TOEFL Score Validity: Check Validity Rules, Expiring Reasons, and Retaking

Updated on, Jul 3, 2025

byShubhankar Das Content Writer - Study Abroad

TOEFL score validity is two years after the exam date. This means if you take the exam on January 24th, 2024, your TOEFL result validity is until 24th January 24th, 2026. You can download a PDF copy of your score report or send the additional score report within this 2-year TOEFL validity period. You will receive an email when your scores are available.

TOEFL scores are can be checked or downloaded from the ETS official website. You can also check your TOEFL result validity by logging into your account. TOEFL scores expire, and you must remember that your results will be valid for 2 years. Candidates are advised to send their additional TOEFL score reports to the university or institutions within this valid time frame.

There are 3 ways you can receive your results and check the validity for TOEFL score. You can easily check or download your TOEFL iBT score from your ETS account. You can request a paper copy of your scores through mail or express shipping. It took 11-15 business days to receive the score report by mail, and 2–5 days for express shipping. You can check TOEFL score validity and can send additional score reports by logging into your ETS account.

Table of Contents

TOEFL Score Valid?
Retaking TOEFL
Score Expiry
3.1 Score Accessibility
Score Validity Rules
Expiry Reasons
FAQs

How Long is TOEFL Score Valid?

After 2 years, TOEFL scores are considered as expired scores. Remember, TOEFL score is available within 6 to 7 business days. You will receive your TOEFL score after 6 days of taking the test, and within 8 days they will get the PDF form of their scores for download. TOEFL score validity period is counted not from the day of publication of the result, but from the day of the exam taken. To be more specific, the validity of TOEFL score is 2 years from the day of the exam. Moving on to TOEFL score validity period, it is not possible to extend TOEFL test validity period. In fact, there is no possibility to extend TOEFL validity years.

During the pandemic, ETS launched TOEFL Special Home Edition, whose TOEFL exam score validity duration is similar to the original exam. Though it is to be noted that the PDF scorecards are not available in Mainland China. If you have requested TOEFL scorecard in paper form, then that will be delivered within 11 days of taking the exam. Also, if you are someone requiring an answer to ‘TOEFL is valid for which countries?’, the answer is the majority of the countries across the world.

Retaking TOEFL Exam

Since TOEFL exam is conducted 50 times a year, candidates can take the test numerous times according to their requirements. TOEFL offers the facility to retake the exam if a candidate cannot meet the minimum TOEFL cut-off for his/her desired institution. As per the changes made, a candidate can retake the exam after 3 days of the previous exam date. Previously, a candidate had to wait 12 days for retaking TOEFL. However, a candidate will be charged separately for each retake. Though it must be noted that candidates cannot retake a specific section of TOEFL syllabus, and the test score validity for retaking the exam is also two years.

What Happens Once TOEFL Score Validity is Expired?

After the expiration of TOEFL exam validity period, the candidates will not be able to send TOEFL score as proof of their English language proficiency to the colleges, universities, or organizations anymore. From the official website, TOEFL scores disappear after 2 years.

Is it Possible to Access the Expired TOEFL Score?

No! After two years, you will not have access to any official record on the website. Yes, you may have saved PDF files in the personal drive; however, these will not be considered as the official document. These will not be accepted by the universities accepting TOEFL scores.

TOEFL Score Validity Rules

As TOEFL score comes with a validity time of two years, you need to plan the usage of valid TOEFL scores to submit when you apply to schools. Do follow the steps to help you plan when to take TOEFL:

Before applying to any school, check their TOEFL score validity period rules. TOEFL score validity period policies are different for every school.
Mark the time frame that you’re taking TOEFL exam. If you want to take TOEFL early, you must keep in mind that you can’t take it more than two years before the validity deadlines for the schools you’re applying to.
You can take TOEFL multiple times because you want the practice to feel confident you’ll score high. The achievable TOEFL highest score is 120. You can consider taking free practice TOEFL tests to save money.

Why Does TOEFL Score Validity Expire?

Universities require fresh knowledge of English and an old TOEFL score may mean that the candidate has mostly forgotten what they learned. The validity of TOEFL score is, therefore, kept for two years. A person who had cracked TOEFL in 2015, may not be that much efficient in English in 2020. TOEFL score expiry date ensures that the candidate has not forgotten his/her commands over the English language and the candidate is still having a good vocabulary and grammatical knowledge of English. So, there is no better alternative than utilizing TOEFL score when it is valid or within 2 years of the exam. Here, is how the candidates can do that:

Check the admission deadline of the universities you are planning to study.
Prepare accordingly.
Find a suitable TOEFL date and TOEFL exam center from the official website of ETS.
Remember, the result can be obtained after 4–8 days of the exam – consider this as well as the end date of the admission during TOEFL registration.
Register when you are fully prepared (registration is possible two days before the exam.
Few universities have different requirements for TOEFL score validity, check that.
While retaking the exam, make sure that admission deadlines are not over.

That’s all about TOEFL score validity and TOEFL score validity extension. Candidates must be serious and sincere regarding the score validity, and they need to apply with TOEFL score within 2 years. Once this time is over, the scores will be of no use, no matter how good TOEFL score is. We recommend the candidates prepare with proper planning and time-calculation so that the test-takers can make the best use of TOEFL scores.

FAQs

Ques: Is TOEFL valid for 3 years?

Ans: No, TOEFL exam score validity is not 3 years but 2 years.

Ques: Do TOEFL scores expire?

Ans: Yes, TOEFL scores expire.

Ques: What is the TOEFL highest score?

Ans: The highest score in TOEFL is 120.

Ques: Is 110 a good TOEFL score?

Ans: Yes, 110 is a good TOEFL score.

Ques: Can I retake TOEFL without paying?

Ans: No, students need to pay the registration fee to retake the TOEFL test.

Ques: How many attempts are there in TOEFL?

Ans: There is no limit on number of attempts for the TOEFL exam.

Ques: Is TOEFL validity extended to 3 years?

Ans: NO, TOEFL score validity has not been extended to 3 years, so TOEFL score validity remains for three years.

Ques: Can I use my expired TOEFL score?

Ans: No, students cannot use expired TOEFL scores.

Ques: Can I send TOEFL scores after 2 years?

Ans: Students cannot send TOEFL scores after two years as the scores are not valid after two years.

Ques: How long does TOEFL results expire?

Ans: TOEFL scores remain valid for two years.

Ques: How many attempts can I give for TOEFL?

Ans: There is no limitation of attempts for taking TOEFL, you can take the exam as many times as you want. You need to remember that, there must be a 3 days gap between your two attempts.

Ques: Can I retake TOEFL without paying?

Ans: No, if you want to retake TOEFL, you need to pay the full registration fee. You can apply for some fee waiver programs to avail a discount on fees.

Ques: Is Passport mandatory for TOEFL?

Ans: You must need to have a valid passport to apply for TOEFL. The passport is required to complete the registration process.

Ques: What is a good score in TOEFL?

Ans: TOEFL scores are ranges on a scale of 0-120, and achieving a score between 100-110 is considered as a good score.

Ques: Which country accept TOEFL exam?

Ans: TOEFL scores are accepted by top countries like; United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Germany, and Ireland.

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College.