TOEFL iBT preparation, live online
TOEFL iBT preparation now needs the January 2026 task set, not just the updated score scale. We teach reading, listening, speaking and writing through live lessons and timed practice. Bring your institution's published requirement so the preparation plan targets the right total and section scores.
Exam format
What the TOEFL iBT actually looks like
The structure, the timing and the scoring, stated plainly — before anything about a course.
- Length
- About two hours
- Questions
- Four sections: Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing
- Scored
- 1–6 in half-point steps since 21 January 2026, CEFR-aligned
Reading
Work with missing words, everyday written material and academic passages. Practise understanding both the meaning of a text and the grammar or vocabulary needed to complete it.
Listening
Tasks range from choosing a response to understanding conversations, announcements and academic talks. Practise identifying purpose and key information rather than trying to record every word.
Speaking
Repeat what you hear accurately, then answer interview questions. Recording your practice helps identify unclear delivery, missing information and answers that drift away from the question.
Writing
Build grammatical sentences, write an email and contribute to an academic discussion. Practice should match the purpose of each task, not reuse one essay template everywhere.
- Since 21 January 2026, reports use 1–6 in half-point steps, with a comparable 0–120 overall score during the two-year transition. A 4.5 is not equivalent to an old total of 100; confirm the institution's current requirement.
- Because the scale is aligned to the CEFR, a score now maps onto a level a European university already understands, which is useful when a requirement is written as B2 or C1 rather than as a number.
Before you start
Is TOEFL iBT preparation right for you?
Who it suits. Students with a TOEFL iBT requirement who need a plan for the current tasks and their required section scores.
When to check another option. A general conversation course or a different TOEFL product. Bring the institution's exact test and score requirement.
Why it matters
What a TOEFL iBT score is for
TOEFL can support applications wherever your chosen institution accepts it. Check the required test version, total and section minimums before booking. A diagnostic then helps distinguish a language gap from unfamiliarity with the new task format.
Coverage
What the preparation covers
The ground a course goes over. A group course takes it in its published order; for one-to-one lessons, how much of it you need and in what order is what the diagnostic decides.
- Reading: word completion, everyday texts and academic passages
- Listening: short responses, conversations, announcements and academic talks
- Speaking: Listen and Repeat, and Take an Interview
- Writing: sentence construction, an email and an academic discussion response
- Reading the 1–6 report, and what your universities' older 0–120 minimums correspond to
- Full-length practice tests, then a review of the answers that cost marks
Where marks go
Where candidates lose marks on the TOEFL iBT
Not a list of study tips. These are the specific ways this particular test takes marks off people who know the material.
Quoting a requirement in the wrong scale
Do not substitute one scale for another by guesswork. Read the institution's current policy, including section minimums, and use ETS guidance when comparing an older requirement with a new report.
Planning the discussion task from scratch
Practise taking a position and supporting it concisely. Planning should leave time to write and check your answer within the current task timer.
Note-taking that records instead of organising
Listening passages are played once. Notes that try to capture sentences lose the thread; notes that capture structure — claim, objection, example — answer the questions. Most people practise listening and never practise the notes.
Using an old speaking template
Current speaking preparation must include accurate repetition and direct interview answers. An old integrated-task template does not prepare you for both.
Practising only long academic passages
Include short everyday texts and word-completion practice. Preparing only with the earlier passage format leaves gaps in the current task set.
Using one writing structure for every task
A useful email, a grammatical sentence and a discussion contribution have different goals. Review each response against what that task asks you to do.
Lesson format
Group course, or one-to-one
Group · 45 hours
Forty-five hours: 25 ninety-minute lessons taking Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking in turn, then five full mock exams, each gone through live in class. Classes hold at most six, and Writing and Speaking carry on between lessons as marked homework.
One-to-one
One-to-one lessons when a university has set a minimum on one section. Speaking and writing respond fastest to individual feedback, because the fix is usually structural.
