Set your four section bands to get your overall TOEFL score. The overall score is the average of the four, rounded to the nearest half band — so this is an exact calculation, not an estimate.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated September 11, 2026
4.5
50 items · adaptive · about 22–23 on the retired 0–30 scale
22–23
old scale
4.5
47 items · adaptive · about 20–21 on the retired 0–30 scale
20–21
old scale
4.5
11 items · about 23–24 on the retired 0–30 scale
23–24
old scale
4.5
12 items · about 21–23 on the retired 0–30 scale
21–23
old scale
Overall Band
4.5
of 1.0–6.0
Section average
4.500
rounded to 4.5
≈ 86–94 on the retired 0–120 scale
How the overall score works
Each of the four sections gets its own band from 1.0 to 6.0 in half-band steps. Your overall score is their arithmetic mean, rounded to the nearest half band. Nothing is weighted, and nothing is summed — a point in Speaking moves your overall score exactly as much as a point in Reading.
The rounding is worth understanding, because it is where a single section tips the result. An average that lands on a quarter rounds up.
How the average rounds to a reported band
Section average
Reported overall
Why
5.000
5.0
Exact half band
5.125
5.0
Rounds down — ETS worked example
5.250
5.5
Rounds up — ETS worked example
5.375
5.5
Rounds up
5.500
5.5
Exact half band
This is a genuine calculation, not an approximation. The four section bands on your report are exactly the inputs ETS averages, so the number above is the number you will see.
Reading the old-scale equivalents
The panel shows the retired 0–120 equivalent because most published university requirements are still written that way. Note that the mapping differs by section: the same old score can sit on different bands depending on which section produced it. For the full table in both directions, use the TOEFL score converter.
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It is the average of your four section bands — Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing — rounded to the nearest half band. ETS gives two worked examples: an average of 5.125 rounds to 5.0, and an average of 5.25 rounds to 5.5. Unlike some exams, nothing is weighted and nothing is summed.
Every section band and the overall score run from 1.0 to 6.0 in 0.5-point steps, giving 11 possible values. ETS replaced the 0-120 scale with this one on January 21, 2026.
For a two-year transition period from January 2026, every score report also shows a comparable overall score on the retired 0-120 scale, alongside your CEFR level and your 1-6 band scores. After that window the 0-120 number goes away. Use the score converter if you need to compare against a requirement published in the old numbers.
ETS states that a band 5 in a section indicates C1 proficiency for that skill. Your score report shows a CEFR level directly, which is one of the reasons ETS moved to this scale — the band numbers map onto an internationally recognised framework rather than to a scale unique to one test.
Proportionately, yes — each section is a quarter of the average. Because the result is rounded to the nearest half band, a single section can tip the overall score by a full half band. Drag one slider down and watch where the rounding falls.
The scales look alike but they are not interchangeable. IELTS uses 0-9 bands; the TOEFL now uses 1-6. A TOEFL 5.0 is not an IELTS 5.0. Institutions publish separate requirements for each test.