Choose the right English-language test to meet your study abroad needs

Preparing for the next step in one’s education journey is an exciting time. However, given the layers of complexity created by the pandemic, students must carefully plan to be sure that the choices they make are setting them up for future success. For students looking to study abroad in an English-speaking destination or in an English-taught program in another country, one of the key decisions they will make is which English-proficiency test to take.

ETS has been a pioneer in innovative product development to meet the ever-evolving needs of its test takers and score accepting institutions across the globe, which includes the development of English proficiency tests within the TOEFL^® Family of Assessments. To keep pace with the dynamic education landscape, ETS has been agile and evolved its assessments to be better suited for students looking to stand out confidently in English as they prepare for university and beyond.

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TOEFL® test innovation

Since its inception in 1964, the TOEFL^® test has evolved and gained recognition from universities and other institutions around the world as the gold standard in English-language testing for study, work, and immigration. Chosen by more than 35 million people worldwide, the TOEFL test measures all four academic English skills — reading, listening, speaking, and writing — to prepare test takers for the university academic environment.

It is accepted by more than 11,000 institutions in over 160 countries worldwide and is universally accepted in popular English-speaking destinations like the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., Ireland, and by English-taught programs globally, including across Europe and Asia.

At-home solutions in response to COVID-19

At the onset of the pandemic in 2020, students were restricted from traveling to test centres offering tests like the TOEFL iBT^® test. ETS’s TOEFL Program adapted quickly and launched a convenient, flexible, and safe testing option — TOEFL iBT^® Special Home Edition. Since renamed TOEFL iBT^® Home Edition, this at-home test is identical in content, format, on-screen experience, and scoring to the traditional in-person testing option and features 100% live online human proctoring assisted by best-in-class AI technology to maintain test security. With in-person testing still limited, this is a great and convenient option for Indian students, especially as nearly every university accepts the test the same way they do for the TOEFL iBT test. Best of all, the at-home test is here to stay, even beyond the pandemic, giving students more than one way to take the TOEFL iBT test.

New Addition to the TOEFL family — the TOEFL^® Essentials™ test

Expanding its high-quality product range, ETS has revealed another revolutionary testing option for English proficiency — the TOEFL^®Essentials™ test — which has the quality, validity, reliability, and security expected from the TOEFL brand, while also offering the convenience, affordability, and access students value. This at-home test creates a more adaptive, affordable, and engaging experience to measure applicants’ English-language skills.

The TOEFL Essentials test is a versatile, four-skills English-language test designed for university admissions and other high-stakes decisions, which measures a combination of academic and general English skills for the classroom setting and beyond.  The test is roughly half the length (approx. 1-1/2 hours) and half the price (approx. USD 100 or INR 7,300) of other major English-language assessments. Registration for this new offering started on June 17, with administrations beginning on August 21, 2021.

With the introduction of the TOEFL Essentials test, students now have the option of choosing a test that is most suitable to their testing style and can help them do their best. We are committed to providing a suite of high-quality testing options and are confident that when it comes to selecting an English-language test as part of students’ application portfolios, they can find exactly what they need from a TOEFL test. For more information, visit www.ets.org/toefl. 

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About the Author

Srikant Gopal is the Executive Director of the TOEFL Program at Educational Testing Service. He is a graduate of the Birla Institute for Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, India, and earned his MBA from Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA. He has lived and worked in six countries, and has experience across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, combining marketing and business experience from companies like Procter & Gamble and Nestle with a passion for education and student development. Srikant is also a part-time educator and teaches a course on Economics and Ethics at the Philadelphia Ethical Society.