Group course
How the TOEFL iBT group course runs
A fixed timetable, in Türkiye time (UTC+3). The dates and lessons below are the ones the classes are actually taught to.
- Lessons
- 90 minutes each
- Days and times
- Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings, 19:00–20:30
- Length
- 13 to 14 weeks · 45 hours
- Class size
- Up to 24 students per group, taught by level in classes of at most 6
Week by week
- Topic lessons: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 19:00–20:30 — 25 lessons of 90 minutes.
- Mock exams: five full mocks, online and timed, on Sunday mornings at 10:00, outside lesson time.
- Mock reviews: each mock is gone through in class the following Tuesday, 19:00–20:30. A review covers only the mock before it.
- Writing and Speaking carry on between lessons as weekly homework, which your teacher marks and returns with feedback.
What the lessons cover
- Reading · 6 lessons
- Listening · 5 lessons
- Writing · 6 lessons
- Speaking · 5 lessons
- Format, mixed practice and strategy · 3 lessons — the opening format lesson, a mixed Reading and Listening lesson, and a final strategy lesson
- Mock reviews · 5 lessons — one after each of the five full mocks
The skills are taken in turn: Reading first, then Listening, Writing and Speaking.
Start dates open for enrolment
Starts Mon 4 January 2027
Last lesson 30 March 2027 · enrol by 1 January 2027
Starts Mon 1 March 2027
Last lesson 1 June 2027 · enrol by 26 February 2027
Starts Mon 17 May 2027
Last lesson 17 August 2027 · enrol by 14 May 2027
What the course includes
- 20 full-length TOEFL practice tests
- The TOEFL question bank, full access
- TestPrep AI Tutor, which talks you through the mistakes in your practice tests — your first 2 are free
- Five full TOEFL mock exams, each reviewed live in class
- Speaking mocks, and marked feedback on your Writing
- Every lesson recorded, to rewatch for 14 days
- A study plan written for you by TestPrep
- Homework, with your progress tracked from lesson to lesson
- Questions answered within 24 hours
- Regular progress reports for parents
- All course materials, at no extra cost
The question bank opens on your account once the first week of the course is over, and the practice tests on the day of the last topic lesson.
Paid by card on this site, in US dollars, through Stripe. The exact amount is shown before you pay. A group place is confirmed by e-mail once the payment goes through, and what the course includes opens on the account registered here with the student's e-mail address.
How it runs
How the teaching works
A diagnostic before one-to-one lessons are planned
One-to-one lessons start by finding out where the marks are actually going. That is not a formality: on most of these tests the gap a student describes and the gap the diagnostic shows are different, and hours spent on the described one are hours wasted. A group course starts on its published first lesson instead. If you want a baseline of your own first, the free TOEFL iBT diagnostic test is there for that.
Teaching in the order your deadline allows
A group course works through the syllabus in a fixed order because a class has to. One-to-one starts with whatever is costing you most and works outwards, which is why it suits a retake or a short runway better.
Timed work from early, not saved for the end
Untimed accuracy is a poor predictor of a timed score, and finding that out three weeks before the test is too late. Timed sections start in the first fortnight, short at first.
Review and progress checks
Review looks beyond the mark: which errors recur, whether the reasoning is clearer and how accuracy holds under time pressure. Bring earlier attempts to the discussion so the next practice has a specific purpose.
All of it runs in the browser, live, with a teacher on the other end. There are no recordings sold as a course and no premises to travel to.
Timeline
How long TOEFL iBT preparation takes
A rough shape rather than a promise. People arrive at different starting points and the plan is built around yours, but this is what a full run usually looks like.
- 1
Eight to fourteen weeks out — diagnostic
A full-length test to find the section that is actually binding. On the TOEFL that is frequently not the one people expect: strong speakers lose marks in Listening far more often than they anticipate.
- 2
Weeks 2–8 — the four skills rotated
Rotate the four skills, using current-format exercises. Review errors from the diagnostic before increasing the amount of timed work.
