Sourced from ETS
TOEFL Band 3.5: What It Means (2026 Format)
An overall 3.5 aligns with CEFR B1 and starts at 58 on the previous 0–120 scale — ETS publishes that lower bound only, and 71 is Reach120's derived top of the range. ETS pairs it with IELTS 5.5.
Band 3.5 at a glance
- CEFR
- B1
- Previous 0–120 scale
- 58–71
- ETS publishes 58+ — a lower bound only. The upper bound 71 is a Reach120 derivation from the next band's published bound, not an ETS figure.
- IELTS pairing
- 5.5
Source: ETS — TOEFL iBT score scale update (for institutions), read 2026-09-12.
What band 3.5 means in each section
The same band label covers a different score in every section. Here is what band 3.5 is worth section by section, with the estimated percentile of the 2024 test-taking group at that point on the retired scale.
| Section | Previous 0–30 | Est. percentile | Raw points (2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 12–17 | 8th–19th percentile | adaptive — no fixed raw total |
| Listening | 13–16 | 9th–15th percentile | adaptive — no fixed raw total |
| Writing | 15–16 | 9th–12th percentile | 9–10 raw points of 20 |
| Speaking | 18–19 | 21st–28th percentile | 25–30 raw points of 55 |
The 0–30 column is a transcribed ETS comparison table. The percentile column is a Reach120 composition of the ranks published for the retired scale on test takers who took the TOEFL iBT test between January 2024 and December 2024, and the percentiles page states the method and its four limits in full. The raw-points column is a Reach120 estimate over the per-task point values listed in the 2026 specification; Reading and Listening are two-stage adaptive and their listed items include non-scored ones, so no fixed raw total applies to them.
If an institution still lists a 0–120 requirement
ETS's own guidance for institutions rewriting a legacy requirement pairs a previous 70 requirement with a 3.5 requirement under the new scale.
This is ETS's own requirement-rewriting recommendation for institutions, not a statement about what any specific program requires or what a test taker is qualified for — confirm the current requirement with the institution itself.
Common questions
- What CEFR level is a TOEFL band 3.5?
- ETS aligns TOEFL band 3.5 with CEFR B1.
- What is band 3.5 on the previous 0–120 scale?
- ETS publishes the transition-period comparable score for band 3.5 as 58+ on the 0–120 scale — a lower bound, with no upper bound stated — and states that the report shows the midpoint of the corresponding total range. ETS does not publish that midpoint as a number for this band. Reach120 derives the upper bound 71 from the next band's published lower bound, which puts the midpoint near 65; both derived figures are ours, not ETS's.
- What percentile is a TOEFL band 3.5?
- No percentile ranks have been published for the 1–6 band scale, so there is no official figure for band 3.5. As a Reach120 estimate — and only as one — among test takers who took the TOEFL iBT test between January 2024 and December 2024, a Reading score in the range paired with this band sat at the 8th–19th percentile, and a Writing score at the 9th–12th percentile. Those describe the 2024 group on the retired scale, not the population sitting the 2026 test.