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TOEFL or IELTS? The 2026 Formats Compared, and How to Practise for Each

April 17, 20266 min readEmily Chen · Cognitive Psychology Writer & Study Skills Coach

In this article

1.Side by side
2.Which should you choose?
3.How practice differs
4.Using quizzes for either test
5.A two-week trial before you decide
6.Common mistakes on both tests
7.Frequently Asked Questions
8.Keep going
9.Sources

Short answer. Take the test your target universities, employer or visa authority accept, and check their required scores first. If both are accepted, choose by format. The TOEFL iBT changed in January 2026: it is now about two hours, Reading and Listening are adaptive, and scores are reported on a 1–6 scale. IELTS Academic is 2 hours 45 minutes, with a Speaking test taken face to face with an examiner, and results on the IELTS 9-band scale. The two tests need different practice, especially for writing and speaking.

This page compares the two. For a single-test plan, read the TOEFL guide or the IELTS guide. Facts checked against ETS and IELTS on 24 September 2026.

Side by side

	TOEFL iBT (from January 2026)	IELTS Academic
Total time	About 2 hours (varies because the test adapts)	2 hours 45 minutes
Reading	About 50 items, about 30 minutes, adaptive. Tasks: Complete the Words, Read in Daily Life, Read an Academic Passage	40 questions, 60 minutes
Listening	About 47 items, about 29 minutes, adaptive. Tasks: Listen and Choose a Response, conversations, announcements, academic talks	40 questions in 4 parts, about 30 minutes, recordings played once
Writing	About 12 items, about 23 minutes. Tasks: Build a Sentence, Write an Email, Write for an Academic Discussion	60 minutes, 2 tasks. Task 1 describes a graph, table, chart or diagram in at least 150 words. Task 2 is at least 250 words and counts twice as much as Task 1
Speaking	About 11 items, about 8 minutes. Tasks: Listen and Repeat, Take an Interview. Recorded	11–14 minutes, 3 parts, face to face with an examiner
Score scale	1–6 in half-point steps for each section and overall. A comparable 0–120 score is also reported during a two-year transition	IELTS 9-band scale, in whole and half bands, for each section and overall
Overall score	Average of the four sections, rounded to the nearest half band	Average of the four sections, rounded to the nearest half band

Timings and item counts for the TOEFL are ETS's approximate base values. Because the test adapts, the number of items and the time can vary.

Which should you choose?

Check what is accepted. Institutions list the tests they accept and the minimum scores. Some set section minimums as well as an overall minimum.

Think about speaking. IELTS Speaking is a conversation with a person. TOEFL Speaking is recorded, with short tasks. Some candidates do better with a live listener, and others with a microphone.

Think about time and pace. The new TOEFL is shorter, with many short tasks. IELTS is longer and has fewer, longer tasks, such as the 250-word essay.

Think about writing style. IELTS Writing Task 2 is a formal academic essay. TOEFL Writing now includes an email and a short academic-discussion post as well as sentence-building items.

How practice differs

Vocabulary and grammar help on both. Build them with spaced-repetition flashcards and short quizzes. That practice transfers to either test.

Reading. TOEFL now includes short everyday texts and a word-completion task, as well as academic passages. IELTS Reading uses long texts taken from books, journals, magazines, newspapers and online sources, with many question types, such as matching headings to paragraphs. For TOEFL, practise many short texts at speed. For IELTS, build the stamina to read long passages for 60 minutes.

Listening. On IELTS, you hear each recording once, so practise note-taking. On TOEFL, the tasks are short, so practise responding quickly.

Writing. For IELTS, time yourself on 250-word Task 2 essays. For TOEFL, practise the email and the academic-discussion post, which are short and to the point.

Speaking. For IELTS, practise all three parts with a partner, including the one-minute preparation and up to two minutes of speaking in Part 2. For TOEFL, record yourself on the repeat and interview tasks.

Using quizzes for either test

Short quizzes suit the parts of both tests that can be learned as items: vocabulary, grammar, and reading or listening comprehension. Practice testing is one of the best-supported learning techniques (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006), and spacing reviews over days improves retention (Cepeda et al., 2006).

With SimpleQuizMaker:

Comprehension quizzes from any text. Paste an article and ask for 10 questions on the main idea, details, inference and vocabulary in context. The free plan works from a topic or pasted text, with up to 10 questions per quiz and 5 generations a month.

Vocabulary decks in the flashcard maker, with spaced-repetition review.

Whole textbooks or worksheets on the Student plan ($2.99 a month): upload PDFs, Word files and images, and generate up to 100 questions per quiz.

Templates: reading comprehension and grammar and punctuation.

Exam hubs: TOEFL · IELTS.

A two-week trial before you decide

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If you cannot choose between the tests, spend two weeks on a short trial:

Week 1: do the official TOEFL sample questions for all four sections, then the official IELTS sample questions, under timing.

Note where each felt harder. The short, fast TOEFL tasks or the longer IELTS tasks? Speaking to a microphone or to a person?

Week 2: repeat the weaker sections of each test.

Choose the test where your weak sections are easier to improve, as long as it is accepted by your institutions.

The practice is not wasted, because vocabulary and grammar work helps with both tests.

Common mistakes on both tests

Studying from old materials. The TOEFL changed in January 2026, so books written before then do not match the current task types.

Neglecting writing time limits. Both tests penalise responses that are unfinished or too short.

Practising only reading and listening. Speaking and writing improve more slowly, so start them in week one.

Not checking the required section scores. Some institutions set a minimum for each section as well as an overall score.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is TOEFL or IELTS easier?

Neither is easier overall. They test the same skills in different formats. Choose based on which scores your institutions accept and which format suits you.

How long is each test?

The new TOEFL iBT takes about two hours, and the time varies because it adapts. IELTS Academic takes 2 hours 45 minutes.

How are the new TOEFL scores reported?

From January 2026, on a 1–6 scale in half-point steps for each section and overall. During a two-year transition, a comparable 0–120 score is also reported.

How is the IELTS overall band calculated?

It is the average of the four section bands, rounded to the nearest half band.

Is IELTS Speaking with a real person?

Yes. It is a face-to-face interview with an examiner in three parts, lasting 11–14 minutes.

Can AI quizzes prepare me for speaking and writing?

Only partly. Quizzes build vocabulary and grammar. Speaking and writing need timed practice and, ideally, feedback from a person.

Keep going

TOEFL practice guide

IELTS practice guide

Sources

Sources: ETS: TOEFL iBT test content · ETS: TOEFL iBT updates, January 2026 · IELTS: IELTS Academic test format · IELTS: scoring in detail. Checked 24 September 2026.

*SimpleQuizMaker is not affiliated with or endorsed by ETS, the British Council, IDP IELTS or Cambridge University Press & Assessment. TOEFL is a trademark of ETS. IELTS is jointly owned by the British Council, IDP IELTS and Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Quizzes described here are AI-generated practice, not official test questions.*

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Emily Chen

Cognitive Psychology Writer & Study Skills Coach

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