IELTS vs TOEFL: Which English Exam Should You Take in 2026?

Start with the requirement, not the test. If you need English proof for a UK visa or for Canadian permanent residence, take IELTS, because TOEFL is not accepted for either. If you are applying to a university in the United States or Australia, both tests work, so pick the one that suits how you perform. That one distinction settles the IELTS vs TOEFL question faster than any feature-by-feature comparison.

The details still matter, and 2026 rewrote most of them. TOEFL was rebuilt in January and now runs about 90 minutes on a 1 to 6 score scale instead of 0 to 120. IELTS has begun retiring its paper test in favor of computer delivery. Below you will find what each exam contains today, how the two scoring systems line up, who accepts which test, what they cost, and a straight answer on which one is easier.

What changed for IELTS and TOEFL in 2026?

Anything you read that predates this year is likely wrong on the basics. Both tests changed, and the changes landed squarely on format and scoring.

TOEFL iBT was redesigned on January 21, 2026. Testing time dropped to roughly 90 minutes across four sections, the Reading and Listening sections became multistage adaptive, and the familiar 0 to 120 total was replaced by a 1 to 6 scale in half-point increments. Your overall score is now the average of the four section scores, rounded to the nearest half band. ETS gives its own worked example: an average of 5.125 reports as an overall 5. Through January 2028, every score report also shows a CEFR level and a comparable 0 to 120 total, so institutions can read old and new scores side by side. Results post in about three days, per the current TOEFL iBT Bulletin, down from the four to eight days the old format took.

IELTS moved in a different direction. In a March 5, 2026 announcement, the IELTS partners confirmed the paper-based test is being phased out and all tests will be delivered on computer. A new Writing on Paper option is appearing in selected markets, letting you handwrite the Writing component while taking everything else on screen. Timelines vary by market, so check what your local center currently offers. Results already issued on paper stay valid for their full two-year period.

One warning that catches people out: the TOEFL Bulletin states that only tests taken before January 21, 2026, plus the separate TOEFL iBT Australia variant, are currently approved for Australian visa purposes. If Australia is your destination, read the registration options carefully before you pay.

What is on each exam?

The two tests now differ sharply in length. IELTS runs about two hours and 45 minutes. TOEFL runs about 90 minutes of testing. Here is the structure of each.

Two structural points deserve emphasis. On IELTS Writing, Task 2 carries twice the weight of Task 1, so budget your hour accordingly. On TOEFL, the Writing section now consists of Build a Sentence, Write an Email, and Writing for an Academic Discussion. The old integrated writing task, where you wrote in response to a lecture, was removed in the January redesign.

IELTS also splits into two versions. Academic and General Training share identical Listening and Speaking papers, and differ only in Reading and Writing. Academic Writing Task 1 asks you to describe a chart or diagram. General Training Task 1 asks you to write a letter. Universities want Academic. Canadian immigration wants General Training, a distinction worth getting right before you book.

How do IELTS bands compare to TOEFL scores?

ETS publishes a concordance between IELTS Academic bands and the new TOEFL 1 to 6 scale. These are the overall equivalents from the official score scale update, with the comparable 0 to 120 range chained from ETS's second table.

The 0 to 120 column is derived by chaining two ETS tables rather than lifted from a single published one, so treat it as a guide and check the exact number any institution asks for.

A real difference has opened up between the two tests on CEFR alignment. TOEFL's new scale maps cleanly: 6 is C2, 5.5 and 5 are C1, 4.5 and 4 are B2, 3.5 and 3 are B1. IELTS declines to do this. Its own guidance states that band scores have never aligned exactly with the CEFR transition points, placing the C1 threshold somewhere between bands 6.5 and 7, and treating band 8 as borderline C2. If you need to prove a specific CEFR level, TOEFL now gives you a cleaner answer. Our guide to CEFR levels explains what those levels mean in practice.

IELTS rounding trips up a lot of candidates. Your overall band is the average of four section bands, but an average ending in .25 rounds up to the next half band, and an average ending in .75 rounds up to the next whole band. IELTS gives the example of an average of 6.25 reporting as band 6.5. That means a single weak section can cost you half a band, and a single strong one can buy you half a band.

Which universities and visas accept each exam?

This is where the choice is usually made for you, and where most comparisons go wrong. Acceptance is not symmetrical.

United Kingdom. The Home Office approves five Secure English Language Test providers, and ETS is not one of them. The current gov.uk SELT guidance lists Trinity College London, the IELTS SELT Consortium, LanguageCert, Pearson, and PSI Services. ETS was removed from the approved list on July 1, 2014 and has not returned. There is an important exception, though, and it explains why UK universities still list TOEFL. For a Student visa at degree level or above, the university may assess your English itself and may ask for a different test, provided the standard is equivalent to CEFR B2. Below degree level, a SELT is mandatory, and TOEFL is not an option. Note too that Skilled Worker applicants now need B2 rather than B1, a change that took effect on January 8, 2026.

Canada. For economic immigration, IRCC accepts CELPIP-General, IELTS General Training, and PTE Core for English, with results less than two years old. TOEFL is absent from that list, so it cannot be used for Express Entry or permanent residence. Be careful with older advice here. TOEFL was added to the Student Direct Stream in 2023, but the Student Direct Stream closed on November 8, 2024, so any article telling you TOEFL works for SDS is describing a program that no longer exists.

