An estimate, with its method on the page
TOEFL® score percentiles (2026 format): what each band is worth against past test takers
No percentile ranks have been published for the 1–6 band scale. What has been published is percentile ranks for the retired 0–120 and 0–30 scales, measured on test takers who took the TOEFL iBT test between January 2024 and December 2024, and a table pairing those scales with the new bands. This page composes the two and shows every joint in the composition. Read it as an estimate about the 2024 test-taking group, because that is exactly what it is.
Estimated percentile by band, per section
These are the stronger figures on this page. A rank was published for every whole score from 0 to 30, so each band’s section range is read straight off the table with nothing interpolated and nothing rounded. The percentile is the share of the 2024 group scoring at or below that point on the retired scale.
| Band | Reading | Listening | Writing | Speaking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 84th–92nd percentile | 79th–94th percentile | 98th–99th percentile | 95th–98th percentile |
| 5.5 | 70th–77th percentile | 64th–71st percentile | 88th–94th percentile | 91st percentile |
| 5 | 52nd–64th percentile | 40th–58th percentile | 68th–83rd percentile | 83rd–88th percentile |
| 4.5 | 41st–46th percentile | 30th–34th percentile | 40th–60th percentile | 63rd–76th percentile |
| 4 | 23rd–36th percentile | 18th–25th percentile | 14th–30th percentile | 36th–51st percentile |
| 3.5 | 8th–19th percentile | 9th–15th percentile | 9th–12th percentile | 21st–28th percentile |
| 3 | 2nd–6th percentile | 4th–7th percentile | 5th–7th percentile | 12th–16th percentile |
| 2.5 | 1st–2nd percentile | 1st–3rd percentile | 3rd–4th percentile | 5th–9th percentile |
| 2 | 1st percentile | 1st percentile | 1st–2nd percentile | 2nd–4th percentile |
| 1.5 | 1st percentile | no rank published | up to the 1st percentile | 1st–2nd percentile |
| 1 | no rank published | no rank published | no rank published | no rank published |
A dash of “no rank published” is not a zero. The source report prints a full stop where it gives no percentile rank for a score, and those cells are left empty here rather than being filled with a number nobody measured.
Estimated percentile by band, on the 0–120 total
Weaker figures, and the page says so rather than presenting them level with the section rows. The total ranks were printed every four points, so each band is read at the enclosing grid points rather than interpolated between them. The upper end of every band’s 0–120 range is a Reach120 derivation to begin with, which means the top of each range below rests on our arithmetic twice over.
| Band | Read at 0–120 scores | Estimated percentile | CEFR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 116–120 | 99th–100th percentile | CEFR C2 |
| 5.5 | 108–112 | 91st–96th percentile | CEFR C1 |
| 5 | 96–104 | 65th–84th percentile | CEFR C1 |
| 4.5 | 88–92 | 47th–56th percentile | CEFR B2 |
| 4 | 72–84 | 20th–39th percentile | CEFR B2 |
| 3.5 | 60–68 | 10th–16th percentile | CEFR B1 |
| 3 | 44–56 | 3rd–8th percentile | CEFR B1 |
| 2.5 | 36–40 | 1st–2nd percentile | CEFR A2 |
| 2 | 24–32 | up to the 1st percentile | CEFR A2 |
| 1.5 | 12–20 | no rank published | CEFR A1 |
| 1 | 0–8 | no rank published | CEFR A1 |
The method, in full
- Take the percentile ranks for the retired 0–120 and 0–30 scales from ETS — TOEFL iBT Test and Score Data Summary 2024, Table 2, Percentile Ranks for TOEFL iBT Scores, Total Group.
- Take the band-to-previous-scale pairing from the score-scale update for institutions, which gives each band a 0–120 lower bound and a 0–30 range per section.
- For each band, look up the rank at the bottom and the top of its range. For the sections that is an exact lookup. For the total it is the nearest enclosing printed grid point, never an interpolation.
- Report the pair as a range, and never as a single number, because a band covers a span of scores rather than one score.
- Sample
- test takers who took the TOEFL iBT test between January 2024 and December 2024.
- Window
- January–December 2024 — the last full test year before the 1–6 scale took effect on 21 January 2026.
- Read
- 2026-08-23. Downloaded and read through the PDF text layer (pdftotext -layout). Table 2 was transcribed row for row; ETS prints "." where it publishes no rank, and those rows are stored as null rather than as zero.
ETS publishes no examinee count in this report, so the sample is described by its window and group rather than by an N.
What this estimate does not tell you
- ETS has published no percentile ranks for the 1–6 band scale. Every percentile below is Reach120 arithmetic over two ETS tables, and none of them is an ETS statement about a band.
- The population measured is test takers who took the TOEFL iBT test between January 2024 and December 2024 — the last full test year before the 1–6 scale took effect on 21 January 2026. The people who sit the 2026 test are not that group, and the test they sit is not that test.
- ETS publishes the band-to-previous-scale pairing as a comparison for score users, in one direction. Reading a percentile back onto a band runs it the other way; that reading is ours.
- Section figures are read at the exact 0–30 scores ETS printed. Total figures are read at the enclosing points of the four-point grid ETS printed, and the upper bound of each band’s total range is itself a Reach120 derivation.
What is published outright: the CEFR level per band
A CEFR alignment is published for every band. It is a proficiency-level description rather than a percentile, and unlike everything above it involves no arithmetic of ours at all.
This page changes the day real 1–6 data appears
When percentile ranks are published for the band scale, the estimate above comes down and the published figures go up in its place with their own read date. An estimate is what belongs here until then — not a guess dressed as a statistic, and not an empty page either.
Common questions
- What percentile is a TOEFL band 5.0?
- No percentile rank has been published for the 1–6 band scale, so there is no official answer. The closest defensible estimate is the 65th–84th percentile: band 5.0 is paired with a previous-scale total of 95+ on the 0–120 scale, and among test takers who took the TOEFL iBT test between January 2024 and December 2024 that total sat in that percentile range. That is Reach120 arithmetic over two published tables, and it describes the 2024 group taking the 2024 test.
- Where do these percentile numbers come from?
- ETS — TOEFL iBT Test and Score Data Summary 2024, Table 2, Percentile Ranks for TOEFL iBT Scores, Total Group, read 2026-08-23. That report gives percentile ranks for the retired 0–120 total and the four 0–30 section scales. The pairing between those scales and the 1–6 bands comes from the score-scale update for institutions. Composing the two is our step, not theirs.
- Are these the official percentiles for the 2026 scale?
- No, and nothing on this page should be quoted as one. No percentile ranks have been published for the 1–6 scale. Every figure here is an estimate built from data for the test as it ran before January 2026, and the section it sits in says so.
- Why are the section percentiles more reliable than the total?
- The section tables print a rank for every whole score from 0 to 30, so a band’s section range is read exactly off them with nothing interpolated. The total table prints ranks every four points, and each band’s upper bound on the 0–120 scale is itself a Reach120 derivation rather than a published figure, so the total row carries two approximations where the section rows carry none.
- What was the average TOEFL score before the scale changed?
- The 2024 report gives a mean total of 86 with a standard deviation of 19 on the 0–120 scale, across test takers who took the TOEFL iBT test between January 2024 and December 2024. The section means were Reading 21.9, Listening 22.1, Speaking 20.7 and Writing 21.1 out of 30. Those are transcribed figures, not estimates.
Checked against published TOEFL iBT materials, read 2026-08-06; the percentile tables read 2026-08-23. Every percentile on this page is a Reach120 estimate, marked as one wherever it appears.