- 3
Weeks 8–12 — timed sections and feedback
Speaking recorded and reviewed against the rubric; writing marked and returned. Both respond faster to feedback than to volume, because the fix is usually structural.
- 4
Final fortnight — timing and the discussion task
Rehearse the current test sequence and review short writing responses under the task timer. Leave time for focused correction between attempts.
Practice
Practising between lessons
Lessons are where something gets explained; the marks move in the hours between them. The TOEFL iBT group course includes both: the question bank opens once its first week is over, and the practice tests on the day of the last topic lesson. One-to-one packages do not include them; both are also sold on their own.
Full-length practice tests
The real section timing, the on-screen tools the test gives you, and the real adaptive behaviour. A score from an untimed paper printout tells you much less than it appears to.
Question bank
Filter to one section and one difficulty band and work a narrow skill until the pattern in your wrong answers is obvious. Solved questions are remembered, so a session does not hand back what you already got right.
TestPrep AI Tutor talks you through the questions you got wrong
When your TOEFL practice test ends, pick a mistake on your results page and the lesson starts. The tutor won't just read out the answer: it asks you, writes the steps on the board and lets you find where you went wrong.
On the TOEFL it works through Reading and Listening questions. Your Write an Email / Academic Discussion text is coached against the TOEFL scoring rubric.
Your first 2 mistakes are free (up to 10 minutes)
No card needed to try it, just your account.
Then 30-minute blocks at $4. Unused minutes stay on your account for your next practice tests.
FAQ
TOEFL iBT questions we get asked
- What score do I need on the new 1–6 scale?
- Use your institution's current total and section requirements. ETS places 4.5 in a lower comparison band than an old 100; do not treat them as interchangeable. The official report includes a comparable overall 0–120 score during the transition.
- TOEFL or IELTS?
- First check which tests and versions your institutions accept. Then compare current-format practice: TOEFL uses computer-recorded speaking tasks, while IELTS includes an interview. Choose from evidence about your own performance, not country stereotypes.
- Is the TOEFL still four hours?
- No. ETS advises allowing approximately two hours for the current test. Adaptive sections mean actual timing and item counts can vary.
- How many times can I take it?
- As often as the awarding body's rules allow, with a minimum gap between sittings. A retake is worth planning when one section is holding the total down and you can name why.
- Do you teach the discussion task specifically?
- Yes. We practise planning, relevant support and concise responses, alongside the other writing tasks. We use the current format rather than treating the discussion as the whole writing section.
- Is there a group TOEFL course?
- Yes: forty-five hours in classes of at most six, twenty-five lessons through the four skills and then five full mock exams with a live review after each. One-to-one suits a single-section requirement, which is the commonest reason people come to us for TOEFL.
Pricing
What TOEFL iBT preparation costs
Shown in US dollars. Charged in US dollars — there is no conversion at checkout to be surprised by.
One-to-one lessons
One-to-one lessons when a university has set a minimum on one section. Speaking and writing respond fastest to individual feedback, because the fix is usually structural.
Single lesson
One 90-minute lesson, to see how it goes.
$70Book10 lessons
Prepaid, usable across subjects where the exam has them.
20 lessons
The usual choice for a full preparation run.
Group course · 45 hours
Forty-five hours: 25 ninety-minute lessons taking Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking in turn, then five full mock exams, each gone through live in class. Classes hold at most six, and Writing and Speaking carry on between lessons as marked homework.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings, 19:00–20:30, Türkiye time. Next class starts Mon 4 January 2027. Timetable and start dates
Paid in full
The whole course, one payment.
In instalments
Per instalment: 2 monthly payments, the first when you enrol.
First private lesson, or first week of a group course: if it is not what you wanted, you get your money back.
Three or more of you preparing together? We can open a private group at the group course price, with the lesson days and times agreed with the group.
Paid by card on this site, in US dollars, through Stripe. The exact amount is shown before you pay. A group place is confirmed by e-mail once the payment goes through, and what the course includes opens on the account registered here with the student's e-mail address.