Score comparison tables are often called "concordance" tables. The subscore concordance tables with IELTS Academic and TOEFL iBT were developed using official score reports collected between 2024 and 2025.
All of the TOEFL iBT score reports that were collected for this concordance used the historical 0–120 reporting scale. They do not reflect the recently announced 1–6 TOEFL iBT reporting scale. Once sufficient official score reports that use the new scale become available, the concordance will be updated. Until then, any comparison of DET scores with scores on the new TOEFL scale based on mappings between the old and new TOEFL scales should be considered preliminary.
IELTS Academic data included 1,943 test takers. TOEFL iBT data included 948 test takers. To learn more about DET scores and their relationship to other tests, visit our research page.
The average or sum of the subscore concordances (Speaking, Writing, Reading, Listening) does not always align with the overall concordance. This discrepancy can arise for several reasons: 1. The subscore and overall concordances are based on different datasets; 2. Small changes in score distributions across different subgroups over time can affect the results; and 3. The concordance process involves non-linear transformations, which can produce different results when applied to individual scores and then averaged, versus when applied to an average score directly. If desired, you may aggregate the selected subscore concordance minimums to derive an estimate of the overall score concordance. However, note that this may not align precisely with the official overall concordance due to the above factors.
When making high-stakes decisions, institutions should also consider other factors like prior academic performance, other test scores, recommendations, or interviews with the applicants. As a best practice, when setting minimum thresholds on overall scores and subscores, it is useful to set scores flexibly and conduct periodic review of score requirements.
Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) alignment studies are ongoing, and future tables may include comparisons to CEFR levels.