Is TOEFL harder than IELTS?
Quick answer
No official body says TOEFL is harder than IELTS, or the reverse. ETS, which owns the TOEFL iBT, publishes a score comparison instead: IELTS 6.5 relates to a TOEFL total of 4.5 and IELTS 7 to 5 on its 1 to 6 scale. It is an estimate of how scores relate, not a ranking of difficulty.
Part of The IELTS test, answered
Practise what this page describes in the app: Speaking and Writing marked on the four official criteria as a band range, Reading and Listening tests marked the moment you finish.
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Searching for which test is harder usually ends in opinion. The two owners publish something narrower and more useful: how a score on one relates to a score on the other, and what each test reports. This page gives that, with the date it was read, and says plainly where no official answer exists.
Nobody official ranks them
IELTS publishes band descriptors, from 1 to 9, and no comparison of difficulty with any other test. ETS publishes a table relating TOEFL iBT scores to IELTS bands, read here from its score-comparison page on 7 October 2026. Neither is a ranking of which test is harder. ETS says the IELTS figures rest on a concordance study between the previous TOEFL iBT and IELTS, together with the research linking the two TOEFL scales, which makes the table an estimate of how scores relate.
What ETS’s table says
On the TOEFL iBT scale of 1 to 6, used for tests taken on or after 21 January 2026, ETS relates IELTS 6 to a total of 4, IELTS 6.5 to 4.5, IELTS 7 to 5, IELTS 7.5 to 5.5, and IELTS 8, 8.5 and 9 to 6. The TOEFL scale is coarser at the top: three IELTS bands share one TOEFL score. ETS also relates section scores: IELTS 7 to Reading 4.5, Listening 5, Writing 5 and Speaking 4.5. The full table is in IELTS to TOEFL iBT score conversion, and the score converter lets you try any band.
How the two report results
Both tests report four skills, Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking, and a total. IELTS reports on a nine-band scale in whole and half bands; its overall band is the average of the four section bands rounded to the nearest half band. The TOEFL iBT reports on ETS’s own 1 to 6 scale in steps of 0.5, with a comparable 0 to 120 figure on score reports for two years. The scales differ, so a half-point on one is not a half-band on the other.
Format details such as timing and task types are on each owner’s pages, and this page does not compare them. For IELTS, how long the whole test is gives the official times.
So which is harder for you
The question has no general answer, because difficulty depends on you and on the requirement. Two candidates with the same English can find different formats easier, and a requirement of IELTS 6.5 against one of TOEFL 5 is a different gap, even though ETS relates 6.5 to 4.5. The practical test is a timed practice paper in each format. For IELTS in general, see how hard IELTS is. For the other common comparison, see is PTE harder than IELTS.
What this means for your score
A candidate who has scored IELTS 7 looks at ETS's table and finds a TOEFL total of 5, with section scores of 4.5 in Reading and Speaking. The table says what score to ask about. Whether the candidate would find the TOEFL harder depends on how the two formats suit them, and only a practice test in each can show that.
Frequently asked questions
Which is easier, TOEFL or IELTS?
Neither ETS nor IELTS publishes a ranking, so no official answer exists. The tests measure English on different scales and in different formats. ETS publishes how its scores relate to IELTS bands, and each owner publishes its own format. The easier test is the one whose format suits you, which a timed practice sitting in each will show.
Did the TOEFL scoring change in 2026?
Yes. For tests taken on or after 21 January 2026, the TOEFL iBT reports a total and four section scores on a scale of 1 to 6 in steps of 0.5. Score reports carry a comparable 0 to 120 figure for two years. Many university pages still quote the old scale, so check which one they mean.
Does a university treat TOEFL and IELTS as equal?
Only the university can say. Each institution sets its own requirement for each test, and many accept both without treating the scores as interchangeable. ETS says its comparison rests on a concordance study, so it is an estimate. Read the requirement for the test you plan to sit on the institution's own page.
Sources
- TOEFL iBT Score Scale 1 to 6: CEFR & IELTS Comparison — ETS
- IELTS scoring in detail: band scores explained — IELTS.org
Last verified 7 Oct 2026
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