TOEFL score percentages reflect the scores of thousands of students who take the TOEFL exam annually. The test takes about 4.5 hours to complete. The reading section measures students’ ability to understand conceptually-dense passages. The listening passage measures students’ ability to understand spoken English as it is used on campuses and in university classrooms. The speaking section determines how well students can use English in an academic setting. Likewise, the writing section measures students’ abilities to compose in an academic setting. How does/will your score rank in these percentages? 60/120 and 80/120 are usually the minimum scores required for undergraduate and graduate study. A score of 100/120 is typically a standard for more competitive schools and professional programs. The analysis that I will use for these charts will be based on TOEFL score percentages of 60/120, 80/120, and 100/120. How does/will your score rank in these percentages?
Table of Contents
TOEFL Score Percentages: All students who took the test
In table 2, students who score 60 and 80 are ranked in the 14% and 40%, However, those students scoring 100 rank in the 79%.
TOEFL Score Percentages: High school and two-year college students
Table 2 and 4 show a decreased overall mean score compared to all of the students who took the TOEFL exam. For example, the mean score for high school level students is 73. Moreover, the mean TOEFL score for two-year college students is slightly higher at 75. However, both of these mean scores are lower than the mean score of 82 in chart 2. This represents all students who took the TOEFL exam. High school students who score 60 and 80 are ranked in the 28% and 57%, Conversely, those high school students scoring 100 are ranked in the 87%. As expected, two-year college students scoring 60 and 80 are in the 24% and 54%. Those two-year college students who score 100 are ranked in 88%.
TOEFL Score Percentages: Undergraduate and non-business graduate students
Tables 5 and 6 show TOEFL mean scores for undergraduate students at 80 and 86 for non-business undergraduate students. In addition, undergraduate students who score 60, 80, and 100 are ranked at 18%, 45%, and 81%. Furthermore, non-business graduate students who score 60, 80, and 100 are ranked 9%, 32%, and 75%. Therefore, the more education you get, the higher your score needs to be in order to stay competitive.
TOEFL Score Percentages: Graduate business students and applicants for English-language programs
Table 7-8 show side-by-side comparisons of business graduate students and applicants into English language programs. Business graduate students with TOEFL scores of 60, 80, and 100 rank 9%, 32%, and 75%. On the other hand, applicants into English language programs with scores of 60, 80, and 100 are ranked 17%, 46%, and 84%. Since graduate level students have already pursued Bachelor’s degrees, in many cases, they have already had a lot of experience with English. Therefore, they must get higher TOEFL scores in order to be more competitive.
TOEFL Score Percentages: Students applying for professional licenses and those seeking employment
TOEFL score percentages are fairly similar for those students seeking professional licenses and employment opportunities. Furthermore, TOEFL test-takers will need to get high scores in order to be competitive. Those seeking professional licenses and employment have mean scores of 83. The ones who need English for professional licenses with TOEFL scores of 60, 80, and 100 are ranked 12%, 37%, 80%. In addition, test-takers who need English for employment and who have scores of 60, 80, and 100 rank in the 12%, 38%, and 78%.
TOEFL Score Percentages: Applicants for immigration and for other reasons
TOEFL mean scores for those applying for immigration and those needing English for other reasons are 85 and 79 respectively. The ones who need English for immigration purposes with 60, 80, and 100 scores rank 12%, 35%, and 73%. Also, the ones who need English for a variety of other reasons and who have scores of 60, 80, and 100 rank 19%, 46%, and 82%. In this case, test-takers who need English for immigration need higher TOEFL scores in order to be competitive compared to those who need English for other reasons.
TOEFL Score Percentages: Analysis of the data
The data show that the higher the education, the higher the TOEFL score needs to be in order to be competitive. Those with lower high school or two-year college education tend to have lower mean TOEFL scores. In addition, these test-takers do not need super high TOEFL scores in order to be competitive.
TOEFL Score Percentages: What is a competitive score?
These data show that TOEFL score percentages of 80% is a very competitive score no matter whether you are a high school, two-year college, four year college, undergraduate, graduate student, and so on.
