Test Format
Section | Time limit | Questions | Tasks |
Reading | 60–80 minutes | 36–56 questions | Read passages and answer questions |
Listening | 60–90 minutes | 34–51 questions | Listen to lectures, classroom discussions and conversations, then answer questions. |
Break | 10 minutes | — | — |
Speaking | 20 minutes | 6 tasks | Express an opinion on a familiar topic; speak based on reading and listening tasks. |
Writing | 50 minutes | 2 tasks | Write essay responses based on reading and listening tasks; support an opinion in writing. |
Reading:Â The Reading section is the first section of the TOEFL. A student will be given three or five passages of approximately 700 words with each passage comprising of 12 to 14 questions. A student has flexibility to skip answers and come back to them later at any time during the reading testing period.
Listening:Â The listening section is made up of four to six lectures, each accompanied by six questions, and two or three conversations, each accompanied by five questions.
Speaking: The Speaking section is the shortest section on the TOEFL, lasting just 20 minutes in total. Every Speaking task is different but is divided into two main types: Independent and Integrated.
The Independent tasks or tasks 1 and 2 focus on familiar topics. For task 1 a student must choose one of many options and for task 2 a student must choose one of two options.
Task 3 | Task 4 | Task 5 | Task 6 | |
Content | Reading + Listening | Reading + Listening | Listening | Listening |
Topic | Campus situations | Academic course content | Campus situations | Academic course content |
Time | Reading     : 45-50 sec Listening   : About 60 sec Preparation: 30 sec Speaking   : 60 sec |
Reading     : 45-50 sec Listening   : About 60 sec Preparation: 30 sec Speaking   : 60 sec |
Listening   : About 60-120 sec Preparation : 20 sec Speaking   : 60 sec |
Listening: About 60-120 sec Preparation: 20 sec Speaking: 60 sec |
Integrated tasks or tasks 3-6 requires student to combine reading and listening skills with speaking skills. Tasks 3 and 5 focus on campus situations, while tasks 4 and 6 focus on academic course content.
Task 3 |
Task 4 |
Task 5 |
Task 6 |
|
Content |
Reading + Listening |
Listening |
||
Topic |
Campus situations |
Academic course content |
Campus situations |
  Academic   course content |
Time |
Reading: 45-50 seconds
|
Listening: About 60-120 seconds
|