Writing is now two quite different things in one section: ten grammar-focused sentence reconstruction items, and two written responses to situations in academic contexts. The long independent essay of the old TOEFL is gone.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated September 14, 2026
Writing — at a glance
Attribute
Value
Items
12
Raw points
20 of 145 (14%)
Delivery
Linear — same tasks for everyone on a form
Band scale
1.0–6.0 in half-band steps
Weight in overall score
One quarter — all four sections are averaged equally
Practice every Writing task type with original questions and feedback. Start today’s Writing practice and return tomorrow for a fresh set.
How the section is built
Composition
Part
Detail
Build a Sentence
10 items — arrange words or phrases into a grammatical sentence
Write an Email
1 response — communicate for a stated purpose and audience
Write for an Academic Discussion
1 response — contribute a supported viewpoint
Estimated time
About 23 minutes
Format
Linear — everyone on a given form receives the same tasks
Allocating about 23 minutes across two very different task types
Writing for automated assessment of coherence and grammar
How to approach it
Ten of the twelve items are grammar
Sentence reconstruction dominates the section by item count and is machine scored against predefined logic. That makes it the most directly improvable part of Writing: it rewards accurate, mechanical control of English structure rather than ideas, and it is practisable in a way essay writing is not.
The two written responses are the AI-scored part
Only two items call for constructed writing, assessed by natural language processing for features including coherence and grammar. They are responses to common situations in academic contexts, not the open-ended opinion essay the old exam used, so essay templates built for that format do not transfer.
Practice each task with its own time limit
The three Writing task types have different demands. Practice arranging sentences efficiently, completing an email in seven minutes, and contributing to an academic discussion in ten minutes. Leave a brief moment to check that you answered the requested points.
Writing contributes one quarter of your overall band, the same as every other section. See what a change here does to your overall score with the TOEFL score calculator.
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Not in the old sense. The 2026 Writing section has two written responses to situations in academic contexts, alongside ten sentence reconstruction items. The long independent opinion essay of the pre-2026 exam has been removed, which makes most published TOEFL essay advice obsolete.
About 23 minutes in total across Build a Sentence, Write an Email and Write for an Academic Discussion. Practice the email with a seven-minute limit and the discussion with a ten-minute limit.
A machine-scored task type asking you to reconstruct sentences with appropriate grammar. There are ten of them, making it the most common single task type in the Writing section, and it is scored against predefined logic rather than by AI.
No. Writing and Speaking are linear: everyone taking a given form receives the same tasks. Only Reading and Listening route test takers to different difficulty modules.