Australia. Both tests count. The Migration (Specification of Language Tests, Test Scores and Passports) Instrument 2025, in force since August 7, 2025, specifies nine tests including IELTS Academic, IELTS General Training, and TOEFL iBT. Competent English means 6 in each IELTS component, or 16 Listening, 16 Reading, 19 Writing, and 19 Speaking on TOEFL. Two conditions catch candidates out. At-home versions are ineligible, since Study Australia excludes TOEFL iBT Home Edition, IELTS Indicator, and IELTS Online, and TOEFL candidates must select the TOEFL iBT for Australia option at registration.

United States. There is no federal English test requirement for an F-1 visa. The school sets the standard, and the Form I-20 can only be issued once you meet that school's own admission conditions. Practically speaking, almost every US university accepts either test, so check the specific program's score minimums and pick from there.

How much do IELTS and TOEFL cost?

There is no single global price for either exam, and both providers say so plainly. IELTS fees are set locally by British Council and IDP Education. ETS gates the TOEFL fee behind a location selector on its official fee page, which is the only figure you should trust for your country. Expect a broadly similar band for the two exams in the United States, and confirm the exact number at booking rather than from a comparison article.

The add-on costs are published, and they add up faster than people expect. ETS charges 69 dollars to reschedule, 49 dollars for express registration inside seven days, 29 dollars for each additional score report, and 80 dollars to have your Speaking or Writing section rescored (160 dollars for both). US prices exclude tax, which is applied at checkout.

IELTS has one feature with no TOEFL equivalent. One Skill Retake lets you re-sit a single skill instead of the whole test, provided your original was computer-delivered at a participating center and you book within 60 days. You get one retake per original test, and you choose which report to submit. Pricing varies by center, so ask yours directly.

Which exam is easier, TOEFL or IELTS?

Neither test has a pass mark, so neither has a pass rate. Any source quoting an IELTS or TOEFL pass rate has invented it. What exists are structural differences, and they favor different candidates.

• TOEFL blends the skills together, IELTS keeps them apart. Several TOEFL Speaking tasks require you to read a passage and listen to a lecture before responding. If your listening is the weak link, it drags down your speaking score too. IELTS mostly tests each skill in isolation, which protects a strong writer who is a shaky listener.
• Speaking is the biggest fork. IELTS Speaking is a recorded interview with a human examiner who asks follow-up questions. TOEFL has you speak into a microphone against a hard timer with no interlocutor. Candidates who freeze in front of a stranger prefer the booth. Candidates who need conversational rhythm and follow-up prompts do better with a person.
• IELTS asks you to learn a taxonomy of question types. Academic Reading uses eleven distinct question formats and Listening uses six, each with its own strategy. True, False, Not Given is the hardest of them, because proving that information is absent is a different skill from choosing between options. TOEFL leans much more heavily on selected-response items, so there is less format overhead to master.
• IELTS penalizes spelling and grammar in your answers. Its own Listening guidance warns that you will lose marks for incorrect spelling and grammar. Hear the word correctly, spell it wrong, score zero. TOEFL's selected-response items carry no equivalent penalty.
• Accents differ, but less than people claim. IELTS Listening deliberately uses British, Australian, New Zealand, and North American accents. TOEFL is oriented toward North American English. So the popular shorthand that IELTS is British and TOEFL is American oversimplifies a test that includes North American voices by design.
• Stamina favors TOEFL. Ninety minutes with no scheduled break is a very different experience from nearly three hours of paper and screen work.

Both providers publish mean scores, and it is tempting to compare them. Resist that. TOEFL's 2024 total mean was 86 out of 120, while IELTS reported a 2024 to 2025 Listening mean of 6.45 and an Academic Reading mean of 6.32. Those figures describe different populations taking the tests for different reasons, on scales that are not linearly comparable, so they tell you nothing about which exam is harder.

How should you choose?

• Read the requirement first, then choose the test. The receiving institution or immigration authority decides this, not your preference. Get their accepted-test list and minimum score in writing.
• UK visa below degree level, or Canadian PR? Take IELTS. TOEFL is not on either list, and no amount of preparation changes that.
• Heading to Australia on TOEFL? Register for the Australia variant and sit it at a secure test center, never at home.
• Applying to a US university? Either test works. Choose based on which format suits you and check the program's score minimum.
• Weak listener, strong writer? Lean IELTS. Strong listener who dislikes learning many task formats? Lean TOEFL.
• On a deadline? TOEFL is shorter and reports in about three days. Computer-delivered IELTS returns results in one to five days, but paper can take up to 13.
• Worried about one skill only? IELTS One Skill Retake gives you a second chance at it without re-sitting the other three.

Whichever test you choose, the preparation principle is the same one that makes workplace programs work: assess where you stand, target the specific gap, and practice under real conditions. Our guide to corporate language training explains that method in depth, and if you are building English for your career rather than for an application, business English for non-native speakers covers the skills employers actually assess.

Prepare for IELTS or TOEFL with Edlingo

Edlingo pairs learners with qualified English tutors who build a plan around the test you need, the score you are targeting, and the skill most likely to hold you back. We assess your current level, drill the exact task formats you will face, and rehearse the speaking section until the clock stops bothering you. Explore our English classes to get started, or see our corporate English training if your employer is sponsoring the program.

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