score reports. If it’s far away and you might want Speaking or Writing reviewed, you could leave your recipients empty and order reports later, at US$25 each.