There is no single answer, because the TOEFL is a requirement rather than a competition — you need the band your universities ask for, and nothing is gained by clearing it twice over. The useful question is what your specific list requires.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated September 11, 2026
Almost every published requirement is still on the old scale. ETS changed the scale on January 21, 2026, and universities restate their requirements on their own timetables. The figures below convert published numbers using the official ETS concordance — always check what your own target institutions currently list.
Converting the requirements you will actually see
These are the thresholds that appear most often on university admissions pages, with their band equivalents. Note that a band covers a range, so a band can clear a requirement comfortably or only just.
Common published requirements on the retired 0–120 scale, converted
Published requirement
Equivalent band
Band covers
100
5.0
95–106
90
4.5
86–94
80
4.0
72–85
79
4.0
72–85
72
4.0
72–85
61
3.5
58–71
What each band means in practice
A rough map, useful for orientation rather than as a substitute for checking your own school list.
Band guide
Band
Reads as
Typically
6.0
Top of the scale
Above any published requirement
5.5
Very strong
Clears selective programmes with margin
5.0
Strong — CEFR C1 in a section
Meets the common "100 iBT" threshold
4.5
Solid
Meets many strong university requirements
4.0
Workable
Meets a large share of general requirements
3.5
Below most university minimums
May suit pathway or foundation entry
3.0 and below
Below typical university entry
Usually requires further study first
Watch for section minimums
Many programmes set a minimum in an individual section alongside the overall requirement — often Speaking, where teaching assistantships or clinical contact are involved. Because your overall score is an average, a strong Reading band can lift you over an overall threshold while a weak Speaking band still fails a section minimum. Check both before you decide you are done. The score calculator shows each section band alongside the overall.
Enough is enough
Unlike an admissions aptitude test, a higher TOEFL band rarely strengthens an application once you are past the requirement — it is a threshold, not a ranking. If you have cleared your target schools’ minimums with margin, the study time is usually better spent on the parts of your application that are actually compared against other candidates. For US graduate applicants that often means the GRE.
Applying to US graduate programmes?
Most also require the GRE, which ETS administers alongside the TOEFL. Our GRE course covers Verbal and Quant in full, with adaptive practice tests and instant scoring.
It depends entirely on where you are applying. As a rough map: band 5.0 clears the requirement at most selective universities, band 4.5 suits many strong programmes, and band 4.0 meets a large share of general university requirements. Band 5 in a section indicates C1 proficiency.
Highly selective US universities have typically published minimums around 100 on the retired scale, which converts to band 5.0. Some programmes ask higher. Because these requirements predate the scale change, the reliable approach is to convert the published number rather than guess at a band.
Band 5.0 covers roughly 95–106 on the retired scale, so it clears the common "100 iBT" requirement. ETS also states that a band 5 in a section indicates CEFR C1 — functional academic proficiency — which is why it is a frequent institutional threshold.
Many do, and it catches people out. A programme may require an overall band alongside a minimum in Speaking or Writing, particularly where teaching or clinical contact is involved. Because your overall score is an average, you can clear an overall requirement while failing a section minimum.
Neither. The concordance is designed to map equivalent performance, so a requirement of 100 and its band equivalent describe the same standard. What has changed is granularity: with 11 bands instead of 121 total scores, the distance between adjacent requirements is coarser.
Only if the half band actually crosses a requirement you need. Because the overall score is an average rounded to the nearest half band, moving up often means gaining a full band in one section or half a band in two — which is a real amount of improvement, not a marginal one.