Current format, sourced
TOEFL® scores in 2026: the 1–6 scale, the 0–120 estimate, and what a practice score is
For TOEFL® tests taken on or after January 21, 2026, official score reports use a 1–6 scale in half-band increments. During ETS’s transition through January 2028, reports also include a comparable overall estimate on the previous 0–120 scale — but the 1–6 scale is the primary, official one.
What ETS states
- For TOEFL tests taken on or after January 21, 2026, official score reports use a 1–6 scale in half-band increments. ETS score guidance, accessed July 17, 2026.
- During ETS’s transition through January 2028, reports also include a comparable overall estimate on the previous 0–120 scale. The 1–6 scale is primary; the 0–120 figure is a comparison estimate during a transition that ends in January 2028.
What is the TOEFL score range?
The TOEFL score range is 1.0 to 6.0. An official TOEFL score report for a test taken on or after 21 January 2026 uses that 1–6 scale in half-band increments, so the eleven values it can show are 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and so on up to 6.0.
During ETS’s transition through January 2028, a report also carries a comparable overall estimate on the previous 0–120 scale. That figure is a comparison estimate; the 1–6 scale is the primary, official one. Before 21 January 2026 the TOEFL test score range was the 0–120 total with four 0–30 sections, and that is the shape most requirement pages were written against.
What is the maximum TOEFL score?
The maximum TOEFL score is 6.0 — the top of the 1–6 band scale ETS reports on for tests taken from 21 January 2026. There is no band above it, so the highest TOEFL score on a current report is a 6.0 overall.
On the retired scale the highest total was 120, with 30 available in each of the four sections, and a 6.0 report carries its own comparable 0–120 estimate during the transition through January 2028. A full score on either scale is a reporting ceiling, not a separate award.
What is a good TOEFL score?
There is no universal good TOEFL score. The only number that decides anything is the one your target institution currently publishes, and an admissions office reads your TOEFL exam score against that line — what is a high TOEFL score for one programme is below the bar for another.
It is worth checking which scale the published number is written on. Offices are updating from 0–120 to 1–6 at different speeds, so a requirement page can predate the 2026 reporting change without saying so. The authoritative statement of what an institution accepts is that institution’s own current policy.
Is the TOEFL iBT score reported on the same scale?
Yes. The TOEFL iBT score range is the same 1.0 to 6.0 in half bands for tests taken on or after 21 January 2026 — the 1–6 scale is how the iBT itself now reports.
TOEFL ITP is a different assessment and reports on ETS’s own Level scale, so an ITP result is not a band on this scale, and ETS publishes no concordance between the two.
The three numbers you might see
Reach120 interprets — our framing of the score landscape, built on the sourced facts above.
| Number | What it is | Who issues it |
|---|---|---|
| 1–6 (half bands) | The official score scale for tests taken from January 21, 2026 | ETS only |
| 0–120 | A comparable overall estimate during the transition through January 2028 | ETS only, alongside the 1–6 report |
| Any practice score | An unofficial practice estimate from a prep tool | Never official — whoever shows it |
Two rules follow. First, read any score requirement against the scale it was written for — a university page quoting “90/120” predates the 2026 reporting change unless it says otherwise, and the authoritative statement of what that institution accepts is the institution’s own current policy. Second, no practice platform issues official scores. Official scores are issued only by ETS.
What a practice estimate is — and is not
Reach120 recommends.
Treat every practice number, from any tool including ours, as evidence about your practice performance — never as a predicted or equivalent official result. A useful practice report should tell you what was measured, what was not covered, and what to practice next. It should never present its number as an official score.
Reach120 results are practice estimates, not official TOEFL® test scores. Official scores are issued only by ETS.
The disclosure attached to every practice result on this site. Reach120 is a brand name, not a score guarantee.
Common questions
- Is 1–6 the official TOEFL score scale now?
- Yes, for tests taken on or after January 21, 2026: official score reports use a 1–6 scale in half-band increments.
- Do I still get a 0–120 score?
- During ETS's transition through January 2028, reports also include a comparable overall estimate on the previous 0–120 scale. It is a comparison estimate; the 1–6 scale is the primary, official one.
- My target university asks for a 0–120 score. What do I do?
- Institutional requirements written before 2026 typically reference the old scale, and the transition-period 0–120 estimate exists for exactly that comparison through January 2028. Confirm the current requirement with the institution itself — its own policy is the authority on what it accepts.
- Is a score from a practice app my official score?
- No. Official scores are issued only by ETS. Any number a practice tool shows — including a Reach120 practice estimate — is unofficial practice evidence, not an official result and not a prediction of one.
What this page does not tell you
This page explains score reporting scales. It does not state how ETS converts performance to bands, does not predict any individual’s official result, and does not evaluate any institution’s admission policy. Requirements vary by institution and change — verify against the institution’s own current pages.
Sourced from ETS score guidance, accessed July 17, 2026. Next review August 16, 2026 — the January 2028 transition statement is revalidated at every review.