Keep your dreams moving: 5 Reasons to Take the TOEFL iBT® Test at Home

The TOEFL^® test now offers an at-home solution for students.

During these uncertain times, nearly everyone’s lives have been disrupted, forcing many people to stay at home for extended periods of time. ETS ^®, the makers of the TOEFL iBT ^® test, has responded quickly to this unprecedented situation by implementing a test-at-home solution to help meet the needs of students and institutions worldwide. The TOEFL iBT ^® Special Home Edition is now available for a limited time to help students meet their requirements while remaining in the safety of their home. It is the same TOEFL^® test that hundreds of thousands of students have taken through the years in a test center—only now administered at home and monitored online by a human proctor.

This innovative test-at-home option can help you move forward and meet international admissions deadlines today. While there are many reasons to consider taking the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition, here are five that really stand out.

1) Students can stay safe at home while taking the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition.

The first priority of the TOEFL test is to ensure that students are safe and secure and that, if a test center is closed due to public health concerns, you can still meet your admissions deadlines from home. You can simply—and safely—take the test at home, with a friendly online proctor for support.

2) It’s the same test whether you take it online at home, or at a test center.

Wherever you take the TOEFL test, you can rest assured that you will stand out to admissions officers. The TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition is the same valid and reliable test taken at a test center—featuring identical content, format, on-screen experience and scoring. Even the cost of the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition and the test center version are the same. Perhaps most importantly, the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition is the same TOEFL iBT ^® test accepted by more than 11,000 universities across 150 countries.

3) You can still prepare with official TOEFL test prep.

Because it’s the same test as the test center, you can prepare for the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition with official prep materials from ETS ^®, the makers of the test. These are the best, most accurate and reliable resources to prep for success on the TOEFL test.  Here are some of the materials that can help.

• The free online practice test features a full test with past questions from all four sections. You can practice as often as you like to become more familiar with the test experience and better prepared for the big day.
• The Official Guide to the TOEFL^® Test and other eBooks from ETS can help you prepare at every stage from the comfort of your own home.
• Join your peers and learn from test experts when you enroll in the official free MOOC (massive open online course), TOEFL^® Test Preparation: The Insider’s Guide at edx.org.

4) The test is fair and secure.

The TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition features live, remote proctors who provide real-time monitoring and assistance for your test. In addition to helping ensure that the test is taken properly, the presence of trained proctors gives universities confidence in the validity of your scores.

Also, because the Special Home Edition is the real TOEFL iBT test, it is scored like any other TOEFL iBT test. Tests are scored centrally by ETS (never at the test center!), using human raters and artificial intelligence technology. Because the raters don’t know you and can’t see you, you can be confident that it’s 100% fair and unbiased, assessing only your academic English skills. 

5) The at-home test includes all recent test enhancements.

Over the past year, the TOEFL test has made several enhancements to improve the overall test experience. Students can benefit from all of them when they take the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition.

To start, the test was shortened by 30 minutes and now takes less than three hours to complete. The test structure remains the same but with fewer questions in each section.

Students can also continue to showcase their top overall performance with MyBest™ scores, which combines the highest section scores from test dates in the previous two years and sends them to admissions officers. This special feature is available to students whether they have taken the TOEFL iBT test at a test center or the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition, or both.

Most recently, TOEFL iBT Reading and Listening section scores can now be viewed by students immediately upon finishing the test. Whether at the test center or at home, these instant, unofficial scores can help you make informed decisions on score reporting and retesting. 

All enhancements help give students the flexibility and convenience to reach their goals. Learn more about understanding scores, including MyBest scores here.

Registration for the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition is open.

Planning your future can be stressful in the best of times, never mind in our current circumstances. Being able to take the TOEFL test at home is one way that you can keep your plans on track while staying safe and healthy. TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition appointments are currently available around the clock four days a week and may be available as early as 24 hours after you register. Check your eligibility and start your registration today.

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