IELTS VS TOEFL: What is the difference?
If you’d like to study overseas, and you don’t come from a predominantly English-speaking country, chances are you’ll have to write an English language proficiency test. Two of the most popular English language proficiency test around the world are IELTS and TOEFL. But what are these tests, and how do they differ?
What is IELTS?
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is an English language test that is used for educational, immigration and occupational purposes, and is accepted by the institutions across different countries worldwide. IELTs would test your capacity to read, write, listen to and speak English. Depending on the entry requirements of your study programme, there are two main strands of IELTS
- Academic
- General
What is TOEFL?
The Test of English as a Foreign Language internet-based test (TOEFL ) will also test your reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills in English, with a focus on authentic communication in a classroom setting. The test seeks to test your ability to communicate in English in specifically academic, university and classroom-based settings. It is accepted by the institutions across numerous countries all over the world. TOEFL is managed by US-based organization, the Education Testing Service and is conducted in American English. This is why American institutions are more likely to favor this test.
General Differences
TOEFL is a computer based test, while in IELTS, you have the option to choose paper based or computer based test.
While the content is largely similar, with four basic areas of competency, the structures of the tests differ quite a bit. TOEFL questions are almost entirely multiple choice, while IELTS tests have many types of questions throughout, including short answer, small essays, and gap-filling tasks — where you’ll fill in missing words.
Further, TOEFL being entirely computer-based means you won’t have to interact with an actual human. IELTS speaking tests are done face-to-face with an examiner, which can be nerve-wracking for some. When performing writing tasks, TOEFL will have you use a keyboard, while IELTS is hand-written. The IELTS essay is a little shorter, at 250 words, compared to TOEFL’s 300.
In the listening portion, TOEFL will have you listen to and take notes on lectures from a university class, or snippets of on-campus conversation. You’ll then use your notes to answer multiple choice questions. For IELTS, you’ll listen to recordings and answer questions as you go, over a number of different, now-familiar question types.
IELTS and TOEFL support different forms of idea and problem solving. As TOEFL is chiefly multiple choices, students will need to be able to think analytically to weigh up the differences between their options. IELTS requires more use of memory and draws on broader comprehension skills as students are faced with different question styles.
Difference in Test Structure
Speaking
Whilst both exams have a speaking component, the IELTS speaking test is taken face-to-face with an examiner. In the TOEFL exam, you’ll answer 4 questions into a microphone which are recorded and later sent to a group of six reviewers. Your IELTS speaking score will only be determined by a single examiner. The IELTS test will take between 11-14 minutes and may not necessarily be on the same day as the other exam components, whilst the TOEFL will take about 17 minutes and is always on the same day as the rest of the exam.
Where the IELTS exam features a range of different accents speaking in English, TOEFL only features American speakers.
Writing
IELTS exam is paper-based where as TOEFL is computer bases so the written component is typed. In TOEFL there are two tasks, the first is the essay between 300-350 words and for the second task, you will need to take notes from the reading and lecture on the same topic and use them to develop a 150-225 word response. On the other hand IELTS writing test also has two sections, first you will be presented in a graph, chart, table or diagram, which you have to describe. In the second, you’ll need to write a 200-250-word response to a prompt that offers a point of view, argument or asks you to write in a particular language style.
Reading
The TOEFL reading test is made up of three-five reading sections and you will have 54 to 72 minutes to complete. The reading passages are taken from academic content similar to the one that you are likely to encounter in a classroom. You will have to answer a series of multiple-choice questions testing how well you’ve understood the texts.
The IELTS reading test on the other hand takes 60 minutes and has three sections with texts that are academic in nature. IELTS has a broader variety of question types like ‘fill in the gaps’ to short answer. Questions are also designed to test how well you’ve understood the text in its particular use of language, ideas and style.
Listening
The TOEFL listening test is between 41-57 minutes long, and involves you listening to excerpts from university lectures or conversations on a university campus. After each listening it is followed by series of multiple choice questions. You will be required to take notes whilst listening. However in the IELTS listening test, students can answer questions whilst they are listening to the recordings, and will need to respond to a number of different question types and exercises of different lengths.
Scoring
The factors like range of vocabulary, writing style and grammar are taken into account when you are being graded for TOEFL speaking and writing sections. Where in IELTS, your use of logic, cohesion, grammar and fluency are taken into consideration while evaluating your speaking and writing tasks.
The IELTS is graded on a band system from 1-9, with your overall score being an average of your separate scores in all four tests. Your overall score will be rounded to the nearest half-band, i.e. if your overall average is 6.25, it will be rounded up to a final score of 6.5. TOEFL is a single test that is graded out of 120 points.