To illustrate, if you are a graduate non-business student and if you want to be in the 80%, you will need a score of 105. In addition, you will need the following reading, listening, speaking, and writing subtotals: 28, 27, 25, and 25. As a result, being in the 80% with your TOEFL score will open many doors for you if you need English.
Why do healthcare workers have so much difficulty reaching their target score and subtotal scores?
To answer this question, let’s take a look at the requirements for someone who wants a pharmacy license in the United States.
Passing Standards for FPGEC Certification
- Reading: 22
- Listening: 21
- Speaking: 26
- Writing: 24
At first glance, having an overall score of 93 to get a professional license puts you into the 63%. That is not difficult to achieve. Achieving a reading subtotal score of 22 puts you into the 49%, which is even easier to achieve. Having a listening score of 21 ranks you at 42%.
At second glance, the speaking and writing subtotals are extremely challenging. For instance, scoring 26 on the speaking section ranks you at 84%. That means only 16% of test-takers seeking professional licenses score 26. Getting a score of 24 on the writing section ranks you at 72%. In this case, only 28% of test-takers who want professional licenses reach a score of 24.
TOEFL Score Percentages: How do I increase my chances of reaching 26 on the speaking section?
During the 2017 year, according to ETS’s statistics, only 16% of test-takers seeking professional licenses scored 26 on the speaking section of the exam. That means you have an 84% chance of not reaching that goal. No matter how many times you take the TOEFL exam, most likely you will not score 26, especially if you are trying on your own to reach this absurdly high TOEFL score percentage. Is there anything you can do to increase your chances of scoring 26+ on the speaking section?
To increase your TOEFL score percentages, I developed a TOEFL Speaking Boot Camp Course. However, before I tell you how I will help you reach your goal, let me tell you a little bit about myself.
TOEFL Score Percentages: My academic qualifications
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish and a Master’s Degree in English Composition with an Emphasis on Teaching English as a Second Language. In addition, to complete my graduate degree I wrote a 200 page thesis focusing on the TOEFL exam and ESL students. In particular, my thesis looked at best teaching practices to improve listening comprehension abilities. My research led to improving students’ abilities to score higher on the listening section of the TOEFL iBT.
TOEFL Score Percentages: My teaching experience
In addition to my academic qualifications, I have been teaching first-year and upper division writing courses for the English Department at California State University, San Bernardino since 1997. In addition, I have also been teaching at the same university under the auspices of the English Language Program. In fact, I am the placement and testing specialist in this program. Furthermore, I am in charge of administering the placement test and TOEFL test every term. I also teach TOEFL preparation and critical thinking courses in this same program. Therefore, I have about 25 years of teaching experience.
TOEFL Score Percentages: My Online TOEFL course
In addition to my education and teaching experience, I have an Online TOEFL Course in which I have enrolled and taught 35,000 students. I have graded more than 15,000 TOEFL speaking practice tests that my students have e-mailed me. Therefore, I know exactly what you need to do so that you can reach that magical TOEFL score percentage of 84% on the speaking section.
TOEFL Score Percentages: TOEFL Speaking Boot Camp Course
Unlike what you may have heard, it is not easy to score 26 on the speaking section of the TOEFL iBT. It doesn’t increase your chances of scoring 26 by simply re-taking the TOEFL exam repeatedly. For a cost of about 1/2 of taking the TOEFL exam, you can enroll in my TOEFL Speaking Boot Camp course for two months. There are several benefits:
- Two Diagnostic pre-tests and a post-test to help you speak more more clearly
- Unlimited access to more than 700 vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, listening, reading, speaking, and writing lessons
- Opportunity to send me speaking practice tests daily from my web site or from anywhere on the Internet
- Tailored audio feedback after every practice test to help you monitor your progress
If you are ready to finish the TOEFL, make a small investment in hiring perhaps the most experienced TOEFL speaking mentor in the world.
To join my TOEFL Speaking Boot Camp Course, go here: https://onlinetoeflcourse.com/product/30-day-toefl-speaking-boot-camp-course/
Good luck!
Michael Buckhoff, mbuckhoff@aol.com
Source of this data comes from Education Testing Service: https://www.ets.org/s/toefl/pdf/94227_unlweb.pdf
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